Penalty all paid!
by Pastor Mark Lieschke
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For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
Penalties are a reality in our lives. Whether it is a speeding fine or interest on a late credit card payment, we face the consequences.
And there’s a price – a penalty to be paid for our sin, disobedience, imperfection and broken relationship with God. The Bible’s very clear about that penalty. The wages of sin is death. For all of us who sin in any way against God, his clear word is: there’s a penalty that has to be paid.
But his word also says that the one person who didn’t sin came to pay the penalty in our place. He could have decided otherwise very easily. He might well have and could have fairly said that we need to pay for our mistakes ourselves. But he didn’t. He came to take our penalty in our place.
He knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him. He knew before he was born that he’d be stricken, smitten, despised and forsaken. When he was born, King Herod tried to put him to death. When he began his ministry, his own townspeople in Nazareth tried to kill him. And his own family thought he was ‘out of his mind’ and tried to stop him from preaching and teaching.
But none of this stopped him. He stood strong when people laughed at him, persecuted him, accused him, hated him; when he lost his followers; when he lost the trust of his disciples; when he lost his own Father in the loneliness of his suffering on the cross. And lastly, when he lost his life.
Any other person would have said ‘enough’. Any other person would have said, ‘I can’t take this’. But he didn’t because he wasn’t just any other person.
He was God’s Son, and he refused to leave us to pay the penalty for our sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Because of Jesus and his sacrifice, we’ve been rescued from the punishment we deserve. We have God’s forgiveness and peace and the assurance of eternal life.
Gracious Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you for paying the price that we deserved to pay for our sin. Thank you for the sacrifice you made for us. We can so often take it for granted because we don’t always acknowledge the seriousness of our sin or its consequences. So, thank you. Fill our hearts with gratitude again today. Help us to show our thanks in all that we say and do. Amen.
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