Our Loving Friend
Originally Posted on InTouch Ministries, View Original Post Here
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:6-11
Jesus lived a perfect life: He was sinless and fully pleasing to God. He didn’t have any unrighteousness or sin for which He owed payment (Rom. 6:23), but we do. If Jesus had never come to earth, we would be headed for eternal separation from God. Yet our Savior cared so much that He left heaven and died for the world He loved—even for those who rejected Him.
Today’s passage describes the mystery of an innocent person dying in place of a guilty one. Paul asks who among us would volunteer to take on someone else’s deserved punishment. Maybe we’d consider helping a righteous person, but Jesus was willing to help the guilty. He became our substitute—taking on both our sin and our penalty. God’s wrath was poured out on Him for all our sins.
Jesus died on the cross so that we might enter God’s family and live with Him forever. Jesus’ sacrifice changed us from outsiders to children of God, from enemy to beloved, and from stranger to friend. No one could care about us more deeply than that.
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