Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. Psalm 16:5 (NIV)

Last Sunday, our pastor, Brother Sammy, preached a sermon about the “Cup of Gethsemane”. Most of us have probably read or heard the well-known verse of scripture when Jesus was praying in the garden, ““Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) But have you ever wondered what was in it? As Jesus prayed, He was, in essence, saying, “Is there any other way for Your purpose to be fulfilled?” You can hear the dread in His words. He knew what was coming. He knew the emotional and physical pain that He would be made to endure. He already knew all the ridicule, cursing and humiliation that would be hurled at Him from the crowd. He knew the torture that would be inflicted on His body, but I don’t think the pain is what consumed His thoughts. He knew this crucifixion would lead to His death, but He certainly wasn’t afraid of that because He also knew that the grave couldn’t hold His body down. I believe what most concerned Him was the contents of the cup. Because as Brother Sammy explained in his sermon, it held the sins of the entire world. Every evil deed, every wicked thought, every sin…mine, yours, the entire world from the beginning to the end of time, it was all in His cup.

Even knowing all of this, our Savior, Jesus Christ, willingly went to that cross for you and for me. He took the weight of the world’s sin upon His shoulders and He drank that bitter cup, every last drop. And as He did, the wrath of God was poured out and in that moment, He was completely separated from His Father because our God is a holy, righteous and just God and He can’t look upon sin without punishment. Out of His love for us and in obedience to His Father, Jesus drank the cup of wrath that should have been ours. As I reflected on this, I wondered, “What’s in my cup?”

For those of us who have called upon the name of the LORD, “the only name given unto men through which we can be saved” (Acts 4:12), we have been given a new cup. David says in Psalm 16:5, the LORD is my cup and “my cup overflows”. (Psalm 23:5) When Jesus took my cup of wrath, the wrath that I most definitely deserve, in it’s place, He gives me Himself. He gives me everything I need. He gives me Life. My cup now overflows with the love and goodness of God. He has taken my worry and discouragement and given me peace and joy. He has taken my weakness and gives me His strength. He has taken my shame and guilt and given me forgiveness. He has taken my ashes and given me beauty. He has taken my sin and given me righteousness. He has taken death and given me eternal life. He has taken all the ways I fail Him and given me grace upon grace and mercy that never ends. My God took that bitter cup of wrath and judgement and now I hold up my cup of salvation. Wow, my cup surely does overflow.

So now I ask you, what’s in your cup? If you have never been saved, I plead with you now, call upon the LORD. The Bible says, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) Jesus Christ has already done all the work, we get the easy part. Believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was crucified on the cross, was buried in a tomb and on the third day, He arose! Tell God you know that you’re a sinner and ask Him to forgive you and I promise He will. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) And then lift up your new cup, the cup of Life, the cup of salvation.