Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
The sacrifice of Christ on the cross surpassed all human reasoning and leads us to understand the truth that God loves us. For a man to sacrifice himself to save good men and righteous men is understandable. But for Christ to sacrifice Himself for criminals like the thief that was hung on the cross beside Him is difficult to comprehend. He deserved to be punished for the crime that he committed.
What a statement of truth in demonstration of God’s love. Indeed, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)
God loved us while we were “yet without strength”, while we were in a hopeless condition of moral weakness and helpless. While we were plagued by the deadly disease of sin, God intervened in our lives to show us a way out. The emphasis of the text is in the personal pronoun “we”. It is repeated twice in the original Greek text to show our helpless, hopeless and lost condition. If God had not sent His Son, Jesus Christ, godless men would have been consigned to the fires of hell for all eternity. We, indeed, need to be thankful for this salvation in Christ!