"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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