I just meditated on one simple sentence this morning:

“God died for me.”

Thought 1: For God to die for my sins, my sins must be truly horrendous – a lot more than I can imagine! So often, I do not think my sins are really big deal, that everyone else does the same anyway. But for God to die for my sins, they must be worse than I could ever imagine.

Thought 2: My sense of right and wrong must be out of whack. Since I do not think my sins are so bad that they merit God dying for them, I must be so far off base… Since I know that God is the true Judge and my sense of morality must conform to His, this shows me how far I have to go to have His heart.

Thought 3: I must be of infinite value to Him! Or else why would He exchange His life for mine? Even though my heart condemns me and says, “you are worthless; you’re only using up precious resources,” God’s action shows me that I’m worth His Son’s life!

Thought 4: So the gospel emerges from that sentence: “I am more wicked than I ever dared believed; but I’m more loved than I ever dared hoped.” (credit to Tim Keller)

1 Peter 3:17-18, “18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”

When I was younger, I took it for granted. I heard so much of how God died for me, it became hackneyed. It didn’t touch my heart. But now that I’m older and have children of my own and know what it means to ache for someone else, I think I’m beginning to understand… How hardened of me to understand God’s holiness and love only when my own circumstances merit them? But God is gracious to bring me to this place albeit using what matters to me…

God is great! Worship Him only!

PH