"Be
still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I
will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God
of Jacob is our refuge. Selah."
-Psalm
46:10-11 [KJV]
"HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON"
Before
the foundation of the world, God chose a people in Christ and
purposed to be gracious to them (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Those
ordained to salvation were "predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ" (Romans 8:29). Here is the
question I want you to consider: what will God sacrifice in order to
save the objects of His love from their sins? What was He willing to
surrender so that a multitude of rebels would be justified in His
sight? I will first tell you what He did not sacrifice. He did not
part with His holy character by compromising His justice because "the
wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). He did not give up
His honor by lessening the standard for acceptance: "it
shall be perfect to be accepted" (Leviticus 22:21). And,
He did not abandon His Law which says, "the soul that
sinneth shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20).
I
will tell you the sacrifice God gave to save His people from their
sins - His own Son. "For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16). "God
spared not His own Son..." (Romans
8:32). Why did God "not spare His own Son"? There
was no other way He could be just and justify the ungodly. The sins
of His people were imputed to Christ and as their Substitute He died
and thereby satisfied the claims of justice against us. It is
written, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5).
In
order to make us righteous, God would not and could not surrender His
holiness, His honor or His Law, but He did give His Son over to the
sword of vengeance (Zechariah 13:7). The blessed Redeemer, God’s
Offering for sin and our Substitute, suffered the agonizing death of
the cross in order to "save
His people from their sins"
(Matthew 1:21). "The
LORD hath laid on Him
the iniquity of us all"
(Isaiah 53:6). When Christ died, the sins of God’s children were
condemned, and therefore, those for whom He laid down His life shall
never be condemned (Romans 8:1-3).
-Gospel report by preacher Jim Byrd
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