How God loves us — He truly came down to our level.
by Bill Blair on 18/05/08 at 11:30 am
This is an election year and politicians have been and will be doing all sorts of things to try to connect with voters. One thing that typically happens is that politicians go to great lengths to attempt to show average voters that they understand what is like to be a common working man or woman. We see them giving up their power suits for plaid shirts. We see them on construction sites trying to use a hammer. We see them giving up their private jets for bus tours and in some cases they go to driving themselves in pickup trucks. All of this is to show that they understand what we are going through.
The trouble is that the plaid shirt is brand new and perfectly ironed and starched. The buses are top of the line and the truck is brand new. On the job-site, the hammer is only used long enough for someone to take a picture. At the end of the day, after all these “common man” activities are finished, the politicians retreat to the Hilton (or wherever they stay) for luxurious night’s rest. I am not saying that they don’t understand the “common man,” but all of these activities are just for show. None of them really leave their lofty position to drive pickup trucks and become carpenters.
But Jesus did.
Unlike politicians of today who pretend to leave their lofty positions and pretend to be common men, Jesus really left the highest position to become a common man. Think about it. Jesus, the eternal son of God, left Heaven to become human, a common man. When he became human, he did not come as a ruler, but he came as an average carpenter. How much lower of a position do our politicians have than God? Yet these politicians only pretend to give up their position, and only do it for a few minutes. For them to even come close to doing what Jesus did when he became a man, they would have to give up seeking office, give up their money, their fame, and their power. They would have to truly lower themselves to become a common man and not just pretend to be one.
It amazing how Jesus would lower himself to our level to truly experience what it is like to be a common man. You may be thinking: Why did he do that? The answer is that he had a mission, but the reason He did is because He loves us.
His mission was to become a man and live a sinless life, and to lay down his life, dying on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sins and reconcile us to God.
The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); therefore, we were all doomed to die and be separated from God unless something happened to change our situation. God being pure and Holy, could not just accept us in sin; therefore, the penalty of our sins must be paid for if we were to ever to return into fellowship with God. Jesus, being sinless, did not deserve death, but gave up his life by dying on the cross taking our punishment. The Bibles says that Jesus “bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Christ humbled himself and became a common man, lived a sinless live, died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and rose from the dead on the third day defeating death so we can inherit eternal life.
Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we are offered a free gift of forgiveness for our sins and to eternal life with the risen Christ in a redeemed world for all of eternity. This gift, however, is for only those who have placed their faith, their eternal trust, in Jesus. To receive this gift, we must repent (turn away from our sinfulness), and believe that Jesus really lived, really died, and really rose from the grave. If you have not done this, then now is the time to do so. Humble yourself and receive the gift as Jesus humbled himself to give it.
If this is new to you and you have some questions, shoot me an email, and I will try to answer them.
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