What would you do for a good friend or loved one? If they are someone we care about and love, we would do anything for them, do any favor, or grant any wish that we possibly can. How about dying for them? We might be willing to donate a kidney, or certainly give blood for them if we are a match, but die for them? Possibly for a devoted spouse or child, but not everyone would willingly die for even a good friend, let alone anyone else. In our brief Scripture passage for today we read of Someone who did just that. Let’s look into what God has to say in His Word.
As we open our passage from the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus died for us. What was amazing to Paul was that Jesus died for us, not when we were righteous or godly, but when we were ungodly, when we were sinners. He tells us that we were “without strength” (vs. 6). As humans we are helpless, unregenerate sinners, and are spiritually dead. In our sinful condition, we are incapable of doing anything to help ourselves. We cannot make things right with God, whom we have sinned against. This is what Paul meant in saying that we are “without strength”.
We couldn’t do anything on our own to help make things right with God. However Jesus could and did. He died for us, paying the price for our sins, paying the debt that we couldn’t pay. What is amazing is that He did that for the ungodly, for sinners. He died for those who were in reality rebellious enemies of God. Yet He died for us. God’s love for mankind is unwavering. It is not based on how loveable we are, but on His character. God’s supreme act of love came when we were at our most undesirable.
God loved us even before we turned to Him (vs. 8). He didn’t choose to love us because we were loveable. He loved us, and then we became loveable. Our value comes from His inherent value. Jesus did not merely die for our benefit, He died in our place. The penalty for our sins was death, yet Jesus came to pay our penalty by dying on the cross in our place. The death of Jesus on the cross was a substitutionary sacrifice.
For all those who turn to Jesus, and personally accept His death on their behalf, they are now justified. The Blood of Jesus stands as the guarantee for that justification (vs. 9). We are saved only through the shedding of Jesus’ Blood on the cross, a violent and brutal death. Since He died for us while we were yet sinners, how much more will He do for us now that we are redeemed and reconciled to Him?
As mentioned at the beginning, we might do many things for those we love, for family and good friends. We will do favors for those who are nice to us, but not likely for those who treat us badly. We probably won’t help out the nasty trouble-maker in the neighborhood, nor even the relative that says terrible things to us each time we talk. However as we have seen in our Scripture, who did Jesus die for? He died for sinners. He died for those who hated Him. As I said earlier, most people might only die for their spouse or child, but probably no one else. Would you die for the drunk on the corner? How about for the criminal in prison, including the ones who have done unspeakable things? Yet these are the ones that Jesus died for, not just the “good” people.
Jesus’ death on the cross not only paid the price for our sins, and brought us eternal life in heaven with Him, it also reconciled us to God. We were once God’s enemies, alienated from Him. Jesus died for His enemies, and because of that we are reconciled with Him. We are no longer His enemies, but are now His friends, in truth His brothers and sisters, children of our Father God.
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