#jesus

“God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is the only one who can make atonement for our sins.

The death of Jesus on our behalf brings forgiveness and reconciles us with the Holy God. Amazing, isn’t it? Wherever you are in the Old Testament, God the Father is preparing us for God the Son.

Today, thank God for his compassion - his affection that leads to action. Thank God for his grace - acceptance without condition. Thank God for his patience - his slowness to become angry. Thank God for his love - the love that sent Jesus to the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Thank God for his faithfulness - He will always keep his promises. Thank God that through his Holy Spirit, he is standing with you right now.

God so loved the world that He sent His Son. Jesus, fully-God and fully-man, died on the cross as the penalty for our sin. When we trust in the Son, the Father accredits Christ’s righteousness to us and declares us “not guilty.” God the Spirit takes up residence in us and enables us to live a life that pleases God.

The penalty of sin is death, a penalty that Jesus took on himself. “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b). Because of Jesus, eternal death passes over us, and we pass over from physical death to eternal life.

Through the work of Jesus, believers have an eternal inheritance that will “never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). Our rebirth comes with powerful privileges.

Jesus didn’t stay an infant for long. It was time for Mary and Joseph to prepare Jesus to become a “son of commandment” (bar mitzvah). At that age young boys were obligated to observe the religious practices personally. So Jesus made the trip for Passover. Two decades later he would make the trip again, one last time, giving his life on the cross.

Death followed Jesus throughout his life. From the moment of his birth, those in authority were trying to kill him. And finally, they did. But not as a helpless victim; Jesus voluntarily gave himself up for us on the cross.  He died in my place. He died so that I could live. Have you surrendered to the King? Or, like Herod, are you still trying to keep him out of your life?

The journey to Jesus is seldom free of obstacles. The reality with Jesus is not always a storybook life or a storybook ending. It is often tiring and messy. The believer is not free from disappointment, discouragement, or disillusionment. Sometimes the terrain is rugged and the paths steep.  But when we set our hearts on seeing Jesus, nothing will hold us back.