The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"So Much Given, So Great the Cost"
God calls the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to proclaim the highest price ever paid for anything, anywhere, at any time.
"Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (I Peter 1:18-20).
"He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2).
Because the Lord Jesus Christ paid so infinitely vast a price, our Heavenly Father can also call us to bear witness to the freest gift ever given.
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
The highest cost. The freest gift. If we had to pare down our Gospel message to 2 key points, these themes would serve as notably effective ways to bear witness to the saving grace of God in Christ.
So much given, so great the cost,
so terrible the sorrow, so vast the loss.
When on that day at Calvary,
the Father smote His Son,
when for us He forsook Him
to bleed and die alone…
So much given, so great the cost.
So much given, so much forgiven.
So great the mercy shining in His face
when on that day we first believed,
and in this day as we receive
the grace to live in faithfulness,
the beauty of His holiness…
So much given, so great the cost.
So much given, of glorious supply,
grace that cost Him all, His holy, precious life.
For on that day when we believed,
His Spirit entered in.
And in this day when we believe,
He lives in us, we live through Him…
So much given, so great the cost.
Our message begins with the price paid. It proceeds to the gift purchased. The cost. The gift. The only way one can fail to receive the gift of God's salvation in Christ is to refuse His pardon and newness of life offered "without price" (Isaiah 55:1). We come with empty hands to the throne of grace because in that most holy of venues, our Heavenly Father allows no barter. The Lord Jesus long ago cleansed an earthly temple where buying and selling took place (John 2:13-16). "Make not My Father's house a house of merchandise!" He demanded. The echoes of His cry ring through the ages, finding the hearts of all who realize the temple of God stands as a place of grace where one cannot pay for that which has already been purchased by the highest of all costs.
Receiving God's gift of salvation in accordance with Scriptural truth leads those so blessed to be filled with wonder, and with a passionate determination to live in a manner that honors the One who paid such a price to make possible such a grace. Little wonder the Apostle Paul proclaimed he would glory only in the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14). Paul well knew that a focus on the cost would lead not only to the reception of grace, but to a life lived in devotion to the One who gave His all that He might freely give His all to those who know indeed "So much given, so great the cost."
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."
(II Corinthians 8:9)
Weekly Memory Verse
"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men" (I Timothy 2:1).
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