You might walk past a penny and ignore it, but not a bank bag full of cash. Sometimes a gift that is offered is so massive is just DEMANDS notice, appreciation and even honor. Let’s talk about that kind of offer.
Let me begin with a quote of one short paragraph from something I wrote for Veterans Day some years back.
“When someone has chosen to offer their life for yours, that very act demands honor. It is an act so utterly selfless that to brush it aside without truly and deliberately considering their sacrifice and motivation is crass and rude. Some things ought not be forgotten. Ever. Some things demand careful reflection and consideration.”
That is certainly true about anyone willing to place themselves in harm’s way to defend their homeland against an enemy. It is the equivalent of handing a blank check to the military, payable at any sum up to and including the cost of one’s own life. THAT is an incredible sacrifice to offer.
It is one thing to do that for your beloved family, friends and country. It is quite another to make that offer to your enemy as an invitation to peace. That is precisely what Jesus did!
While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the sacrificial death of His son Jesus.
Today’s verse says HE IS THE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, AND NOT ONLY FOR OURS BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
Lots of people like to think they are pretty good folk, even without Jesus. They place their deeds upon some sort of mental scale and, since they feel as though their good deeds probably outweigh their bad ones, they believe they must be OK in God’s sight. But no murderer goes to court relying on the defense of showing the judge all of the laws he DIDN’T break, expecting the judge to ignore the ones he did break and set him free. It is ludicrous.
We are all sinners. None of us has lived a perfect life. Our sin was paid for at the cost of Jesus’ life. Some people say it was the Jews who killed Jesus. They are wrong. Do you want to know who TRULY killed Jesus? I DID !!! It was MY SIN that drove the nails through His hands and His feet. I am the one responsible.
And so are you.
HE IS THE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR — OUR — SINS
Mine. Yours. All who will receive His pardon.
Without Christ we are enemies of God. Without Christ we are powerless to change that, because we are by nature ungodly. But when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. The check He had offered, payable at any sum up to and including the cost of His own life, was cashed at the cross. The endorsing signature written in His own blood. And we have now been justified by His blood.
HE IS THE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, AND NOT ONLY FOR OURS BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
The whole world has the offer before them. Americans and Azerbaijanis. Brits and Brazilians. Libyans and Laotians. The offer as simple as A-B-C is made to everyone from Afghans to Zimbabweans and every single nation in between.
A Admit that you are a sinner in need of the gift being offered
B Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead
C Confess Him as your Lord and begin to follow Him in obedience
There is a chain of all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants in this country called Golden Corral. They grill steaks, burgers and several other meats. They have fresh salads, pot roast, a wide assortment of hot vegetables. They bake fresh rolls and serve them with a honey butter that will melt in your mouth. They finish it off with dozens of different dessert choices.
Last Veterans Day, the Golden Corral offered any veteran that amazing dinner for free as a way of saying thank you for their service. All I had to do was show up, and every item on their menu could be mine – as much as I wanted and more. Their offer was good because the owner of the restaurant chose to pay my price. Though the offer was made, I didn’t go. I could have, if I had decided to do so; I just didn’t. And now the time for the offer has passed. It was valid then, but not today. Today it’s too late, no matter how hungry I may be.
Don’t miss the offer Jesus has made to you. It’s valid NOW. And that is the only time you have guaranteed to you. At some point it will be too late to consider His offer. Since I don’t know when that will be (and neither do you) the time to consider and decide is now.
Some things ought not be forgotten. Ever. Some things demand careful reflection and consideration. His offer is one of them.
HE IS THE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, AND NOT ONLY FOR OURS BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
