He Didn't Do It For Nothing

He did not have to.  There were other options.  He had plenty of time to change his mind.  He knew exactly what I would do; how I would not deserve it.  He knew you would never deserve it either, that none of us ever would, but He did it anyway.  As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

This is the beauty of my God.  This is what sets Him apart from all of the false gods of other religions.  He did not ask me to be worthy- He knew I never could be.  He does not require me to work my way to Heaven because I would never get there.  The only perfection He needs from me is through the reflection of His Son; I just have to accept the gift.

God knew there was no way I would ever deserve the sacrifice He made, but He died for me anyway.  Me!  And what did I do but give Him one more reason to suffer?  Christ loved us despite everything He knew we would do that would cause Him suffering, and He gladly took up that cross for us.

Why would Christ have loved us?  Why would He have offered Himself up for those that had rejected Him?  Were we anyone to be loved?  Did we seek to glorify Him in our actions?  Not in the least!  But Christ's desire is for us to know Him and have an eternal relationship with Him.  He made Himself and His love known to us in His selfless act of dying on the cross to suffer and die for the sins we had committed.  God made the first move and not because we were desirable, but because we needed Him.  It is because Christ first loved us that we love Him.

We were lost without Him, and we were lost because we rejected Him.  We separate ourselves from God when we sin, because we are choosing something other than His Will.  Like Adam and Eve, we are a creation trying to survive without our Creator, and it's not working.  Why do so many still not recognize what Christ has done for us?  Even some Christians will say that Christ is not the only way to Heaven, as true Christian doctrine teaches.

Well I'm not willing to accept that.  You can not tell me that my Jesus died for nothing.  When we are willing to accept there are other ways to Heaven, we are in essence looking Christ in the face- the face that was spit on, beaten and bloodied- and saying, "Thanks, but no thanks.  I'll do it my way."

As a young Lutheran there was a part of our liturgy that always confused me.  During our confession we say, "Oh most merciful God, who has given Thine only-begotten Son to die for us, have mercy upon us and for His sake grant us remission of all our sins."  I never understood why for "His (Christ's) sake" my sins should be forgiven.  I knew that it was for my sake and for my sins that Christ died.  I thought we should say, "For my sake, forgive me my sins," because I knew that without Him and His suffering and death, I would perish.

It was many years before the beauty of those words became clear.  In an age of relativism when everyone picks the religion that "works" for them, where everyone just strives to be a "better" person and that's good enough, I realized why it was for Christ's sake that we plead for forgiveness.  Christ died that we might live.  He didn't do it for some; He did it for all.  He didn't do it as one means for us to become right with God; He did it because it was the only way.  Christ died for us because His love for us would let Him do no less.

Don't let what Jesus did be for nothing!  This is what I am pleading to God in confession.  God has given me the power of leverage, because if I call on what Christ did for me on the cross, God will surely not reject me.  Christ did not do it for nothing.  He suffered and died for me, that I might be forgiven.  For the sake of what He has done, for the sake of His sufferings, for the sake of His death, Lord, do not let it be for nothing, but forgive me my sins!

When Christ died on the cross for the sin of the world, He knew He was dying for a world that had rejected Him and would continue to reject Him 2,000 years later.  He died knowing He was dying for a world of sinners, but He did it anyway.  He did it knowing that some would still think that just trying to be good would be good enough.  When we think that being a "good" person is good enough, we make what Christ did worthless.  But it was not worthless.  In fact, it is the only thing that gives us worth.  The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Most of us are willing to admit that we aren't perfect, so what level of imperfection is still "good enough?"  We can't make it there on our own, but Christ's death for our sins is the only way we can become pure again in the eyes of God.

Not in this life will I ever fully understand why Christ did what He did for me, a poor miserable sinner, but I know that He didn't do it for nothing and for His sake, I'm taking Him up on His offer and accepting His gift to me.