For March 29, 2024
I’ve always found the last earthly days our Lord to be incredibly fascinating. Filled with many significant events, His last week on earth saw the pinnacle of His earthly ministry with His crucifixion at Calvary and subsequent death.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born for the purpose to reconcile a sinful humanity to a holy God. Yet, 
to achieve this, He had to forfeit His own life for our redemption as Leviticus 17:11 (NLT) teaches.
For the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.
God created us to be without sin so that we could live forever in His perfect world. However, because of Adam’s disobedience, we face sadness, sin, pain, illness, hardship, and death. Thus as the Bible rightly teaches, sin and death are inevitable (Romans 3:23, 5:14, 6:23).
Aware of His impending death, Jesus made the conscious choice to give up His life for you and me, allowing us to experience the full advantages of His flawless sacrifice—without partiality or distinction.
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:18-19 (NIV)
Ultimately, our Lord Jesus decided to redeem everyone, regardless of their love, hate, belief, or disbelief in Him. His motivation was based on His love for us and His longing for everlasting companionship, as the Bible teaches.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NIV)
And as He taught.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3 17 (NIV)
The Lord Jesus chose bread and wine as symbols of His crucifixion. The bread symbolizes His body, which was sacrificed for us, and the wine represents the New Covenant in His blood. He also affirms that every time we eat and drink, we do so “in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)
A familiar hymn expresses our appropriate response to these timeless truths.
There Is a Fountain , William Cowper (1772)[i]
There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains: Lose all their guilty stains, Lose all their guilty stains; And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in His day; And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away: Wash all my sins away, Wash all my sins away; And there may I, though vile as he Wash all my sins away.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be till I die: And shall be till I die, And shall be till I die; Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation for all our future hopes and desires. Our journey with Him involves a “faith walk” that honors the cross and reviews the incredible treasures that await us in His Father’s house.
Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
As we look towards the vast spiritual reality that awaits us, our hearts cease from troubling. Won’t you choose Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior today, and allow Him to transform your life forever?
What a Wonderful Savior!
[i]William Cowper, “There Is a Fountain,” 101 Hymn Stories, Kenneth Osbeck, ed., (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1982) 263-265.