I Died For You

Christ left His glory behind to suffer shame. There was nothing, not a penny's-worth, in it for Him. There was no fame or power or wealth or pleasure, only sorrow and pain and grief and separation and humiliation. He had nothing to gain, and everything to lose. That, my friends, is love.

For Him to descend, to be lowly, to stoop down to the level of degenerate man, to reach out, almost as a last resort, to a human race that would ultimately reject Him. For Him to show such love and experience  such rejection was magnimous. Why did He do it?

The amazing, incredible, miracle of the cross and salvation, is right before our eyes. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. Jesus gave it all up. He did not have to. It was not our right, not something we can ever demand of Him.

Imagine two men standing before the cross, whose message was "I died for you". One is a Christian. He seems exceedingly grateful, pleased, and thankful for Christ's gift to him. He can only reply, "Thank you Jesus, " and walks away. The gift of salvation, so precious and so costly and so rare, he only receives, keeps, says the necessary thanks, and goes away. It sits on his bookshelf, unused and untreasured. If one were to ask such a Christian, what salvation means to him, he would say, "To get me into heaven one day, and to take to church every Sunday". This man goes to church every Sunday to do a great favor to God by showing some appreciation for God's gift of salvation.

If we are as such, we turn the sufferings of Christ and the cost of His sacrifice into nothing. 

He hung on the cross, for nothing? To be a little pretty accessory to us? To be a cherry on our ice-cream sundae? Sundae, Schmundae...

There stood another man before the cross. This man had perception. He saw and understood Christ's suffering and rejection. He knew what salvation costs. He was overcome by the magnitude of God's kindness, undeserved kindness. Christ said to the man, "Follow you, and I will made you a fisher of men".  That man was won for Christ that day, and he left behind his entire life and followed Christ. He could not keep salvation for himself, but by life and by death, he brought the gospel to as many as would hear, and died a martyr.  Christ said to that man, "Bear up your cross and follow me. Sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Share in me, in my suffering, my rejection, my pain, my loss, my humiliation, my death."

Nothing stood between that man and Christ. "I have decided to follow Jesus, and there is no turning back. The cross is before me, the world is behind. I will suffer the loss of all things that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness except that which is through faith in God."

So between the two men at the cross, which one are you?

Jesus said, "I died for you."

One man says, "I give my life to you."

The other man, "Thank you."

Who is the one who is grateful? 

Jesus said, not only by word but by supreme demonstration,

"I love you."

One man says, "Gee, thanks." Maybe he might condescend even say, "Yeah, sure, I love you too."

The other man, he died a martyr.

Which man really knew what Jesus' love was - not a pretty trifle to be received but a pearl of great price.

Jesus didn't just die for you. Jesus doesn't love only you. The only way you can realize that is when you stop being selfish, self-centred, and self-consumed long enough to understand the sufferings of Christ. We must not be a leech, a taker, and a useless fool, an adult who acts like a baby.

Yes, Jesus gave 100% for you. He went 100% out of His way for you. But it doesn't end there! Goodness - can all you say is, "thank you???!!!"

This is the message that my generation needs to hear.