Christ did not die for us that God might love us, He died because God already loved us. Love is not the result of redemption, it's the cause of it. —A.W. Tozer

This is the heart of the Christian message. God became a human. He was born in an ordinary stable to ordinary parents. But his was an extraordinary purpose. He came to take us to Heaven. His death was a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was our substitute. He paid for our sins so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus’ desire was singular—to bring his children home. —Max Lucado

The Bible is a love story—of God’s love for us! He didn’t sit idly waiting for us to return to Him after we had sinned. Before we were even created, before Adam and Eve had even taken the first bite of the fruit, God had a plan that set Him off in pursuit, in sacrifice for us!

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. —2 Timothy 1:9

It says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19 “That God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

God put on Him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God. —2 Corinthians 5:21 (The Message)

The sin is punished and you are redeemed. God took our sin and put it on Jesus and then punished Him for it.

Interruption

Bono, lead singer of U2, says this about Grace...

You see, at the center of many religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace. ... Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.

That is the wonderful thing about our God! He interrupts our lives with His love. He takes our sin, our failings and our mistakes and He removes them from us. He gives us what we do not deserve. You see, it is not about what we deserve or about us earning forgiveness. It is about a God who so loves us that He interrupts our lives with the sacrifice of His Son, and gives us uninterrupted access to Himself. It demonstrates His love for us! For all of eternity there is that stake in the ground—the Cross—the proof of ultimate love.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:16

Jesus did not die for us when we reached perfection and had overcome all temptation! He died when we were still sinners. His sacrifice was not dependent on our performance. He didn’t wait for you to become perfect and worthy of Him dying. It is about Him being worthy, not us. We could never be worthy enough.

The cross did what we could not do ourselves. It gave us the right to talk with, love and live with God. The Lord Jesus Christ's death took away our all our sins and His Resurrection gave us life, a new life and a new identity as a new person, a life of freedom, free from guilt, no more reproaching ourselves, and most importantly an opportunity to grow in relationship with God.

Grace is all about Jesus' sacrifice—His once for all time, for all sins, sacrifice. Jesus took all of our sins with Him to the cross, all the sins we have committed in the past, all the sins we have committed today and all the sins we will commit in the future. Sin cannot stop God’s grace.

But where sin increased, grace increased the more, so that, just as sin refined in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. —Romans 5:20-21

Expiry Dates

It seems a lot of things have expiry dates—petrol vouchers, warranties, even gift vouchers. Nothing it seems lasts forever.

We read in Hebrews 10 verse 4 that the blood of the animals could only cover sin. They could not take it away. In essence they had an expiry date. So every year the Israelites would have to sacrifice a lamb to cover their sins again. Sins covered—not forgotten.

The cross did what sacrificed lambs could not do. It erased our sins, not just for a year, but for eternity. Jesus is the Lamb of God. He died for our sin—our past sin, our present sin and our future sin. And the wonderful thing is there is no expiry date on the forgiveness He won us. It lasts eternally! Forever! The enemy cannot dredge up your sin and wave it in front of God. God does not see it anymore! Every sin has been punished to the FULL through Jesus' death on the Cross. With the one sacrifice of Jesus, our sin is gone forever!

God demonstrates this in Hebrews 11 where the Heroes of Faith are recorded. The acts of faith by Moses, Abraham and David are recorded, not their failings. Abraham lied about Sarah his wife, Moses killed an Egyptian and David committed adultery, yet they are Heroes of the Faith. Their sin is remembered no more.

It is the same with us. Once we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and remember them no more! No sin is excluded from the Cross. Big or small, it is all covered. There is no expiry date on God’s forgiveness. It has an eternal guarantee!

Because of Jesus, no sin will ever send you to hell. No sin will ever disqualify you from God’s blessings. You are forgiven and saved eternally. Forever.

Conclusion

You are loved with an everlasting love! A love that caused the Creator of the Universe, our God, to leave Heaven, to endure pain and sacrifice—for us. The Christian hymn writers have caught the wonder of our Lord’s sacrifice.

Amazing grace... Amazing love, how can it be that Thou my God should’st die for me?

O who am I, that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh, and die?

Let’s not cease to be AMAZED and in AWE of this wonderful sacrifice of a God who so passionately loves you that He would die for you!

That this has been part of His plan since before time—to make a way home for us.

The way of love.

Copyright © by Philippa Smyth Share

---

---