So, what is this gospel by which we are to be judged? It has been called various things in the scriptures: The gospel of the kingdom, of God, of His Son, of your salvation, of peace, and of Christ. The ministry Paul received from Jesus was “to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). John wrote, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Because of His love, God shed His grace upon us. Moreover, that grace was received on earth in the life of Christ, as a gift.
Regarding this Paul wrote to the Romans: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:23-25). We often talk of the gift of God and the fact that it may be freely accepted, but as we can see from these verses in Romans it is only truly free from our perspective here on earth. However, in heaven a great price was paid for our spiritual freedom. This was reiterated by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews: “But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).
What did it take for the Son of Almighty God to step down from His heavenly realm and put on human flesh, to humble Himself to the point of allowing the creature to abuse the Creator, the Celestial King, and subject Him to the humiliation of the cross?
Would you die to save a squirrel or a deer? Would you purposely sacrifice a son or daughter to save a colony of squirrels or a herd of deer from one who was seeking to destroy them? These may sound like silly questions; because we deem ourselves to be so superior to these animals, the idea of giving a human life to save them is ridiculous to many of us (Matthew 6:26; 10:29-31). Solomon noted however:
"I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return" (Ecclesiastes 3:18-20).
We were created in God’s image and given an eternal spirit which separates us from the animal kingdom, yet as the wise King observed, from the perspective of the flesh we are no different from the animals. Although we have been made superior to and given dominion over them due to our spiritual nature (Genesis 1:28), physically we are closer to them than we are different. Nevertheless, we would scarcely consider sending another human to his death to save them because, devoid of a spirit, they are inferior creatures. Yet God, Who is infinitely superior to humanity, did exactly that— He sent His Son to die to save us.
Regarding this Paul wrote to the Romans: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:23-25). We often talk of the gift of God and the fact that it may be freely accepted, but as we can see from these verses in Romans it is only truly free from our perspective here on earth. However, in heaven a great price was paid for our spiritual freedom. This was reiterated by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews: “But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).
What did it take for the Son of Almighty God to step down from His heavenly realm and put on human flesh, to humble Himself to the point of allowing the creature to abuse the Creator, the Celestial King, and subject Him to the humiliation of the cross?
Would you die to save a squirrel or a deer? Would you purposely sacrifice a son or daughter to save a colony of squirrels or a herd of deer from one who was seeking to destroy them? These may sound like silly questions; because we deem ourselves to be so superior to these animals, the idea of giving a human life to save them is ridiculous to many of us (Matthew 6:26; 10:29-31). Solomon noted however:
"I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return" (Ecclesiastes 3:18-20).
We were created in God’s image and given an eternal spirit which separates us from the animal kingdom, yet as the wise King observed, from the perspective of the flesh we are no different from the animals. Although we have been made superior to and given dominion over them due to our spiritual nature (Genesis 1:28), physically we are closer to them than we are different. Nevertheless, we would scarcely consider sending another human to his death to save them because, devoid of a spirit, they are inferior creatures. Yet God, Who is infinitely superior to humanity, did exactly that— He sent His Son to die to save us.