JESUS DIED ON OUR BEHALF

God took Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it. Then, He commanded Adam with these words, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die" (Genesis 2:15-17). The prohibition to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is to test Adam's faithfulness and submission to God. The fruit was not poisonous, but what brought death to Adam was his disobedience to God's command, which is called sin. Romans 5:12 says, "When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned." Adam began to reap the consequences of his sin. He began to age and eventually died physically. However, that was not the worst of the consequences of sin. It was the spiritual death that God was very concerned about because spiritual death is eternal separation from him and eternal punishment in hell. 

The consequence of sin is death, so all must die because of sin. In the Old Testament, priests would sacrifice clean animals to God for the sins of the people. These sacrifices replaced the death that the people deserved. In addition, the blood of the animals covered their sins to give them temporary forgiveness of their sins. Since the effect of animal sacrifices was temporary, the priests offered endless animal sacrifices for the sins of the people. God wanted to have a permanent solution to our sins, so He sent Jesus to replace the animal sacrifices with His death on the cross. Hebrews 7:27 says, "Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins." When Jesus took our place on the cross, He died for our sins once and for all. We don't need to offer animal sacrifices for our sins anymore, for Jesus' death on the cross was sufficient to wash away our sins for all time. 

In order for us to receive the effect of Jesus' death on the cross, we must believe in Him as our Lord and Savior. We don't have to die for our sins; Jesus took care of our death. We just need to believe in Jesus by surrendering our lives to Him.  

Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) What is the consequence of my sin? Why did Jesus die on the cross? How can I receive the forgiveness of my sins?

Take a moment to write down all your worries today. Then, lift them up to God in prayer, surrendering them to His will and trusting in His guidance.

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross on my behalf. I deserve to die because of my sin. Yet, Jesus died for me that I may be saved from my sins. Please help me not to take for granted what my Lord Jesus had done on the cross for me. In this coming Good Friday, please help me to remember and show my appreciation for the love and sacrifice that you have shown me. In your name, Jesus, I pray, Amen.