Jesus Died to Set Us Free
Christians have more than a religion
or a philosophy of life.
While our spiritual enemy tries to
focus the attention of the world on ideas and aspects of
Christian faith that make us stand out from the crowd, I find it
interesting that Satan never wants anyone to see what God's gift
in Jesus Christ really is. Christian faith is not based on
a philosophy or a religious way of life. The essence of
what we have in Christ is not a set of ideas or rules of
behavior. What we have gained in Jesus Christ is greater
than anything this world or even the devil himself can ever
offer.
All human beings are born into this
world under the curse of sin and the spiritual death it brings.
Every last one of us are born as sinners into a world already
filled with sin and darkness. We are the children of a
cursed race, a species doomed to spend eternity without the
light and life and joy of God, the Creator. Our hearts are
not leaning toward God (even if we are very religious by nature)
but away from Him, and away from genuine spiritual truth.
We inwardly oppose the very things we need most, the truth and
righteousness that would make all of life better.
God is righteous in all His ways.
There is no sin in Him, no shadows of evil or deception.
He can and does rightly judge all things, being unclouded or
confused by our lies or any attempts to fool Him. He is
not deluded by the devil's arguments or distracted by all the
ideas that seem to fill human minds. God is truly just and
right in all His ways.
This would likely be very bad for us
if it were not for God's kindness and mercy toward all humanity.
But we should not really think of compassion and mercy or love
as somehow opposing the righteous aspects of God's nature.
Because He is truly good, the love and kindness of God are as
much a part of His righteous sense of justice as any wrath that
has ever rained down upon human beings for sin. It is
always in the heart of God to save and not destroy, and even
when He seems to be utterly destroying a person, a family, an
entire civilization, He is acting more to save than it may at
first appear.
The Bible teaches us that God sent
His Son to die on the cross for the sins of the world.
That is certainly true because the Bible is not a book of
deceptions, delusions or religious fairy tales. It is
wholly and forever a book of eternal, actual, practical and
spiritual truth. God's Son came to earth out of eternity,
becoming human flesh — one of us — in order to live among us.
Born as an infant, Jesus grew up and became a man. He was
tempted, Scripture teaches us, in all the ways that everyone is
tempted, and yet He never sinned. He was perfect in all
His ways.
Human beings were easily turned
against the Lord Jesus. Even one of His inner circle of
disciples betrayed Him to those who were determined to have Him
executed. We should not forget that it was the religious
leaders of His day who insisted that Jesus be killed. Nor
should we be surprised that a politician was easily persuaded to
give the order to carry out the execution of an innocent man.
Human nature does not change from one generation to the next.
God permitted His Son to be
murdered. People who loved justice and who trusted in God
were shattered by this evil turn in circumstances. How
good a just and good God allow such a thing? But in the
counsels of God's own heart, the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ was no accident. It was absolutely
necessary in order to pay the heavy debt of sin for the people
of earth.
None of what happened to Jesus
occurred on the spur of the moment. The ancient Scriptures
had been speaking of what God would do in Christ from the very
first book of the Bible. Moses wrote about it, King David
and other psalmists described it, Isaiah and other prophets of
God foretold it, sometimes in the most astonishing detail — all
centuries before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
God was not merely interested in
repairing some of the damage caused by sin. He was not
willing to let us all perish in the darkness of an eternity
without light, life or hope. He was not satisfied with
merely trying to make the world a little better off. He
was determined to set us free from all the chains and darkness
and demons and death that human sin had unleashed upon the
world. What God did in sending Jesus to die for us will
not be fully understood or even seen until the very end of this
age. Satan still think, apparently, that he is going to
win something. Such is not the case.
Any human soul who chooses to
believe in Jesus Christ will be saved, rescued from the grip of
evil, set free from sin and death. This is beginning of
God's victory in Christ Jesus. Soon, all the world and the
very fabric of the universe itself will be changed, healed,
completely made over again. All who have trusted in God
and His work of grace in Christ will live for eternity with Him
in a place prepared for those who love Him. All who reject
God will be somewhere else, in a place of darkness and gnashing
of teeth.
Jesus died to set us free. He
was buried, just as the ancient Scriptures had predicted, and He
rose again from the dead, just as the prophets had said He
would. Sin could not touch Him. Death and hell could
not overcome Him. The grave could not keep Him. But
because of God's great love and perfect power, you and I can
know Him, trust in Him, follow Him and be with Him, both now and
for all eternity. That is what Jesus accomplished by dying
on the cross.
©2008 GospelGifs |
