34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Jesus, on the cross, was not angry with the people who crucified Him – He was forgiving. He knew that He was the sacrificial lamb, born to die for all mankind, that they might be forgiven and brought into right standing with the Father. They had no idea that they were fulfilling God’s plan as they crucified Jesus. They were sacrificing God’s perfect Lamb – pouring out His blood for the remission of sin. Even the high priest that pronounced the sentence of death on Jesus, in the same way that he pronounced sentence every Passover on the lambs sacrificed to cover the sin of the people with their blood. Jesus’ blood totally washes away sin.

Hebrews 4:15(NKJ)

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

1 Peter 1:18-19(NKJ)

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Jesus was not sacrificed as a sinner, deserving of punishment. He was sacrificed as the innocent and righteous – bearing the burden, punishment, and penalty for sin, that was not His own. Taking the place of those whom had no entrance into the presence of God and no rights with God.

Luke 23:39-41(NKJ)

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?

41 “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

The religious were blinded by their religion and their jealousy and pride, but one of the sinners on the cross next to Jesus recognized Him as innocent and undeserving of the sentence of death passed down upon Him.

Luke 23:46-48 (NKJ)

46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.

47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”

48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.

When He died the centurion glorified God and acknowledged His uprightness – that He was innocent and just. The throngs who gathered to watch the spectacle of the crucifixion of the “King of the Jews” – left, beating their breasts – with the sense (no doubt) that a great injustice had been done.

Acts 2:24 (NIV)

24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. God, the Father, raised Jesus from the dead because He was innocent. He was in hell illegally. It was impossible for death, hell and the grave to hold Him. We were destined for hell without God. Jesus took our place in death and came back from where we could not. He exchanged places with us so that we could be partakers of His life and go with Him to heaven instead of to hell where we belonged. The innocent died for the guilty. Thank God for Jesus, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, who died and rose again for our salvation and redemption and for the remission of our sins.

Foundation Scripture: Proverbs 16:1-3(AMP)

1The plans of the mind and orderly thinking belong to man, but from the Lord comes the [wise] answer of the tongue. 2All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart). 3Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Proverbs 16:9(AMP)
9A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

We make plans for our lives and our future, and indeed we should, for we must have goals to aim for and a direction in which to go – if we are wise. We know that if we aim for nothing, we are sure to hit it, so we make our plans, but for all our planning we do not know enough to make perfect decisions every time. We need the wisdom that only God gives.

We make plans – they may be wonderful, well organized, detailed, plans – but without God’s wisdom, there is no guarantee of success. Another, often overlooked aspect of planning is motivation – the attitude of our heart. The attitude of your heart might not seem to be an important issue to you, but it is important to God and crucial to the success of your plans. We think that we are right – everyone thinks that they are right – but only God can be the judge of the motivation of our heart.

So many people want to have God’s forgiveness for their sins, so that they can have peace of mind and a ticket to heaven, but they do not see God’s Word as a standard to live by or the wisdom they need to make their plans succeed. We have our plans, but God has His plans for us, too. We make plans and then ask God to bless them, but if we would ask God for His plans for us – we will find out that they are already blessed.

We should commit and roll all of our plans onto the Lord. In other words, we should run every decision by Him before we begin to act on our plans. With God involved in our plans, we are sure of success. We may not know the future, but we know who holds the future and we hold His hand as He leads us and makes our steps sure. Sure – means that we will not stumble or go in the wrong direction.

Psalms 37:23-31(NIV)
23If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; 24though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. 25I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. 27Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. 28For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; 29the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. 30The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. 31The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.

When God is welcomed and allowed to be a part of your planning process and the carrying out process, you will find that your way is a lot smoother and more prosperous than before. Angels will go before you to make a way for you. You will have favor wherever you go. How can you fail when God is on your side?