The entire Christian faith is built on this: as Paul put it, "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4). Christ died for us. And we are amazed, rightfully so. We call it "amazing grace," and it truly is. Just think of it. We were of such value that Christ was willing to die for us! But ... is that true? Were we worth dying for?
Scripture describes the saved as formerly "dead in sin and trespasses" (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13), "hostile to God" (Rom 8:7; Rom 5:10). The Bible says that "while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom 5:6). That particular text makes the point that some might be daring enough to die for a good man (Rom 5:7), "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8). So, here we are, sinners who are blind (2 Cor 4:4), dead, deceived (Jer 17:9), enemies of God, and these are the people Christ died for. Creatures who had opted to worship the creatures rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25). Frankly, we were not worth dying for. We were not worth the sinless life of the Son of God.
Why, then, did He die for us? If we weren't worth it, why did He do it? We don't have to guess. Scripture says, "God displayed [Christ] publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:25-26). Christ died on our behalf as a vindication of God's righteousness. Since everything God does is for His own glory, Christ died to the glory of God. If sin is falling short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), remedying sin is restoring that glory. Christ didn't surrender His life on that cross simply because we were so valuable. He gave His life for us so God would be glorified, so God would be shown right and just, so God would win ... as always. We just happen to be the fortunate recipients of that grace and mercy.
2 comments:
Stan, the truth expressed in your final line is so wonderful--especially when one remembers that we beneficiaries are the very ones whose sin necessitated Christ’s death. Amazing grace indeed! I have heard the saying, “When Jesus was on the cross, I was on His mind.” That is a very touching thought, but I know that Jesus’s love for the Father was the preeminent inspiration for His sacrificial act on our behalf (John 14:31), which served perfectly to remedy sin, restore fellowship between God and us sinful humans, and bring glory to the Father.
I imagine the sentiment that we're worth dying for makes many people even question Christianity. It is what is behind the question, why doesn't He save everybody? It assumes we're worth saving, and God is just a big old meanie for not choosing them. It fails to consider truly how separate we are from Him.
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