What motivated God the Father to send His one and only cherished Son to earth to die for us? Why would the holy Son of God want to come into a wicked world? Moreover, what would prompt Him to give His life as a human sacrifice for sinful, wicked humanity? It is inherent in God’s nature to make such an extreme and totally unwarranted sacrifice.
What is God’s nature? “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Because of the unconditional love that God the Father has for each one of us, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ into this world. Likewise, Christ Himself loved all mankind with an eternal love, which compelled Him to be the sacrifice for sinful humanity.
Of course, there have always been those who have made great sacrifices for people who were kind, considerate, and morally upright. However, virtually no one, of his or her own volition, would actually die for another person. And it is very unlikely that anyone would willingly give his or her life for a vile and hateful person, especially someone who is an enemy. Would you? I can’t possibly imagine doing such a thing, myself. Yet, that is just exactly what Jesus Christ did for you and for every other person who will ever live. He “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
We see that both the Father and the Son share a mutual love for all mankind. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ is God’s love-gift to you and me. “God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). It’s difficult to imagine how anyone could really love us, especially after all the evil things we have done. Nevertheless, that is just exactly what God did for us.
It was a joint effort between the Father and the Son. They vividly demonstrated their unconditional love for us when the Father gave His Son for us, and when the Son gave His life for us. We certainly didn’t deserve it. After all, we were sinners. Inconceivable? Yes, it is. But it’s true! Praise God, it’s true!
Adapted from Introducing The New You. To read more… https://www.sourceministries.net/go/resources/the-new-you/
Copyright©2023 Dr. Lewis Gregory
You are encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way. Please give credit to the author in any printed publications.
