CHRIST'S SACRIFICE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

1 Peter 3:18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When we examine the life of Jesus, there is always one defining character trait that sticks out.

Selfless sacrifice.

In fact, when we turn to the scriptures, we find Him acknowledge as much. Look at these words from the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew:

“Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Vv.26-28

Before Jesus came from Heaven and earth, all people were sinners who were destined for Hell. No one was so perfectly righteous as to have earned their way to the Kingdom of God and everyone had fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23).

Given that sin not only shackled and imprisoned the transgressor but also demanded a ransom for release, the only way to freedom was by way of someone being able to purchase their pardon, someone sinless and free from the bondage of iniquity.

And so God, out of His love for the world, send His one and only Son Jesus to save sinners by serving as a final atoning sacrifice, a sacrifice that would pay off the sin debt owed by anyone who would simply place their belief in Him and receive eternal life (John 3:16).

Indeed, Jesus did indeed come to serve rather than be served, willingly surrendering His life so other could live. It’s a sacrifice we find at the center of verse 18 of 1 Peter, chapter 3:

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

Before Jesus came, animals were sacrificed in order to atone for the sins of the Israelites. Over and over and over again, reparations were sought in order to get right with God but there was no permanent solution. And so God sent Jesus who willingly allowed Himself to suffer “for our sins, once for all time”. Although He Himself had “never sinned”, He didn’t adopt a “too bad for them” mindset when considering everyone else. Rather, He chose to die “for sinners” so to bring them “safely home to God”.

Perhaps this would have been seen as a great tragedy if the story ended right there but we know that the Father had great plans for His Son, first raising Him from “physical death” before raising Him “to life in the Spirit” and then bringing Him back to Heaven to reign in authority over all things in Heaven and on earth.

Friends, as Christians, we are to live Christ-like and this means that we, like He has done, should be ready to willingly and selflessly sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. For we live in a world where there are needs everywhere and so there’s no shortages of opportunities for us to intentionally represent the Spirit of our Lord and Savior while modeling His blessed servant mentality.

Let’s commit ourselves every day to serve others before seeking to be served ourselves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.