"Jesus Paid It All"

"Jesus Paid It All"

   

    Sometimes just the title of a great old hymn abundantly proclaims the glory the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on our behalf.  "Jesus Paid It All" certainly qualifies as a prime example.

    "But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26).

    "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God… for by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:12; 14).

    The death of Christ on the cross of Calvary constitutes so satisfactory an atonement for sin in God's estimation that no other sacrifice or offering will ever be necessary.  Jesus indeed paid it all.  Our iniquities were a price too high for sinful human beings to pay.  No religious ritual or attempt to appease God by our own efforts could begin to absolve our debt.  "The wages of sin is death" declared the Apostle Paul, echoing the Lord's word to Ezekiel: "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Romans 6:23: Ezekiel 18:4).  The consequence of dying for our sins would not be adequate to atone for them because God's standard for redemption requires "a Lamb without blemish and without spot" (I Peter 1:19).  A sinner cannot die for sinners.  The stain would remain.  Moreover, attempting to die for our sins would leave us condemned in our graves rather than "risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God" (Colossians 2:12).  Thus, we require our Lord's working on our behalf as the perfectly satisfactory substitute who could die for our sins because He had none of His own.  Moreover, God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead and provides His risen life to all who believe.  Thereby we not only rejoice in forgiveness, but in "newness of life" that assures us of eternal joy in the presence of God (Romans 6:4).

   "Jesus Paid It All."  He did, and thus believers go forth in the power of God's "free gift" in Christ (Romans 5:16).  Our salvation depends upon the Lord Jesus having absolved our debt through "the sacrifice of Himself."  Our experience of salvation depends on our growing knowledge and understanding of how highly God views the sacrifice of His Son.  One offering.  One sacrifice.  This is our hope, our only hope for both atonement and for a life lived in the peace of God that leads to faith and faithfulness.  The hymnwriter said it well so that we could sing it well, and even more, so that we could live it well for the glory of our Savior.

"Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 5:20-21)

Weekly Memory Verse

     "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

(I Corinthians 15:10)