Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Thoughts from Pastor Stuart
Dive Deeper
Behind the Scenes
There’s something unique about Christianity that is not found in any other religion. I want to take a second to highlight just a quick snapshot of some of the major world religions and see if you can tell the difference.
Hinduism: The god of the Hindus is Brahman, the “being of ultimate oneness” which is manifest in infinite different gods and goddesses. Their goal is to work toward spiritual perfection through repeated reincarnations and finally achieve oneness.
New Age: The god of New Age is self. Their goal is to free their minds from the illusion of anything negative and painful and work to become spiritually mature enough to be their own god.
Buddhism: Buddhists do not believe there is a God. Their goal is to work toward a state of purity in which they no longer have any sensual desires and have completely let go of attachment to self. They believe that the ultimate goal is Nirvana, a state in which the “flame” of desire is completely extinguished.
Islam: The god of Islam is Allah. They believe that Allah is honored and worshiped through good deeds and works which will be weighed out and evaluated at their death. Upon death, a Muslim’s deeds will be weighed and evaluated for worthiness to enter Paradise.
There are of course many other religions, but we don’t have time to take a look at them all today. Did you notice that each description carried the same word? “Work.” See, that is the difference. Where every other religion in the world lines out deeds and works a person must do to attain the approval of their god, Christianity is just the opposite.
God, the One True God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Alpha and the Omega… THAT God, He saw that if it were left to us to make things right, we never could. He knew that the only way for our reconciliation to actually take place was for Him to step in.
And although the mess was entirely our fault, God took the weight of making it right entirely on His shoulders. He didn’t wait until we had ourselves cleaned up. Do you see it? “While we were still sinners…” Christ didn’t wait. He loved you too much to risk it. He stepped in and did His part and ours.
He came to us.
Every other religion tells you that you have to work to get to God. But the truth is, God came to us! He did all the work because we never could. He alone.
Make it Real
The audacious, overwhelming, unfair logic of the Gospel trips me up. In my perfectionist self, I reason that I should have to carry some part of the weight. But the reality is, if God asked me to carry even an ounce of my Salvation, it would crush me.
This is one reason we see so many people despair when it comes to faith. We’ve bought the lie that even a small portion of our salvation is ours to own. Instead of letting Christ carry the burden, we try to heft it onto our own backs, wondering why our knees buckle under the weight.
It’s a God-sized weight. So, God sent a God-sized solution. He sent Jesus, God incarnate, to take the punishment for our sins and carry the weight that would otherwise crush us.
I don’t know where you find yourself this Easter season. Maybe, like me, you struggle with the audacity of a gospel that takes such huge weight off your shoulders where it rightly belongs and places it on the shoulders of our perfect Jesus. Maybe you’re trying to “help” Jesus carry your weight by doing “your part”. Maybe you’re trying to do it all on your own.
Wherever you are today, just stop. Rest. Breathe. He’s got you. Whatever weight you are carrying today, trying to earn God’s favor, put it down. You already have His favor in full. You don’t need to do anything to earn it or deserve it. It is a free gift, one purchased by the perfect blood of Jesus Christ, willingly poured out for you and me. Your salvation has already been paid for, there is no need for you to try and pay for it again.
God’s grace is enough.
Crystal Garnett
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Lord,
Today I just want to say thank You. Thank You for being enough. Thank You for taking the weight that was meant for me. Thank You for seeing that I could never carry it on my own. Thank You for not asking me to carry it, even a little bit. Thank You for shedding Your blood to purchase my Salvation. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen!