JACKS DAILY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
(Galatians 2:20) "I no longer live… but Christ lives in me."
John Calvin was the leading French Protestant Reformer and the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation.
With his brother and sister and two friends... John Calvin fled Catholic France and headed to the free city of Strasbourg.
It was the summer of 1536; Calvin had recently converted to the "evangelical" faith and had just published “The Institutes of the Christian Religion”… a paper which articulated his Protestant views… and for this he became a wanted man.
The Catholics wanted His head… protestants wanted his thoughts and views.
In his paper “The Institutes”… Calvin outlined his views on the church… the sacraments… justification… Christian liberty… and political government.
His unique and overarching theme was “God's sovereignty”.
He taught that “original sin”… eradicated free will in people.
And that only by “God's initiative” can anyone begin to have faith and thus experience the assurance of salvation.
Calvin defined “surrender” in these words: “To have no other will… no other wisdom… and to follow the Lord wherever He leads.”
To do this… you will have to face your greatest fear… “who is in control”?
Who will drive your life?
It’s pretty handy to have Jesus in the passenger seat when we require His service.
“Lord, I have a health problem… and I need Your help.
“Lord Something hard is going on at work… and I’d like it to be different.”
“Lord I’m feeling anxious… and I need You to give me peace of mind”.
“Lord I’m feeling sad… and I’d like a little hope”.
“Lord I’m facing death… and I want to make sure I’m going to heaven”.
But when it comes to sliding out from behind the wheel and letting Jesus drive and have control… we’re not so sure about that because it means we... are no longer in control.
For example… if He’s driving… you are not in charge of your wallet anymore.
You can’t say… “I’ll give sometimes when I feel generous or I have enough in reserve… but I reserve the right to keep what I want.”
No… if He is driving your life now… it’s Jesus’ money.
When you let Jesus drive… you’re no longer in charge of your ego.
You no longer have the right to satisfy every self-centered ambition.
Now it’s His life.
You are not in charge of your mouth anymore.
You don’t get to gossip… flatter, cajole, condemn, lie, curse, rage, cheat, intimidate, manipulate, and exaggerate anymore.
Now it’s not your mouth… it’s His mouth.
So here’s the challenge today… have you invited Jesus along for the ride… or is He driving?
Is He in control?
The bible says that one day “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
Perhaps you are one of those who already call Him Lord.
If you are… then if He is not “Lord of all”… then He is not “truly” Lord of your life!
Jesus said… “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven… but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in Your name… cast out demons in Your name… and done many wonders in Your name?’
And then I will declare to them...‘I never knew you… depart from Me… you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23)
“Lawlessness” referred to here… is “disobedience”… which is the original sin of Adam and Eve… and which has been passed down generation upon generation till today.
And its “disobedience”… that separates and effects our relationship with God.
The word for you today is… surrender to God.
He has a plan for each of us that ends with blessing and fulfillment.
(Jeremiah 29:11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Again ask yourself this morning… who is in control of my life?
Am I truly letting God… Jesus… the Holy Spirit… the three in One… be the controlling factors of my life purpose and existence?
Or am I holding on to control of my own direction less unfulfilled life?
You don’t have to answer to me… but you do have to answer to God at some point before you breath your last.
Good Day!
(Romans 5:8) "God showed His great love...by sending Christ to die...while we were still sinners."
Human love says… “I’ll love you as long as you meet my expectations… agree with my politics… attend my church… and or fit into my social circle.”
But God isn’t like that.
He didn’t wait for us “to become worthy”… before making the first move.
The bible says in (John 13:34) “God showed His great love...by sending Christ to die…while we were still sinners.”
And when He did… He changed all the rules.
Jesus then said… “Now I am giving you a new commandment… love each other… just as I have loved you”… “Love others as much as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39)
“Love…without hoping to get anything back” (Luke 6:35)
I recall a message given by a pastor friend of mine who said… “When I set about the task of loving someone… I usually end up having to give… instead of receiving.
To truly love… inevitably costs me three commodities most precious to me…my time… my energy… and my money”
When you’re concerned about the well being of others… you usually will have to sacrifice something to truly manifest that love”.
Another author adds… “For a while I was angry at this “concept of love” and thought to myself… it’s not at all what I thought it should be… it wasn’t at all what I thought it was cracked up to be”.
“It costs to much… it wasn’t worth it”.
“The deeper it went… the more it hurt”.
“Love was irrational… complicated… elusive… and unreliable… and I was done with it.”
“But little by little… the Lord healed my heart and with that… I suddenly noticed that I was ‘a changed man’… in certain areas of my life”.
“My anger which used to constantly get me into more trouble began to fade… patience which in times past was a fleeting thing for me… now I’m able to forbear and sympathize with others”.
“I have come to understand that it is ‘humanity’… that scars and strangles love.”
“Love comes from God” (1st John 4:7)… and it’s worth it… whatever the cost.”
You may feel that you have been taken advantage of… that your boundaries have been crossed… that your rights have been ignored… but no matter what damage has been done in the name of love… we are all “incomplete” without it.”
In (1st Corinthians 13:4-7) here is what Gods description of real love is…
“Love is patient... love is kind... it does not envy… it does not boast… it is not proud.
It does not dishonour others… it is not self-seeking… it is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil… but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects…always trusts… always hopes… always perseveres.”
So ask yourself today as you get out there and begin your day… “is this the kind of love I give others… or is it the kind of love I demand of others… but not giving myself?
You be the judge… not of others… but of yourself!
Good day!
(Matthew 5:46-47) "If you love only the people who love you...you are no better than other people."
“Send picture and I’ll reply.”
It’s a common message in personal ads and it makes sense in this day and age to exercise caution.
But when it comes to loving others… do you find yourself saying: “Send picture first”?
We all say it in different ways...”I have to see if you’re good enough…I’m not sure you’re worthy of my love…You need to act the way I expect before I’ll love you”.
But if you are a child of God… if you’re a Christian believer… then it’s time we stop “evaluating” people by “what” the world thinks and “how” the world thinks.
(2nd Corinthians 5:16). “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way… we do so no longer.”
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,
“Your Father in Heaven…causes the sun to rise on good people and…evil people… He sends rain to those who do right and…those who do wrong.
If you love only the people who love you… you will get no reward.
Even the tax collectors do that… and if you are nice only to your friends… you are no better than other people… (Matthew 5:45-48)
God’s love toward us is “perfect” because it is “unconditional” …“nonjudgmental”… and comes with “no strings attached”.
The Bible says when we were His enemies… “He showed His great love…by sending Christ to die for us” (Romans 5:8).
So is there someone in your life who hurt you… and now you’re having a hard time loving them?
If so… then pray “Father… I’m struggling to love... [fill in the name or names].
Please help me to let go of judging and blaming them… and help me begin to love them the way You love me.”
Remember… real love doesn’t just happen!
Real love is a commitment and there is no one more committed to your happiness… your peace… your joy… your freedom… than your Heavenly Father for you!
All He asks… is that you would treat your fellowman the same way.
When asked by a religious lawyer what the greatest commandment was… Jesus answered by asking "what does the scripture (or Law) say"... agreeing with the answer that the religious lawyer gave... “Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your might.”
Then Jesus went on to say “and the second is like unto the first”… “Thou
shalt love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 26:35-40)
Let me ask you this morning… what makes you think you are any better than anyone else?
What right do you have to extend love… forgiveness and acceptance to one person… but not another?
Who are you to judge whether one person is better than another to participate in your life your charity/hospitality and or friendship?
If that’s the way you operate… then you are no better than the person you are leaving out of your sphere or circle of influence… and that will cause you to miss out an a plethora of blessing and enrichment that God has ordained for you and I to experience.
So today... thank God for His love and for His acceptance of you… and then start extending that same love forgiveness and acceptance to others outside of your circle.
There is an old chorus we sing in the church that says “O to be His hand extended, reaching out to the oppressed.”
Never forget that you are Gods hands… and He wants you to be an instrument that He can use… to reach out and meet the needs of others… and to accomplish His will in this world we live in.
You can do it…you really can!
Just let go of your pride… your anger… your bitterness… and preconceived expectations of others.
Love them and accept them!
When you do… it will amaze you how much God will change your life… and open up a whole new world of positive energy and experience… summed up in the word “blessing”
“There shall be showers of blessing”… says the old hymn of the church.
And you can experience them… when you let it all go and love one another as He has loved us.
(John 13:34-35) “A new command I give you… Love one another as I have loved you… so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples… if you love one another.”
Good Day!
(Luke 23:33) “When they came to the place called Calvary they crucified him there…”
The word Calvary appears only once in the New Testament but what happened there… changed our destiny.
In spite of the myths and misunderstandings… the truth is clear and life changing.
It’s where Jesus was crucified.
And that crucifixion was something He did and allowed to happen by His own will.
As much as we blame the religious leaders and the Roman authorities for being involved in and being used as the tools of that cruel event…
It was Jesus Himself that willingly went to the cross…Calvary …to fulfill the work of atonement needed… to delivery mankind from the penalty of sin and it’s mastery over humanity.
Let’s look at it.
First... Calvary was voluntary.
Those who watched it thought Jesus was a victim of “circumstances” beyond His control… the collusion of Jewish hatred and Roman might.
But they were wrong!
Jesus rejected Peter’s well-intentioned but misguided defense saying… “Do you think I cannot call on my Father… and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).
Jesus could have chosen to live without the hardship… pain… or the death of Calvary.
No one coerced Him into going to the cross.
He said… “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to… and also to take it up again” (John 10:18).
Calvary was certainly unjust and unfair but it wasn’t assassination… it was atonement!
The enemies of God… Satan… and those religious leaders that were offended with the message that Jesus was bringing… intended Calvary to end His life… but Jesus intended it to save humanity from a lost eternity.
And after they had done their worst and failed to stop Him… Peter confronted them on the day of Pentecost with this victorious truth… “In accordance with his own plan… God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you… and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him” (Acts 2:23).
Even the Father didn’t force Him.
Jesus “gave himself as a ransom for all people”… (1st Timothy 2:6) including you!
So what does that mean for us this morning?
What does that mean for you this morning?
It means that you are free this morning from the sins of your past… the sins of your present… and the sins of your future.
Jesus knows your weakness… my weaknesses… and He knows we cannot save ourselves.
He knows that we needed something stronger than the blood of bulls… goats… and doves to cover our weakness and our sin.
So He allowed His blood to be shed on our behalf… and because of that you are guiltless before God this morning.
God looks upon you and I… “just as though we had and have never sinned”.
We are reconciled… and made guiltless and pure before Him today.
In fact the bible says (Romans 5:8-10) “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this…
“While we were still sinners… Christ died for us”.
“Since we have now been justified by His blood… how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him”!
“For if… while we were God's enemies... we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son… how much more… having been reconciled… shall we be saved through His life”!
What does that mean for you and I today?
“The skies the limit”!
There is nothing holding you back… God has forgiven you… accepted you… and the bible says… “Eye has not seen… nor ear heard... nor has it entered into the heart of man… the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1st Corinthians 2:9)
He went to Calvary for you… so that you could be more than a conqueror… (Romans 8:31-39)
“Since we have now been justified by His blood… how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him”!
“For if… while we were God's enemies... we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son… how much more… having been reconciled… shall we be saved through His life”!
What does that mean for you and I today?
“The skies the limit”!
There is nothing holding you back… God has forgiven you… accepted you… and the bible says… “Eye has not seen… nor ear heard... nor has it entered into the heart of man… the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1st Corinthians 2:9)
He went to Calvary for you… so that you could be more than a conqueror… (Romans 8:31-39)
He went to Calvary for you so that you… (John 10:10) "might have life and that more abundantly!
Good Day
(Romans 3:23) All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God
We recall that when Jesus offered His perfect life to God as a “propitiation” or replacement… taking our sin upon Himself and giving His righteousness to us… He suffered our punishment for sin… punishment which the Holy Spirit calls "the agony of death" (Acts 2:24).
Why would God allow His only begotten Son who did no sin… to be punished?
Since he had no sin…He was not being punished for His own sin.
Why then was He punished?
There can be only one reasonable answer to the question just asked.
Christ must have been punished for the sins of someone else… and punished in their stead.
That is why the Bible says, "The chastening for our well being fell upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5) and "Christ suffered for you... the just for the unjust" (1st Peter 2:21 - 3:18).
The high priest himself had prophesied, "It is better for one to die... than all to perish" (John 11:50-51).
This punishment of the just for the unjust... is a marvelous gift or sacrifice!
Jesus lived a life of perfection… (Acts 2:24) yet His agony for a season… replaced everyone else's agony for eternity!
This acceptance of Christ's punishment on the cross... as a substitute for our own eternal punishment… is called "justification".
Christ is our "justification, sanctification, and redemption" (1st Corinthians 1:30)
Justification (or being counted as righteous) is ours by virtue of “the vicarious suffering”… which Jesus Christ endured on the cross.
Jesus paid the price of our redemption
Jesus paid the price for our sin… in exchange for our own souls.
We were bought with a price (1st Corinthians 6:19-20)
When we look at our ruined lives as a result of the mastery of sin…we can see that humanity no
longer belongs to God… we belong to Satan.
We must say with Paul… "I am carnal... sold under sin" (Romans 7:14)
Of course, God did not sell us… we sold ourselves like the people of old who "sold themselves to do evil" (1st Kings 21:20 - 2nd Kings 17:17)
Those who belong to Satan… face the eternal punishment prepared for Satan!
But if you have believed on the only begotten Son of God then you no longer belong to Satan.
You have been set free from his mastery… and you now belong to a new master… Jesus Christ!
You have been set free from the law of sin and death that came with slavery to sin and Satan.
We must say with Paul… "I am carnal... sold under sin" (Romans 7:14)
Of course, God did not sell us… we sold ourselves like the people of old who "sold themselves to do evil" (1st Kings 21:20 - 2nd Kings 17:17)
Those who belong to Satan… face the eternal punishment prepared for Satan!
But if you have believed on the only begotten Son of God then you no longer belong to Satan.
You have been set free from his mastery… and you now belong to a new master… Jesus Christ!
You have been set free from the law of sin and death that came with slavery to sin and Satan.
You were bought with a price… that being the perfect sacrifice of Christ and His shed blood which paid the price.
God does not fight injustice with injustice.
God will not steal or take from Satan what belongs to Satan… no matter how deceptively Satan engineered the ownership.
But we can be “transferred” from Satan's ownership to God's ownership … but only upon payment of the proper price.
Though we sold ourselves for a price… “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25)… we cannot buy back our freedom,
There is no realistic answer to the question, "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"(Matthew 16:26)
That is our predicament… We sold ourselves for a fool's price.
And the only way to find redemption or to buy ourselves back... requires the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22)… and even if we were willing to die and shed our blood… it wouldn’t work because our blood is tainted… it is impure… because we are imperfect
We cannot blame God for this mess.
We are the offenders and God is the offended.
Our only hope would be to find someone else of perfection… willing and able to pay a price in exchange for our souls.
That is not so hopeless as it sounds because there is such a one.
It is Jesus… and the price is His blood.
Jesus does not have to give anything in exchange for His soul… because He is perfect.
So when He gave His own precious blood for the sins of humanity… God deemed that it was a “suitable price” to cancel Satan’s claim upon us.
Thus the punishment for sin falls upon Jesus… and the goodness of God falls upon us (John 3:16)
Therefore the gospel says, "You have been bought with a price"
(1st Corinthians 6:20 - 7:23)
"God purchased the church (you and I) with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).
(Revelation 5:9) "You purchased for God with your blood… men from every nation…”
As Jesus faced His own death... He spoke of His blood “being shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28).
This paying of our purchase price… is called "redemption".
He is our "justification, sanctification, and redemption" (1st Corinthians 1:30).
This redemption (or buying of freedom)… is ours by virtue of the "precious blood" of Jesus Christ shed on the cross (1st Peter 1:19)
So there you have it.
It may sound a little complicated… so quit trying to understand it and simply accept it by faith.
“For by grace are ye saved thru faith…” (Ephesians 2:8)
That will open the door to a whole new relationship with God your Father.
Good day!
(Romans 3:23) All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
There are three words that we can easily commit to memory… they are perfection, punishment and price… which outline the wonderful things that Jesus accomplished by dying on the cross.
These are necessary things which we could not do for ourselves...
#1) Jesus Offered a Perfect Sacrifice
Jesus offered to God His perfect life for us because we could not offer a perfect life of our own.
We are all born perfect, because God created our inmost being… (Psalm 139:13)
However we have all been born into an imperfect world, and we have all been spoiled by the world. "Through one man sin entered the world… and death through sin… and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).
#2) A life of perfection
One man,however… made himself an exception.
He said, "Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48) and He practiced what he preached.
He lived a perfect life.
He was tempted in all points as we are…yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Unlike the rest of us… He remained "holy, blameless, and pure… set apart from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26).
Jesus was tempted in a special way by the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1)
However that was not the end of His temptations.
The devil left him only "until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13)
All through His time on earth Jesus was tempted.
Looking back on his life He said to His disciples, "You stood by me in my temptations" (Luke 22:28).
And not once did Jesus ever yield to temptation, coming to the cross with a perfect life behind him.
Even just a few short hours before His death on the cross He was sorely tempted still… "His sweat became like great drops of blood" (Luke 22:44)
He could have called more than twelve legions of angels to rescue him from the cross and death (Matthew 26:53).
Even in His agony on the cross He was tempted and taunted… "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" (Matthew 27:40)
Yet Jesus yielded to nothing except the will of His Father (Luke 22:42)
When we compare ourselves to Jesus… how imperfect we are!
We cannot bring to God a perfect life.
#3) So we face rejection.
Perhaps we could offer some substitute?
Find another creature that is perfect… a lovely bird… an unblemished lamb?
For a time God did accept such offerings for a season… but His Holiness was never satisfied
(Leviticus 22:21 - Hebrews 10:6)
However was and only one perfect substitute… the perfect life of Christ.
When He "offered Himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14)… God accepted Him as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29 1Peter 1:19)
He was manifested… sacrificed… given…to take away our sins and in Him there is no sin (1st John 3:5)
We can claim the perfection of Jesus to be accounted to us as if it were our
Own… and God will accept that claim.
This covering of our own imperfection by the perfection of Christ, is called "sanctification".
Christ is our "justification, sanctification, and redemption" (1st Corinthians 1:30).
Sanctification (or holiness) is ours by virtue of “the perfect life”… which Jesus Christ offered to God on the cross.
Jesus was punished instead of us… because our own punishment would have to be everlasting because of our imperfection.
God's severity (Romans 11:22) demands not only perfection.
God also demands extreme punishment for every imperfection.
In theory, we could only remove our sins… by suffering the just punishment for them.
But in practice that is impossible, because the just punishment required, is nothing less than the everlasting punishment prepared and reserved for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41-46)
At the time of conception… God gives every human being in the womb a perfect spirit destined for eternal life with God in glory.
The punishment for spoiling that perfection is not merely that this destiny is delayed, or that its glory is lessened, but that it is utterly lost.
Since the punishment is eternal, it excludes eternal life with God in Heaven.
But there is a solution.
Jesus and His forgiveness… Jesus and the sacrifice of Himself on the cross… Jesus and His resurrection…
That’s the solution… and if you will call upon the name of the lord Jesus Christ and believe that God raised Him from the dead then you can experience the hope of eternal life that God made available to all.
And Peter writes (2nd Peter 3:8-10) that “God is not willing that we His creation… humanity… should perish or suffer that kind of punishment… but that all would receive and experience His mercy, His compassion, and His deliverance.
Good Day!
However was and only one perfect substitute… the perfect life of Christ.
When He "offered Himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14)… God accepted Him as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29 1Peter 1:19)
He was manifested… sacrificed… given…to take away our sins and in Him there is no sin (1st John 3:5)
We can claim the perfection of Jesus to be accounted to us as if it were our
Own… and God will accept that claim.
This covering of our own imperfection by the perfection of Christ, is called "sanctification".
Christ is our "justification, sanctification, and redemption" (1st Corinthians 1:30).
Sanctification (or holiness) is ours by virtue of “the perfect life”… which Jesus Christ offered to God on the cross.
Jesus was punished instead of us… because our own punishment would have to be everlasting because of our imperfection.
God's severity (Romans 11:22) demands not only perfection.
God also demands extreme punishment for every imperfection.
In theory, we could only remove our sins… by suffering the just punishment for them.
But in practice that is impossible, because the just punishment required, is nothing less than the everlasting punishment prepared and reserved for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41-46)
At the time of conception… God gives every human being in the womb a perfect spirit destined for eternal life with God in glory.
The punishment for spoiling that perfection is not merely that this destiny is delayed, or that its glory is lessened, but that it is utterly lost.
Since the punishment is eternal, it excludes eternal life with God in Heaven.
But there is a solution.
Jesus and His forgiveness… Jesus and the sacrifice of Himself on the cross… Jesus and His resurrection…
That’s the solution… and if you will call upon the name of the lord Jesus Christ and believe that God raised Him from the dead then you can experience the hope of eternal life that God made available to all.
And Peter writes (2nd Peter 3:8-10) that “God is not willing that we His creation… humanity… should perish or suffer that kind of punishment… but that all would receive and experience His mercy, His compassion, and His deliverance.
Good Day!
(Romans 3:23) We all "have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
God’s standard of perfect righteousness cannot be lowered… so the question remains “how can we be made acceptable to Him”?
The bible teaches that God will accept a sacrifice “that covers our shortfall”.
However… that raises a problem.
God cannot accept "just any sacrifice"... the sacrifice has to be "sufficient".
It won't do… if the sacrifice also falls short of God’s standard.
There are several things to consider when understanding "the mercy of God… verses His righteousness"… and our “insufficient” ways and means.
The problem concerning sacrifice… is that it has been “misunderstood” by humanity for centuries.
People today are just as confused about sacrifices… as were those who thought that… "any animal sacrifice"… could be sufficient.
Those bound to the sacrificial system of the Old Testament… failed to understand that animal sacrifices were only “tokens” of the “perfect sacrifice”… which would eventually come… thru the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
The blood sacrifices called for in the Old Testament only covered sin… it did not remove it… that’s why the people had to continually provide sacrifice after sacrifice to cover their sin… however the bible says that God wearied of the continual sacrifice of blood.
(Isaiah 1:11) “What are your many sacrifices to Me says the Lord?
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle… and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.
(Hebrews 10:3-4) “But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
God’s own "holy righteousness"… demands “a perfect sacrifice” and humanity could not give Him that… and you and I… we could not provide that either.
It's a lovely thought… that God would accept a sacrifice in our stead… and deem us righteous by virtue of that sacrifice.
But our sin cannot be transferred to a sacrifice that “in itself”… falls short.
So where on earth do we find a sacrifice that is perfect and doesn't fall short?
God long ago anticipated that obstacle.
Only God Himself could provide “a perfect sacrifice” for us.
In His great love for humanity… God’s grace and mercy drove Him to provide for us… a sacrifice that would meet His righteous demands.
What mattered was that it be “perfect” and "sufficient"
It's sufficiency did not consist in our providing it… “Not by works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9)
So He gave!
Only God Himself could solve the problem… without compromising His standard… by providing a sufficient sacrifice Himself …for us on our behalf
God could provide a sacrifice…but there was a catch.
He is the one true God with one perfect standard.
The reality was that God had only "one thing"… that He could offer that would be "sufficient" to satisfy His standard.
As a matter of fact…"thing"… is not the right word to call it!
It was a Person… the person most special to God of all… “God’s only Son”… in essence… “a piece of Himself”… the one and only Son He had.
Nothing less than the sacrifice of “God’s only Son” would do.
And in our own "natural understanding"… sacrificing your own son is unthinkable… and we would imagine (in our own natural understanding) that God would think as we do… and that the sacrifice of God’s own Son would be out of the question… leaving mankind or humanity hopeless.
But that’s where God differs from humanity.
God says "my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9)
The necessary sacrifice wasn't out of the question.
No…it’s called "amazing grace"!
God was willing to offer His only Son whom He loved so dearly… and the “Son Himself”…was willing to be the perfect sacrifice for us.
The question remained however… as to how this could be accomplished?
The answer?
"God made Him who knew no sin… (His only Son Jesus Christ)… to be sin for us… so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2nd Corinthians 5:21).
What should be done to accomplish the sufficient sacrifice?
Firstly God ordained that… His Son should become flesh…(human)… He should become as those for whom He was to be sacrificed.
Secondly God ordained that… His Son… having become one of us… should live the righteous life that all of us have failed to live.
Thirdly God ordained that… His Son should suffer and be put to death as a wrongdoer… although He had done no wrong.
Fourthly God ordained that… His Son should rise from the dead and ascend into Heaven as our great High Priest… having sacrificed His own flesh and blood that it might be accepted as “the sufficient and perfect sacrifice”… once and for all.
There you have it… the “Almighty plan and implementation”… for the saving of humanity.
And to enjoy the benefits of it… all you have to do is believe it… accept it… and enjoy it.
“For by grace you have been saved thru faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)”.
Good day!