I believe it is easy to consider the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as this grand thing. Because it is. I believe we often think of this miracle of salvation on a grand scale as well. After all we read–
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
That’s huge without doubt. But I would like us to consider something a little more personal. Everything about that verse, it was for You. If you’ve never considered this before, you may ask; “What was for me?” Let me tell you.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah 53:1
He has revealed Himself to you. God did that for you. He does not hide.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3
Jesus, the son of God, did that for you. He experienced suffering, pain, and despising you.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
He did that for you.
“…the Lord (God) has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
Jesus bore that for you.
He was oppressed and afflicted. Isaiah 53:7
He faced that for you.
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. Isaiah 53:8
Jesus came to death, He died for you.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin Isaiah 53:10 The Father turned his face away. Jesus allowed his own creation to take his life. He did that for you.
“…he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12
Jesus did that for you.
Consider this. In the time of Noah, he was the only man found to be righteous in the sight of God. From that one-man God saved the world through his offspring. If today you were the only human to exist, Jesus would have died for you.
If at the time of his crucifixion Jesus being God, looked forward through the rest of time and knew that you would be the only person to accept the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ; guess what?
Jesus would have died for you and you alone.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… Genesis 1:1
IT WAS FOR YOU. That is why God is worthy of our love and adoration. That is why we worship Him. That is why we call out Holy, Holy, Holy is Lamb. That is why we give ourselves to God.
I heard this story. When this man was in first grade his father gave him a pale calf to raise. You feed the calf formula from a pail, and you then get to keep the mother’s milk. Well, the calf got sick. So, he gave it more formula. That didn’t help. So, he kept the calf in the barn. That didn’t help. His father comes to check on him, and the boy is sitting next to the now dead calf. In tears he proclaims to his father; “I did my best.” The Father says right back, “No, you didn’t. Doing your best would have been to come to me.”
Are you doing your best today? Because if you are without the Father, you’re doing life alone, and that leads to death. Doing your best means coming to the Father.
Jesus said: I am the way… I am the truth… No one comes to the Father but through me. Jesus held his arms wide open on that cross so that we could be brought to the Father.
I want you to read John 3:16 like this. God so loved (insert your full name) that he gave His one and only son. That if I believe in him, putting my faith in Jesus. I will not parish, but have eternal life.
IT WAS ALL FOR YOU.
Pastor Andrew Christman
Church of Peace
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Kewanee Voice.
***This column is sponsored by the Kewanee Ministerial Association
