ONE SACRIFICE

"...The measure of God's love for us is shown by two things. One, is the degree of his sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of our sin. The other is, the degree of unworthiness that we had when he saved us.

     The measure of His love for us increases still more when we consider our unworthiness.

"Perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows His love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:7-8

   We deserved divine punishment, not divine sacrifice. I have heard it said, "God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans." This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not  have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. WE ARE. Our debt is so great, only divine sacrifice could pay it.

   There is only one explanation for God's sacrifice for us. It's not us. It is the riches of His grace. It's all free. It's not a response to our worth. It's the overflow of His infinite worth."

-John Piper, The Passion of Jesus Christ

Many people do sacrifices when the season of Lent comes. Most of the time, it is to appease God for their sins; so often, Lent comes with a sober thought. But for me, Lent should be a Celebration, because it is a reminder that the greatest sacrifice for our sins has been made 2,000 years ago at the Cross. Sometimes, we should sacrifice in order to obey God. But no sacrifice is ever enough to make God forgive our sins. Only Jesus can do that and it is only by accepting what He has done for us, can we receive the forgiveness we desperately need.  That One sacrifice says it all.

"...If we are saved from the consequences of our bad deeds, it will not because they weighed less than our good deeds. It will be because the record of debt in heaven has been nailed to the Cross of Christ... There is no hope in our deeds. There is only hope in the suffering and death of Christ.

   There is no salvation by balancing the record. There is only salvation by cancelling records. The record of our bad deeds (including our defective good deeds), along with the just penalties that each deserves, must be blotted out-- not balanced. This is what Christ suffered and died to accomplish."

-John Piper, The Passion of Jesus Christ

Have  a blessed Lenten week, everyone! :)

♥ Kate :)