Why do we have thorns?

Genesis 3:¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

God cursed the ground because of man’s rebellion. The Bible does not say thorns were created as part of the curse. Remember the original creation was all pronounced ‘good’ by God. But in some way thorns as they were originally created were changed with this curse.

Did man wear a crown in the original creation?

Psalm 8:³ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

⁴What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

⁵For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Paul clarifies that we do not yet see man’s glory and honor

Hebrews 2: ⁶But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

⁷Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

⁸Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

Jesus was crowned with glory and honor by the Father

⁹But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

¹⁰For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

¹¹For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

¹²Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

¹³And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

¹⁴Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

¹⁵And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

¹⁶For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

¹⁷Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

¹⁸For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Jesus was crowned with thorns

Matthew 27:²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

²⁸And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

²⁹And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

³⁰And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

³¹And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

Mark 15:¹⁶ And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.

¹⁷And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,

¹⁸And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

¹⁹And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.

²⁰And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

John 19:¹ Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

²And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

³And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

⁴Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

⁵Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!

Jesus will restore man’s crown of glory

Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

So what do you see significant in the crown of thorns?

Do you see Jesus’ love for you?

Do you see the Father’s plan for all mankind?

Do you know this song?

The Day He Wore My Crown

The city was Jerusalem, The time was long ago
The people called him Jesus, The crime was the love He showed
And I’m the one to blame I caused all the pain
He gave Himself, the day He wore my crown

He brought me love that only He could give, I brought Him cause to cry
And though He taught me how to live, I taught Him how to die
And I’m the one to blame I caused all the pain
He gave Himself, the day He wore my crown

He could have called His holy Father, and said, “Take me away, please, take me away.”
He could have said, “I’m not guilty. And I’m not going to stay. I’m not going to pay. ”
But He walked right through the gate And then on up the hill

And as He fell beneath the weight
He cried, “Father, not My will.”
And I’m the one to blame. I caused all His pain
He gave Himself, the day He wore my crown.

And I’m the one to blame I caused all His pain
He gave Himself, the day He wore my crown.

Hebrews 12:¹ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God

Dearly Beloved,

Run with your eyes on Jesus alone!

Run in faith that Jesus loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love; has uniquely designed and created only one you; has a good plan for your life; runs with you; and will         accomplish His purposes for you and through you!

Run in His strength alone!

Run being yoked to Emmanuel!

Run with your eyes on the prize!

Run with your focus on His mission: to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ!

Run with the desire to finish strong!

Run with the desire to finish with your lamp burning!

Run with the expectation of being in His physical presence when together you cross your finish line!

Run to His glory alone!

Run and keep on running!

Coach Patti