John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I have doing quite a bit of research for a novel I am writing, and as I read about the physical effects of crucifixion, I really wanted to understand it. This is how the Holy Spirit helped me get a better grasp of my Saviour’s crucifixion and the cost of my salvation. (Warning: the next paragraph is quite graphic in its descriptions.)
I have two children that I love beyond words. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for either one of them. But there are some things, I couldn’t even dream of doing. I can’t imagine offering my child as a sacrifice to a group of people who would hate and despise that child with the same intensity with which I love him or her. I can’t imagine my child being beaten again and again with thick ropes embedded with rocks and bits of metal ripping and tearing into the muscles of the back I once patted so tenderly. I can’t imagine my child being mocked mercilessly and beaten repeatedly with strong fists hammering into the face I once kissed so lovingly. I can’t imagine huge iron spikes being driven into a wooden cross through the wrists and ankles of my child, creating excruciating pain as nerves and tissues are shredded by the heavy nails. I can’t imagine my child struggling to breathe, trying vainly to force his or her body up just a fraction to allow a tiny bit of air to flow into anguished lungs as blood runs freely down the broken and battered torso from the jagged wounds that are now being scraped against the splintered wood of the cross. I can’t imagine that the only way to save a lost and dying world would be to have my child tortured and killed like this, but God can.
If fact, God so loved the world that He did the unimaginable.
He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, so that I could have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven with Him. I can’t even begin to imagine the cost of my salvation.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
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What does God’s sacrifice mean to you?