God’s Great Vision
I
walked into church on Easter Sunday giddy with excitement, thrilled at the
opportunity to be there. Due to certain complications in life, this was only
the third time I was able to attend a physical church service in over six
months.
Our
pastor usually has wonderful messages, but this one went even beyond that. It
was as though he was speaking directly to me, right through my established
façade of contentedness, right into the tumultuous depths of my mind.
“A
debt paid, a life saved, an eternity changed.”
The
true power and elegance of this statement is contained within the depths of its
utter bluntness and simplicity.
Step
1: Christ paid our debt (Romans 3:23-26)
Step
2: He chose to save us from our eternal destiny (Romans 8:29-30)
Step
3: Our eternal destiny has been changed through the sacrifice of Jesus. (Romans
8:16-21)
I
think that oftentimes the sheer magnitude of this statement is overlooked.
Christ died for us. But he didn’t just die, he suffered. He endured thirty nine brutal lashes with a lead studded
whip. He walked to the execution point, carrying the very instrument of his
execution part of the way. He then had spikes driven through his hands and feet
to affix him to the cross. He was then stripped naked as he suffered the
anguish of crucifixion. The piece that blows my mind? He did that for ME. He went up onto that cross and
suffered there for me, so that I could be brought in to God’s family. He suffered and DIED so that I could have eternal life. He was then resurrected on the third day, defeating death, and giving all of humanity something it had never experienced before - hope.
The song "Glorious Day" by Casting Crowns tells the story of how our hope came to be, from the conception of Christ's human form to the day of His glorious return.
Q: What is the most valuable thing you own?
A: Life
Our lives are our most valuable asset. They are the basis on which everything else in our lives is formed. Without life, we have nothing. We can't do anything, be anything, unless we have life. Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death." According to Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." It's right there, clear as day - we've all sinned, therefore, we all deserve to die. We're doomed from the moment we commit our first sin. None of the subsequent sins matter at that point. We're already destined to death and eternal separation from God, so why worry about sin any longer? If we look to Romans 3:23-24 and 6:23, we have our answer.
"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins." Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 (NLT)
Christ Jesus has freed us from the penalty of our sins. He paid our debt in full, freed us from the bondage of sin, and has given us LIFE!! The very thing that we lost to death upon committing our first sin has now been thrust back into our grasp by the sacrifice of our wonderful Savior. The best part? It's free! We can't do anything to earn it, we couldn't have done anything to keep from losing it in the first place. Christ knew this, and He stepped up. He took our place in death so that we could have life. And he did it with nothing in return. That most valuable possession of ours? Jesus gave his life so that we could keep ours. In the words of Jonathan Reeves, "Something is only worth what someone will pay for it." Christ paid his life for us. He gave up his most valuable possession for US.
How much is Christ worth to you? Is He worth your life? Is He worth the living sacrifice Paul calls us to be in Romans 12? Or is he just worth a fraction of the price he paid for you on that cross? Nothing more than a couple hours of your time Sunday morning, and maybe Wednesday night, if you feel like it? We owe Christ what he paid for us - anything less is unacceptable. It's our duty to ensure that his sacrifice was not in vain.
Without Christ's death and resurrection, we have no purpose. Everything is meaningless. We're born, we live, we die. Sin is rampant, the Bible is irrelevant. We have no hope, no purpose - we have nothing. But, Christ did die, and he did rise again. That means we have purpose. Our life has meaning. We're born into a world of sin and imperfection, but we find purpose, we experience hope, and we then depart from our temporal home in the flesh to live eternally with God the Father and his holy son. Sin has been defeated, and death lost it's influence. Death has no power over us. We are free, we are alive! And the Bible, the Holy Word of God, exists in it's entirety to ensure that we know of the hope we have in Christ, so that we may one day be reunited with our Heavenly Father through Him.
Nobody said it will be easy. In fact, quite the opposite. Romans 8:17 says that "Since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering." In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas "encouraged them (the believers) to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22 NLT) 2 Corinthians 4:10 tells us "Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." Suffering is a guaranteed part of the Christian life. However, not only is suffering a part of living for Christ, but it is a privilege to suffer for Him (Philippians 1:29). We should rejoice in suffering and tribulations (1 Peter 4:13, Romans 5:3). We suffer for his kingdom, and through our suffering, God is making us worthy of entering his kingdom (2 Thessalonians 1:5-6).
Christ gave EVERYTHING on that cross, and He did it for you and me. Let's ensure that our lives reflect how grateful we are.
