Baptized members of the Church of God will soon partake of the
annual Passover symbols of bread and wine to reflect on the death of
Christ and to renew their commitment to God to continue living the Way
of Life to which they have been called. When meditating about the
Sacrifice which Jesus was willing to make for us, we need to realize,
in a very PERSONAL way, its tremendous meaning and greatness.
We
need to understand that Jesus Christ is God now and that He was God
since all eternity. He never had a beginning. But He was willing to
temporarily set aside His divinity and BECOME a man–like you and I are
human beings today. He was willing to face the possibility of ETERNAL
death. He was willing to carry out the fight of overcoming sin in the
flesh. He knew and was fully convinced that He could never slip–not
just once–and He was willing to take the risk of failing. He knew full
well that one sin would end it all for Him, as the penalty for sin is
eternal death (Romans 6:23), which would have also applied to Christ
Himself if He had sinned. He knew that in case of sinning just once, He
would never again be united with His Father in a glorified state, which
He had enjoyed before He became a human being.
Why did He do
it? He did not have to do it. Nobody forced Him to do it. He lived with
the Father in the spirit realm of unspeakable happiness and joy. He
could have remained in that state forever.
But He did not. He
BECAME a man! And He did it for you and for me. God the Father GAVE His
Son, Jesus Christ, for you and for me! Both understood and consented
that Christ would have to live as a human being for 33 1/2 years, and
that He would have to ultimately DIE a terrible death on the cross–for
you and for me!
We must understand that Christ’s death was the
ONLY way to pay the penalty for YOUR sins and for my sins–because, as
stated, the penalty for sin is ETERNAL death. Without the shedding of
blood, there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22). And so, Christ
who, as God, had created man, would die for man–and His death would be
much more precious than the death of all of mankind combined. The
Creator of man would die for His creation. He was willing to die for
rebellious and disobedient man so that man, upon repentance and the
receipt of the Holy Spirit, could be freed from death and live forever.
God
the Father and Jesus Christ made this Sacrifice willingly, freely and
joyfully! Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus, the author and finisher of
our faith, endured the cross and despised the shame “for the joy that
was set before Him.” He looked at the future, while He was suffering
and dying on the cross–He saw in His mind the millions and potential
billions of people who would ultimately enjoy with Him the glory of
being immortal sons and daughters in His Father’s Kingdom. He saw you
and me next to Him in the Family of God. That is why He was willing to
do what He did.
How much do we thank God the Father and Jesus
Christ for this Sacrifice? How diligent are we NOT to sin so that we
don’t have to remind God over and over again of the actual events of
Christ’s suffering and death–what He went through? It is true, of
course, that when we sin, we can and should come before God’s throne in
heaven, in repentance, and ask for forgiveness. When we slip and fall,
God is true and faithful to forgive us upon repentance, and the blood
of Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). But
this is not to be understood as a license to sin–or, that we can look
at sin in a casual way. We are commanded NOT to sin (1 John 2:1). We
need to fully realize that every time we appear before God, while
repenting of our newly committed sins and confessing them to Him, we
remind Him of the terrible ordeal that Christ went through, in order to
make our forgiveness possible. And much worse yet, if we become
so casual and indifferent to sin that we don’t see the need anymore to
repent; if we, instead, proceed to sin WILLFULLY, trampling the Son of
God underfoot, counting the blood of the New Covenant by which we were
sanctified or set aside for a holy purpose a common or unimportant
thing; then we are again deserving the punishment of eternal death
(Hebrews 10:29). Because, we crucify again the Son of God for ourselves
and put Him again to an open shame (Hebrews 6:6).
When you and
I partake of the Passover in less than two weeks from now, we need to
reflect on the great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ which He brought for us.
Don’t ever take it lightly. Christ DIED for YOU–so that YOU, having
died to sins, can and might live for HIM in righteousness (1 Peter
2:24).
