Friday, 05 April 2024
“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. For this is what My Father has commanded.” – John 10:18 NLT
In the same way, an anaconda suffocates its prey and devours it, and the cat climbs trees and is chased by dogs, I too must be who I am, who I was made to be (I am what I am). There was a woman who went to a clothing store to finish paying for a dress she had on lay-by. She had never ever bought herself a brand new dress and she was adamant that this year she would also be like other women who look good during the festive season. It was almost Christmas and she had been saving for so long so that she may have a brand new dress for Christmas. When she got to the store she found out that someone had paid for her dress. An anonymous donor had settled her account in FULL. Word got around the town and everyone who had a lay-by found out that all their accounts were settled in full. Everyone was overjoyed as the little money they were gonna use to settle their accounts could be used for other pressing matters. It turned out that this Secret Santa settled more than fifty accounts. This happened in Namaqualand.
“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, GOD did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous REQUIREMENTS of the law might be FULLY met in US, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4 NIV). As Christians, we must never ever think that the law doesn’t apply or it was abolished. The law is righteous and holy and as such, it has to be fulfilled. But as sinful men, we could never ever fulfill it (not even close). This is why Jesus took it upon Himself to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf. He who knew no sin, willingly and voluntarily sacrificed Himself to be ridiculed, embarrassed, and harassed on our behalf so that we may become the righteousness of GOD. He restored us to our predestined state of fellowship with Jehova. But to really appreciate and internalize this huge sacrifice you first need to appreciate its implications (as a scientist, I needed facts or context to reconcile with this sacrifice).
As a Christian, there are two Scriptures that need to be revealed to you PERSONALLY. If these two Scriptures haven’t formed roots or taken hold in your life, you will live an uncertain and miserable existence, a life riddled with anxiety and worry. These two Scriptures are, Matthew 18:12 and Romans 8:28. It is estimated that there are eight billion people on earth, and roughly 134 million kids born per year (2023), and 61 million people die (2023) so that then means 73 million people are added to the population (2023 stats), on top of the 8 billion that already exist. If we roughly estimate how many people have come and gone in the last 50 years, we see that we roughly talking about close to a trillion souls that currently walk or have walked on this earth. So hypothetically speaking, if all these trillion people rejected Christ and didn’t want anything to do with Him, do you PERSONALLY believe Christ would still have willingly and voluntarily died for you on the cross? There’s corporate faith and then there’s personal faith. Do you HONESTLY believe He would have given the prayer at Gethsemane just for you? This is the TRUE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. The knowing that GOD would still have died for me, faults and all. When you have this personal revelation, you then truly understand and can internalize Romans 8:28. What manner of love is this? How precious is a soul and why did GOD lay such a burden and a heavy sacrifice on His only begotten son? How precious am I?
In the same way, some of the citizens of Namaqualand were struggling to make ends meet, struggling to afford what many would consider as a basic human need, there needed to be a sacrifice from a secret donor to settle their accounts so that they too may be joyous. In the same manner, Christ paid for and settled our accounts in FULL. He took it upon Himself to restore and reconcile us to our Maker. This is why we celebrate and appreciate the Passover. This is why Easter is so precious and personal to us Christians. For we know that GOD would have left the trillions and sacrificed Himself just for me.
He who knew no sin, willingly and voluntarily sacrificed Himself to be ridiculed, embarrassed, and harassed on our behalf so that we may become the righteousness of GOD
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