Weekly Infusion of Encouragement
"It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:7-8
Have you ever made a list of people who you would be willing to die for? Maybe on that list is your husband/wife, children, other family, or maybe even a few close friends. There's a good chance, however, that your list doesn't have anyone you sort-of know, strangers, and, especially, enemies - you know, that jerk who cut you off last week. This is what makes Christ's sacrifice so shocking to us - he died for everyone. Now there are some that might say that Christ died for people he didn't even know; he died only knowing the sins of those near him at that time. But I support a different view - Christ died knowing full well what and for whom he was dying. He knew my sins; he knew your sins. He knew just how evil all of us had the potential to be and he sacrificed himself all the same. Why? Because the only chance to redeem a future of perpetual evil was to die and insert a glimpse of hope and light. Paul says it in his own way when he writes, "While we were still sinners Christ died for us." In other words, I can rest assured on my salvation through the grace of God because Christ died knowing that he was saving me from my sin...saving you from your sin.
Thank God today for his unrelenting and immeasurable love - the love that saved you. Who do you know needs to hear about his love? Who could you invite to church so that they might hear about the sacrifice of Christ?