PPic: Oberon Golf Course - Links Pro Am 2006

PGA Chaplain Bible Studies

Study 30 August 18th to 24th 2008.
Reading – John Chapter 19:17-24.

“Taken Before Their Time?”

“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others- one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” John Chapter 20: verses 17 to 19. (New International Version).

Over the years I have been a chaplain, the death of a golfer or his spouse or family member helps to put the game of golf into perspective. After all, it is just a game and those who get to play this great game for money and a career truly have a privileged life. There is nothing more difficult in life than to lose a loved one.

There are many different reasons why people die, sometimes sickness, sometimes an accident, sometimes intentional, sometimes old age. Whatever the reason, death is tragic, and touches the deepest emotions we have.

However these are just the symptoms of the real reason we die. In the bible it says “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans Ch 6:23a) In the Garden of Eden, God says to Adam and Eve, “The day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will die.”(Genesis Ch 2:17).
The real reason we die is we have rebelled against the author of life.

There is nothing we can do to reverse this, not the best medicine in the world or denying it. Yet it is in this harsh reality that Jesus identifies with us.

The death of Jesus is an example of an abuse of power on the part of the Jewish and Roman authorities. He is condemned to death, carrying his own cross crucified among 2 criminals. He dies for calling himself a King while the soldiers gamble for his clothing that was stripped from his body. His mother and close friends watch from a distance.
It’s hard not to imagine a more cruel or humiliating death. God knows and understands what we go through with death, because he has been there himself. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself through the death of his Son. Jesus is the means by which our sins can be forgiven and the penalty of death removed.

When Jesus died, his closest followers, the Jewish authorities and the Romans thought they had seen the last of Jesus. But he rose from the dead. Jesus lives on, today and forever. He indeed is the King of Kings. “The free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans Ch 6:23b).

I know of no other religion, no other philosophy that can match the hope that Jesus brings to the beauty and wonder of life. Paul one of the writers of the NT sums it up this way:
“Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians Ch 15: verses 55 and 56).

Prayer
Great and awesome God, thank you for defeating our greatest foe through Jesus. Amen.

Upcoming Events

Click event for more details.

Wyong Trainee Pro-Am.

Venue: Wyong Golf Cub
Date: Monday 17th November.
Cost: $50
Tee Time: 7:30am and
12 noon shotgun start.
Contact: Graham on 02 9740 9069
or email.

Site by Limelight