The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Wages of Sin"
"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)
While sin will take its terrible and eternal toll on multitudes who do not repent and believe, the greatest consequence of sin involves not sinners, but rather the One who "bore our sins" and was "made to be sin for us" (I Peter 2:24; II Corinthians 5:21).
"Christ died for our sins" (I Corinthians 15:3).
The Prince of life experienced death for our sake. What would this have involved in His vibrant, eternally alive spirit? What horror would the Lord Jesus Christ have known by bearing our sins, and even more, by the Apostle Peter's incomprehensible description of our Savior "made to be sin?" The Christ who "loved righteousness and hated iniquity" somehow became on the cross of Calvary that which utterly conflicts with His pristinely holy nature (Hebrews 1:9). Thus, He died as the object of God's wrath against sin. Little wonder He cried out "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). And little wonder our Lord will "never forsake" those who believe when He paid such a price to secure our eternal redemption (Hebrews 13:5).
"But none of the ransomed ever knew
how deep were the waters crossed,
nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through
'ere He found His sheep that was lost."
(from The Ninety and Nine, Elizabeth Clephane)
How terrible the consequences of sin regarding the lost and unbelieving sinner, of whom the Lord Jesus declared, "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24). But how much more terrible that the One who did nothing to deserve "the wages of sin" nevertheless received them as administered by the Father who loved Him. How deep the waters? How dark the night? We will never know. But we can believe, and in this moment we can join the throng of praise depicted in the book of Revelation to express our loving devotion to so wonderful a Savior...
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever."
(Revelation 5:11-14)
Weekly Memory Verse
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.
(I John 1:7)
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