Romans 5:6-8
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
What of Today’s Verse…
Jesus died for us, but not because he had some high hopes for who we are or what we would be. No, he died for us because he knew exactly who we are and what we would be without him. But praise be to God, we are now God’s righteousness because he took our sin and gave us God’s grace (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
Let Us Pray:
Holy God, thank you for Jesus, my Saviour. No words are adequate to express my love and devotion to you for such an incredible gift! Through him I give and live my thanks to you. Amen.
Words of Wisdom
Does My Sacrifice Live?
This incident is a picture of the blunder we make in thinking that the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, viz., sacrifice our lives. Not – I am willing to go to death with Thee, but – I am willing to be identified with Thy death so that I may sacrifice my life to God. We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this blunder, and the same discipline goes on in our lives. God nowhere tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up. He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having – viz., life with Himself. It is a question of loosening the bands that hinder the life, and immediately those bands are loosened by identification with the death of Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God whereby we can sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice,” to let Him have all your powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the thing that is acceptable to God.
“And Abraham built an altar . . and bound Isaac his son.” Genesis 22:9
