Unfortunately we live in a violent society where life is cheap but there is a sanctity and preciousness about human life which we must never lose sight of. Life is bestowed by God and none but He has the right to take it. Many a mother has had to choose between her life and that of her unborn child and some have forfeited their life to allow their child to live. That has been the high price paid for the life of some; their birth meant the death of a mother. Who can tell the sense of indebtedness that such must feel when, in later life, the facts are relayed to them. What bonds of love bind them to the one whose face they never saw, who died that they might live. Just such an incident occurred in Genesis 35 when Rachel died as she gave birth to Benjamin.
But have you ever given thought to the price that was paid so that you might have eternal life? God gave His only Son and He, who alone had the right to live because He is sinless, died voluntarily, so "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John 3.16.
Sin and death are inextricably linked; it is the penalty due to our sin. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," Ezekiel 18.4;
"The wages of sin is death,…" Romans 6.23;
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Romans 5.12;
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," Hebrew 9.27;
"…and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death," James 1.15.
One of the thieves crucified with Christ rightly remarked to the other thief, "…we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man (Jesus) hath done nothing amiss," Luke 23.41.
But if we are to escape the penalty of sin then He must die. "…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," 1 Corinthians 15.3;
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,…" 1 Peter 3.18;
"The Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me," Galatians 2.20;
"…Christ died for the ungodly," Romans 5.6.
With thorned-crowned head, my debt He paid,
As His life’s blood ebbed away;
And my peace was won ‘neath the darkened sun
On that strange and dreadful day.
His death was like no other, violent in the extreme because of man’s intense hatred of Christ and yet vital for the putting away of sin and the providing of salvation. He died not as a martyr but as a Mediator, not as a sinner but as a Saviour. His death will forever bear testimony to the righteousness of God, it will be the unfading symbol of Love Divine. "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Romans 5.7,8.
His death was no accident nor was it a tragedy; He died because He loved us so and desired us to be with Him in Heaven eternally.
What will your response be to such amazing love? Can you reject such a Saviour? Receive Him as your own just now — no one else is deserving of your trust; He paid the full price demanded that you might have everlasting life.