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When thinking about all of the abandonment and betrayal I have experienced, and that anger and despondency which starts to rise to the surface

as a result, I am reminded of the fact that there is only thing that can conquer these feelings. (And I know that everyone has experienced some form of abandonment in their lifetime. It really can create a lot of trauma, trust issues, a feeling of detachment, distance and despair.)

But when pondering being forsaken, just think about what God manifest in the flesh - The Lord Jesus Christ said on the cross in Matthew 27:46 "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Jesus Christ experienced such an incomprehensibly deep level of sorrow at this moment.

If you feel rejected and abandoned today, if you feel like an outcast, ostracized and depressed as a result, just think about what Jesus Christ felt and experienced, and it was for you, for me, for all of us. He left glory to experience that for us. Look at what it says in this prophecy in Isaiah 53:3-5 about The Lord Jesus Christ, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Jesus Christ literally experienced a greater pain than anyone - being completely forsaken by God the father. The Lord Jesus Christ was temporarily forsaken by the Father because he had all of the world's sins added to his account as if he had done it and he was experiencing the punishment and judgement of that, while he is completely innocent and perfect. He took our place on that cross and paid the fine for us.

The vicarious substitutionary atonement is so incredibly profound. It is the crux of human history.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

1 Peter 2:24 - Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Romans 3:24-26 - Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
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Like you, I have experienced the worst abandonment and betrayal, and this happened a couple weeks ago. It is very hard to go through. Not that I had never experienced betrayal before. As you mentioned, many do suffer this. But this was especially hard. I found your beautiful article to really help. Thank you for that. I needed to read that this morning. I have never felt abandoned by God. Jesus has been my Savior since 1973. There's no substitute for Him. God has never let me down.

I do just want to mention one thing though. God says in His Word that He will never forsake us and that goes for His own Son, as well. The Bible even says that God hates sin, but not the sinner as an individual, and He never abandons us. How much more, would he never abandon His own Son.

I know the word forsaken is given in Scripture when Jesus called out to His Father in heaven, and I'm sure that Jesus felt that way since His Father could not look upon sin at that time, Jesus bearing the sins of the whole world, but I do not believe that His Father forsake Him. I don't believe he ever abandoned His Son. He was forced to look away at that time, but that's not the same as leaving or abandoning His Son. I believe Jesus knew full well at that time....even as He understood His mission here on earth and that he would have to die for our sins.... that even though He felt forsaken under the load of the world's sins, He knew full well that His Father was still there...and understood why His Father had to turn His face away from him at that time. The cry on the cross was a moment of excruciating suffering and a demonstration of Jesus' humanity....not a reflection of divine abandonment.

The cry of Jesus on the cross, was a temporary separation, a necessary step for Jesus to bear the sins of humanity and experience the full weight of judgment. Not abandonment. Fulfilling prophecy.
@LadyGrace So well said! Amen, dear ✝ 🙏