1 Peter 1:17-21 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 

Yesterday I ended my thoughts with a question: I wonder if we can ever fully appreciate what Jesus went through in order to accomplish our salvation? You have heard that He went through all the temptations that you do, so you can relate to that. You know that He felt hunger, pain, joy, sorrow. But have you ever considered what He gave up in order to come down here?

For those of you who have small children or grandchildren, try to imagine this situation. Would you send your child into a prison full of convicted murders, rapists and sex offenders? Can you imagine the vile and unspeakable things that those prisoners would do to that small child? If so, can you bear to think of it? Personally, I can’t stand to think of it. I would never consider sending my children of grandchildren into any situation that could prove harmful to them.

That is what God the Father did for you. He sent His Son from the glory and joy and happiness and beauty and safety of heaven into this world filled with sin and corruption. He knew exactly what would happen to His beloved Son yet sent Him here to go through all of that for your sake. Can you fathom that kind of love? That’s the love God has for you.

But rather than valuing God and His love most highly in our lives, mankind has always placed a higher value on the things of this world. Our desire to follow our own sinful nature is what we make most important. In one sense, we want to make our sins our “god.” Our Father in heaven knew that this would lead to eternal damnation for men, so He stepped in to help. He sent Jesus down to pull us up. And the way He did this is something that bears repeating. He took all the sinfulness of mankind and placed it on that spotless lamb. He made the only one to ever live without sin to be sin for us. And then He placed Christ with the sins of the world on that cross for all to see. Jesus went through that anguish so that you would not have to do so … eternally! His death in our place spares us from death. Faith claims His death as your payment for sin. Luther once summed it up this way: “If Christ died with all sins on Him, they can’t be on me.” And it is because of faith that God no longer holds your sins against you. The Lamb of God was slain for you.