“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
John 3:16a
Imagine the following scenario:
Found guilty of multiple capitol crimes, you have been sentenced to death by hanging.
You are trembling as the executioner leads you up the gallows. A black hood is slipped over your head, everything is now dark, you are keenly aware as the noose is fastened around your neck and cinched firmly under your jaw, you can feel the knot against the mastoid bone behind your left ear. Your hands have been tied behind your back this whole time, and now the executioner moves you over the trap door in the floor which is designed to drop away when the hangman pulls the release lever. Your ankles are bound together to prevent your legs from flailing about in that soon-to-come moment when the weight of your falling body will snap your neck. Nauseous to the point of vomiting, you can taste the bile in your otherwise dry as cotton mouth; your knees almost buckle except for the strong hands that you feel grasp your elbows, keeping you upright…
You are guilty and you know it, there is no denying it, and in this moment of anguish you feel such sorrow, regretting that you failed to follow a better path, and you wait for death, you struggle to even take your next breath.
After a few moments that seem like an eternity, the noose and hood are removed and the brightness of the light of day causes you to squint but in front of you stands another man that whose face you can’t make out yet. The hangman unties your hands and feet, you are gently led off the trap door and suddenly your are face to face with a Man whose eyes peer into your very soul. Suddenly His countenance breaks into a huge grin, His eyes soothingly penetrate deep into your very soul …He wraps his arms around you in the longest and most loving embrace you have ever experienced. Suddenly He announces to the judges and the executioner, and to all present:
“It is finished. I gladly pay the price for this man’s life. The ransom is paid in full.”
At that moment you realize that something incredible is happening, and as you stand off to the side of the platform, this Man-Yeshua-approaches the hangman. He is bound and led over the trap door. The noose is placed around His neck, but there is no hood placed over His face…in those final seconds His eyes are lovingly locked on yours…He speaks to you without words; You suddenly know, finally understand how valuable you are to Him. He looks up towards the heavens, and closing His eyes the hangman pulls the trap door release.
Descending the staircase, you realise what has been done by Yeshua for you; through tears of sadness and joy you resolve in your heart and soul to live in newness of life and forever remember your Savior with every breath, every thought, every action. You were guilty and condemned, deserving of death but God sent His only Son to die so that you could, so that you would, live…
Beloved-reflect on this truth. Without Yeshua (Jesus) we are dead-a standing death sentence that has been pronounced. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)- we are all deserving of death and punishment…
But God…
Redeemed , ransomed, and delivered…the highest price paid for each of us, and why?
Because He loves us that much, because He has a great plan for us…if we seek Him…
What He asks of us is simple:
Love Him back with every fiber of our being, obey all of His commandments and
Love one another truly in unity…so that the world will know that we are His.