What God Has Done For Us.

Samantha
Samantha
Jul 27, 2017 · 10 min read

(31st March 2016)

During this Easter period, I have found that my understanding of what God has done for us has really opened up. The whole story of Adam and Eve, sin, Jesus, all of it…it’s like I have a whole new appreciation of it. Whereas before I knew it and believed it in my head, now I feel I really know it more and understand it more. I really believe.

So because I’m feeling inspired, and because I don’t want to forget the significance of all of this, I have decided to type it up. I don’t really do any of it justice though. I barely scratch the surface. But it is something.

I have taken a lot of inspiration for this from the sermons I have heard at church during this period. I have tried to rewrite it in my own words though. When quoting parts of the Bible I have used three versions: the New International Version (NIV), the New King James Version (NKJV), and the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV). Here is my summary of things:

Adam and Eve were the first humans God made. They were perfect, and they lived in perfect conditions. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, where he tested them. He told them that they could eat from any tree in the garden, except for a certain tree in the middle of the garden. He told them that if they ate from that tree, they would die.

Adam and Eve disobeyed. They ate from the tree, and thus sin entered the world, and from sin, death. Because Adam and Eve sinned, we have all inherited sin from them. Every person who has ever lived or who ever will live are sinful (except for one, who will be spoken about later). Some sins might seem obvious — stealing, murder, adultery, etc — but even things like lying, impure thoughts and envy are sin.

God is holy. He cannot have fellowship with us while we are in a sinful state. Moreover, sin demands payment. God is a God of love, but he is also a God of justice. Sin has to be paid for. Unless sin is paid for, the consequence for humanity is death, eternal separation from God in hell.

None of us can pay for sin ourselves. The price is too high. In the past, God required continual animal sacrifices to cover the sins of the people, but it was not a lasting answer. It was not a solution. It was only temporary. None of us could go to God and say, “Take me. I’ll pay for the sins of humanity. Take me as a sacrifice and let everyone else go.” We can’t do that because we have all sinned. None of us can save, because we all need a saviour ourselves.

It is like owing somebody a lot of money and being unable to afford to pay it back. If you are fortunate, somebody may come along and pay the debt for you, so that you can go free. Somebody may take your place. But the price of sin is too high. None of us could pay it ourselves.

From the start, God knew we could not pay. But he loved us so much that he didn’t want us to be lost, as sinful as we are. So he made a plan to pay for it himself, through his Son Jesus.

The Bible says, “Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, ERV). Why does God love us so much? I don’t know the answer to that. The Bible doesn’t tell us either. It just tells us that he loves us.

God didn’t have to choose to save us. He could have left us. The Bible says, “When angels sinned, God did not let them go without punishment. He sent them to hell. He put those angels in caves of darkness, where they are being held until the time when God will judge them.” (2 Peter 2:4, ERV). God could have done that with us. That thought horrifies me. The Bible also says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31, NKJV). God didn’t spare the angels. But for some reason, he chose to have mercy on us, because he loves us. That amazes me.

So at the right time, God sent Jesus, his Son. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life for 33 years. Can you imagine that? For 33 years he did not once sin. The Bible says, “Jesus, our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, he was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but he never sinned.” (Hebrews 4:15, ERV). Jesus lived a perfect life for us. We could not do it ourselves, so he did it for us. He completely and perfectly obeyed God all of his life. Not only that, but he lived among us. He was perfect and sinless, yet he lived among sinful people like us.

Jesus knew he was going to die in order to take away the sins of the world. He would be the perfect sacrifice to God. He could take our place and pay our debt because he was perfect and blameless. He had never sinned.

But Jesus didn’t have to do it. He didn’t have to go through with it. Just before Jesus was arrested he said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matthew 26:53–54, NIV). Jesus could have called for all of those angels to come to his aid, but he didn’t.

Just before this took place, Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. The Bible tells us that Jesus was deeply distressed, troubled, sorrowful, and in agony. He knew what lay ahead. He knew what was going to happen to him. I can’t begin to imagine the emotional and mental anguish he must have been going through. He didn’t have to go through with it. He could have walked away and left humanity as a lost cause. Sometimes I wonder what I would have done if I had been in his place. Would I have gone through with it? Or would I have walked away, saying it was too much? I don’t know.

But Jesus went ahead with it, even though he knew what lay ahead. He did it voluntarily. He did it because he loves us. The Bible says, “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1, NIV). Jesus had also told his disciples, “The greatest love people can show is to die for their friends.” (John 15:13, ERV). So Jesus showed us the greatest love possible. There was no greater way for him to show us he loves us. The Bible also says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NIV).

So Jesus paid the price for us. He was arrested, beaten, scourged, mocked, and crucified. He suffered unimaginably. When he was praying in the garden before these events, he asked his friends to stay awake with him, but they fell asleep. Judas betrayed him. The other disciples ran away. Peter denied him three times. Jesus knew what all of that felt like. He was alone in his time of need. Even after he was crucified, people hurled insults at him.

But as well as all of that, Jesus suffered by having all of our sin placed upon him. God took all of our sins — yours, mine, everyone’s — and placed it on Jesus to pay for. Jesus also felt separated from his Father, which is why he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you left me alone?” (Mark 15:34, ERV).

Jesus did all of that for you and for me. As I said before, he did this voluntarily. He had said to his disciples, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:17–18, NIV). The reason Jesus came was to live and die for us.

God accepted his sacrifice. He cleared our debt, because Jesus paid it for us. The Bible says, “He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14, NIV).

And because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, God showed his approval by raising Jesus back to life again. He is now higher than any other being. He is our high priest, and he is interceding for us. Because Jesus was raised from death back to life, we have the hope of everlasting life through him. If we place our faith in him, we too will be raised when Jesus comes again. And he will come again. The Bible says, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27–28, NIV).

I don’t really know what this new life will be like, but the Bible says it will be wonderful. There will be no pain, no death, no crying, no reason to fear, and God will dwell among us. It says, “No one has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, ERV).

But this is only true if we believe in Jesus and what he did for us. As John 3:16 says, we must believe in him. Jesus did all of that for us, and we need to either accept what he did or reject it. If we choose to reject Jesus and what he did, then his sacrifice is meaningless for us. Our debt still needs to be paid, and since we cannot pay it ourselves the result will be eternal death and separation from God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.” (John 14:6, ERV).

But if we choose to accept Jesus and what he has done for us, then our debt is cleared, paid for, done. We have peace with God through Jesus. We have been made right with God. The Bible says this about Jesus, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25, NIV).

We can also approach God directly and have a relationship with him now. The Bible says, “With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” (Hebrews 4:16, ERV). We also become children of God. The Bible says, “The Father has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are his children.” (1 John 3:1, ERV).

All of this is so amazing to me. It is difficult for me to get my head around. God has been so kind to us by sending Jesus. I never want to forget the significance of all of this.

I’ve only explained all of this very briefly, even though it is fairly lengthy! I do want to say something else though — if you are reading this and have not accepted Jesus and what he has done for you, then please, find out about it. Ask God to help you. If you are sincere he will. He will lead you to where you need to go. But learn more and trust Jesus. Don’t let his sacrifice for you be in vain. Yes, his sacrifice for you. Although the Bible tells us Jesus died for us collectively, he also died for us individually. In the New Testament, Paul wrote this: “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NIV). Paul felt that Christ’s sacrifice was personal, for him as an individual. So Jesus died for all of us, including me and including you personally.

I struggle to assimilate all of this at times, and I still struggle with my feelings, which tend to contradict the truth. It doesn’t all immediately come together. But God will take you on a journey where he will draw you closer to him. That is what he is doing with me. It is the most worthwhile thing you can ever do, to accept God into your life, trust him, and let him lead you. I am finding the truth of that more and more.

Asking God into your life is not about “religion.” It is not about following a set of rules or performing rituals. It is about having a relationship with God. As with any relationship, it takes time to grow. It takes time to get to know God. But we can get to know him by reading the Bible, talking to him, and listening to what he says to us. I have also found it invaluable to attend a church which is helping me to grow and learn more about God and other people.

It is not about merely believing that God exists. It says in the Bible, “You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.” (James 2:19, ERV). It is about believing in God, in who he is, trusting him, and getting to know him.

I never want to forget all of this. I don’t want it to become some sort of story or fairy-tale to me. I want to keep all of this clear and sharp in my mind, never forgetting God’s kindness, mercy and love towards us. I want to remember Christ’s sacrifice as though it only happened yesterday. That is part of the reason why I have decided to write this. I also hope it might help someone else too.

Samantha

Written by

Samantha

Hello, my name is Samantha. I decided to start this journal so I have somewhere to store my writings about God, faith, life, and my thoughts and feelings.

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