“All
creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” - Romans 8:19
Jesus Christ left His divine habitat in heaven and shed every vestige of privilege in order to live as one of us for thirty-three years. Then, in the prime of His life, He willingly gave Himself as a ransom for the penalty of our sins. He loved us while we were still lost in our sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus faced the terrifying dread of what He would suffer on Calvary’s cross (Matthew 26:42-44). He spared Himself no pain, however, to guarantee that we receive the best not only in life, but also in eternity.
Jesus Christ left His divine habitat in heaven and shed every vestige of privilege in order to live as one of us for thirty-three years. Then, in the prime of His life, He willingly gave Himself as a ransom for the penalty of our sins. He loved us while we were still lost in our sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus faced the terrifying dread of what He would suffer on Calvary’s cross (Matthew 26:42-44). He spared Himself no pain, however, to guarantee that we receive the best not only in life, but also in eternity.
In today’s society there are
still people who volunteer to sacrifice their life as terrorist, fighting for
their greater cause. They willingly blow themselves up in order to kill as many
people as they can. Their cause is misguided and their intentions are evil. It
is the character of sin to destroy and wound. They do not have a heavenly home
awaiting their arrival. Such tragedies cause many to reel from the grief of
these assaults. However, God collects the tears of everyone who is devastated
by these acts of injustice in His bottle and He records these travesties in His
journal (Psalm 56:8).
Jesus, the Man of beauty,
infinite goodness and boundless love made a way for everyone willing to open
their heart to Him. If we choose to turn our back on temporal distractions, He
will draw us closer to Himself on a daily basis. He asks us to meet Him at the
cross and to lay our life down in service for Him (Matthew
16:24). Jesus showed relentless
compassion and sacrificial love when He considered us over His own need. His
final burden was His separation from His union with our Father, something that
had never been broken prior to the cross (Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1).
People blame God for the suffering in the world; however, He actually gave His life to end suffering for all time. Mankind suffers from our own selfishness, greed, corruption and hypocrisy; yet we blame the one Being who loves us more than life itself for all of the suffering in the world. No one is more deserving of gratitude and love, and no one receives more misguided animosity, bitterness and denunciation than He does.
People blame God for the suffering in the world; however, He actually gave His life to end suffering for all time. Mankind suffers from our own selfishness, greed, corruption and hypocrisy; yet we blame the one Being who loves us more than life itself for all of the suffering in the world. No one is more deserving of gratitude and love, and no one receives more misguided animosity, bitterness and denunciation than He does.
We, who are reproachable and
defiled in every way and undeserving of forgiveness, judge God as lacking
because He does not live up to our standards of what is right, fair and good.
Yet, God in His infinite patience waits for our response of genuine love for
Him. He requires nothing of us against our will, but He asks us to submit our
will to His for our ultimate good. He took the sin of the world on Himself in
order to heal mankind of our physical and spiritual wounds (John
1:29).
Jesus did this so that we
can renounce the subtleties of sin in our life, and instead, seek a union with
our triune God. Once we give our life to Him, we feel the pain of what hurts
Him, we see the injustice that blames Him and we defend the Christian brother
and sister who live in His honor. Jesus alone is worthy of all of adoration and
praise; yet, He receives the most ridicule and misunderstanding.
Jesus forfeited His power
and authority in heaven to take on the form of a man, and He tolerated the
abuse of the crucifixion to save us all from the penalty of our sins (Hebrews
2:14; Matthew 4:4). Without Him our life
is full of pain, disappointment and tragedy. He alone makes our life on this
earth abundant and full of mercy and truth (John 16:33). God
desires to use us to help Him to alter the destiny of our friends, relatives,
associates and neighbors from everlasting destruction to eternal bliss by
sharing with them what God does for us on a daily basis (2 Timothy
4:2).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You accepted our
degradation in our place. You gave us Your spotless perfection in exchange and
prevented the need for us to suffer for our willful disobedience to our Holy
God. We confess our sins and ask You to be our Savior. We look forward to
walking with You every day of the rest of our life and to joining You in the
new heaven and the new earth for all eternity (Romans 8:20-22.)
Thought
for the Day:
Everything
Christ did in His life and death, He did for you and for me. 