“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
We’ve all made sacrifices for other people.
And we are all familiar with the tradeoffs that come with those sacrifices.
Sometimes those sacrifices have little bearing on the grand scheme of things, such as letting someone else pick the movie or where to go for dinner. Other times, those sacrifices are of much greater consequence. For instance, maybe you’ve given up a career or have moved to a new city to care for, or be with, a loved one. The sacrifice involved there is far greater than the sacrifice required to let someone else pick a restaurant.
But there’s not a single one of us who would agree to sacrifice our very best for someone else and take from them their worst!
Imagine for a moment that you had the latest model of your dream car or a brand new version of your dream home. Now imagine offering to give someone else that dream car or dream home in exchange for their beater car or to move into a worn down home. The car barely functions and is nothing but a money pit; meanwhile, the home you’ve now received is properly condemned and deemed unfit to live in. Of course, not one of us would make that type of exchange or sacrifice.
Yet this is exactly what God did when He made Jesus to be our sin offering!
When God gave up His Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for your sin, He was making a declarative statement that would resound for all of eternity:
Jesus took your worst while giving you His best!
Reflections Questions:
- What did Jesus take away from you?
- What has Jesus given to you in return?