Growing up in a Christian home, going to Christians schools, and attending Christian churches this was a phrase that I heard often: Jesus Died For Your Sins. Because I heard it so often, I never really THOUGHT about it. I always just knew it. Looking back, I feel like growing up in a Christian home, while a tremendous blessing, also has it's set backs. Now I know that sounds stupid... "Poor little Christian girl grew up in a home where she knew the Savior of the world loved her, died for her, and wanted to know her before she could talk..." I get it. THAT WAS A HUGE PRIVILEGE. But stay with me... Because of this, I was never really forced to consider the magnitude of that sacrifice. I never had a huge testimony where one day I was an alcoholic, drug addict living on the streets until Jesus rescued me. I was never a party girl looking for love in all the wrong places until I found the love of Jesus. I was just a normal kid, growing up in a two parent family, that was raised in a Christian bubble. And I am so grateful for that, but I'll be honest, sometimes I have wished that I had one of these "testimonies." It's hard to share Jesus with those who are in rough circumstances when you haven't lived those same circumstances. Now that's not to say that I've never sinned or that I'm perfect. Because that's far from the truth. I have sinned, still sin, and will continue to sin for the rest of my life.. because I'm human, and that's what us flawed humans do. But I've grown up my whole life knowing that I shouldn't sin, and I would try not to... when I did, I would confess that sin, ask Jesus to forgive me, know that I was forgiven, and try not to again... and the cycle continues. I had never REALLY examined WHY that worked...WHY I was able to be forgiven and move on. It wasn't until very recently that the weight of that phrase sunk in. But it wasn't the fact that Jesus DIED, that caused the enormity of this to really hit me. Everyone dies. Every man, woman, and child will one day die. So the fact that Jesus died is not the biggest deal of the story. I found myself thinking.. "If all Jesus had to do was die... well, any of us could do that. We will all do that one day, we don't really have an option on that one." That's why I think the phrase "Jesus Died For Your Sins" does not give Him the credit He is due. The more accurate phrase would be: "Jesus lived a PERFECT life. He never sinned, never messed up, never made a mistake, and then he CHOSE to be beaten, ridiculed, and was crucified (essentially suffocated to death) while people watched, mocked, and belittled him... FOR OUR SINS." But even that phrase does not paint the entire picture. That phrase only portrays the physical sacrifice that Jesus made. This was not the worst of what Jesus endured. Jesus felt the wrath of EVERY sin EVER committed by EVERY person that has EVER existed. Let that sink in for a moment. Jesus was rejected by his Father that he had a perfect relationship with. But not only that, Jesus endured the rage and fury from God, whom he loved, BECAUSE WE MESSED UP. Now I don't know about you, but for me, that is heartbreaking. To think, that a person would love me so much, that they would choose to not only endure that physical pain, but the mental anguish that comes from literally having the weight of the world on their shoulders... So that I could live somewhere perfect for eternity, so that I did not have to endure any pain after life on Earth. WOW. Think about that. Someone who didn't deserve ANY pain, but endured EVERY pain, just so we wouldn't have to. That is huge. Now, if someone you knew right now did that for you, wouldn't you feel as if you owed them EVERYTHING. Wouldn't you dedicate your entire life to that person and their cause. Don't you think you would do everything in your power to make sure that you made their sacrifice worth it? Well, why don't we? Most Christians I know, including myself, don't live as if we know that this very thing happened. We don't live as though someone sacrificed everything, endured the worst kind of torture there is, so that we don't have to. Because, I don't know if you've really thought about this before but, that WILL HAPPEN to every person who doesn't believe that Jesus did this, and choose to follow and have a relationship with Him. When non-believers die, they will be rejected and they will feel the wrath that comes from being separated from a perfect God, and then they will be tortured for eternity. And all they had to do was believe that Jesus already went through all of that for them, ask forgiveness for all that they've done wrong, and follow Jesus and pursue a relationship with him. THAT'S IT. Doesn't it seem like a no-brainer that we would do everything we could to share that with every person we could? I wouldn't want that kind of fate for anyone.. not even my worst enemy (okay I don't really have one of those, but if I did, I wouldn't). I definitely don't want that for someone who is just trying their best to get through life, and God doesn't either. He desires that "[none] should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). The best news is that Jesus didn't just die, undergo all that wrath, and then stay dead. And he charged us, who know the truth, who know that he did all of this IN OUR PLACE, to go and tell everyone what He did (Matt 28:18). That is why we, the Hudsons, are joining Real Hope Community Church and are giving up the security of a steady paying job. The Ft. Bend County area is full of people who do not know what Jesus has done, or who may have heard of Jesus, but do not realize the sacrifice and real hope that Jesus has provided them. But we know the truth, and we owe Jesus everything. We owe him our time. We owe him our finances. We owe him our lives. Because he gave His for us. Jesus didn't die for your sins...Jesus died for YOU, in YOUR place, and received the punishment for YOUR sins. what are you doing for him? If you know this truth and would like to help share it with the people of Ft. Bend County, please consider joining the launch team at Real Hope Community Church.
If you would like to help us share the truth and real hope of Jesus, please consider supporting us by joining our prayer team and/or making a monthly donation commitment so that we can invest in sharing the Gospel full-time. We are jumping head first into dedicating our lives to make his sacrifice worth it, would you join us, however that looks for you?
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Marin HudsonMarin likes to stay up late and write. But sometimes Percy will write as well. :) Archives
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