“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” —John 3:17

INTRODUCTION

This year’s Easter has provided another opportunity for the Christian world to elaborate on the crowning work of our loving Saviour. We spent time to dissect the horrors of the supreme sacrifice that made the positive difference in our eternal desti­ny. Sermons, songs, and in some cases, the ordinance of foot washing and communion, helped to re-enact the events of the last supper. And once again, we remembered that someone gave His life that we might have everlasting life.

It was a recollection that filled us with dread. For how could a holy God love our sinful human race so much that He put His only begotten Son through that much suffering so that we might be saved? It was also a recollection that filled us with hope. For how could we fear for the future when the crucified Christ rose from the dead and now lives forever?

As the rest of the year stretches ahead of us, if there is one message to keep in mind, it is that Jesus did not die in vain. He died for a purpose, and that purpose extends beyond the Easter holidays. In our key text, we are reminded that He came to save, and not to condemn the world. He has completed His part, and left us to do our part.

As terrible as the pain was, He bore it for our sake. As humiliating and degrad­ing as He was made to feel, He patiently submitted Himself to it all, though He could have called ten thousand angels to slay all those who played principal parts to perpet­uate that injustice. He bore it all, so that we can benefit from it. What then are we expected to do in response to such a great­expression of love?

THE GENERAL RESPONSE

TO CHRIST’S SACRIFICE

We know from Biblical accounts that those who witnessed the crucifixion of Christ did not forget in a hurry. There were those who denied it, knowing in their hearts that they were untrue to compelling evi­dences and to their own consciences. There were those who had previously doubted, but understood Him clearly only while He was on the cross.

All were touched in irreversible ways. And when Jesus rose again, it was the cue for many to then confess Him as Lord till their last breath.

Jesus did not need to remain physically with them after His resurrection. He had taught them during His three and a half years with them and left them with the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide. His disci­ples remembered, and the fervor of their witness ignited new generations of other witnesses. They did not just confess Him with their mouths or profess Him merely in their hearts. They did so with their lives. Undaunted by the threat of death, they considered the spilling of their blood a fee­ble match for the shed blood of God’s Son.

When Peter came face to face with the cross, he saw his unworthiness in stark contrast to the innocence of the One con­demned.

When Paul was confronted with the reality of the One who died on the cross, he made a U-turn. Stephen kept his faith to the last, unshaken by the weight of the stones thrown at him, and it did not succeed in shutting out his witness. He breathed his last as a faithful, unrelenting witness of the power of God’s grace. The apostle John died with his belief in the effi­cacy of the sacrifice of the Son of God.

These men realised how important the issue of salvation is. The recollections of the Roman whip on Jesus’ back, the jeers, and sneers, and shoves—all for a crime He did not commit fired them up. These spoke to them louder and clearer than even Jesus’ words.

Those who were His disciples remem­bered the times He got hungry and thirsty and tired, all because He wanted to save sinful man. They saw clearly how He went through all of that, by choice, and not be­cause we deserve it.

They remembered how, during the last supper with them, He broke bread and poured wine and commanded them: “Do this in remembrance of me.” As believers, do we remember all these, or have they faded from our memory already, buried un­der a pile of work and day-to-day concerns?

OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S LOVE

Remember how on Easter Sunday, we showed up in our Easter clothes and lis­tened with rapt attention to the preacher?

irred deep within us and evoked a commitment to for­sake all for the cause of Christ. Just as we were reminded that He died for us, so we are com­mitted to live for Him. Do we still feel the same way today, or have the cares of the week piled on top of the commit­ment we made? Has it been so long already since that stirring sermon?

Is our life back to the rou­tine of the usual grind? Do we think we can go back to our old way of seeing and doing things? Does Christ’s death and sacrifice impact the choices we make, the friends we keep, how we use our resources, what we eat, and drink, and wear, and how we live our lives?

Do we remember why He died for us? And do we remem­ber that He lives interceding for us so we will not be lost? What has changed about our lives since we pondered the account of Easter this year? Remember, He did not die in vain. Remember, we should not hear the account of His death or profess our belief in His sac­rifice in vain. If we recognise that, then we should accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. And if we accept Him as Lord, then we should let Him to have full reign and take charge of our lives.

In closing, Bill Gaither re­minds us of our hope as believ­ers in his classic hymn, Because He Lives.

1. God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive;

He lived and died to buy my pardon, An empty grave is there to prove my Saviour lives!

Chorus:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!

2. How sweet to hold a newborn baby, And feel the pride and joy he gives;

But greater still the calm assurance: This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

3. And then one day, I’ll cross the river, I’ll fight life’s final war with pain;

And then, as death gives way to victory, I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives!

To be continued!

Stay blessed!

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By Dr Joyce Aryee, The Author