Jesus Paid For Everything You Ever Did Wrong

Saturday, April 19, 2014     by Rick Warren

“Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.” (Ephesians 1:7 GWT) There have been a lot of great religious teachers throughout history. They’ve all had good things to say, but what makes Jesus different from every other religious teacher throughout history is the fact that he died and rose again.  That’s of critical importance, because it’s not the life of Jesus that saves you. It’s not the teachings of Jesus that save you. It’s his death and Resurrection that open the door for your salvation. The Bible says we’ve all blown it. We’ve all made mistakes. None of us is perfect. That’s pretty obvious! I don’t measure up to my own standards, much less God’s. We have all sinned.  The Bible also says that justice demands punishment. If you do the crime, you pay the time. If you break God’s laws, you pay God’s penalty and, according to the Bible, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NLT). In other words, somebody has to pay for all the things you’ve done wrong in life. And this is where God says, “I’ll do it!” He steps up to the plate. Jesus Christ is sent to Earth — God in human form — and he says, in effect, “I will pay for your sins.”  Here’s the good news: Everything you’ve ever done wrong, everything you’re ever going to do wrong, things you haven’t even thought of yet — all those sins have already been paid for by Jesus Christ as he died on the cross: “Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness” (Ephesians 1:7 GWT). When Jesus died on the cross for you, it showed two things:  1.  It showed how much your forgiveness cost. The highest price you can pay for anything is to give your life for it. And that’s what Jesus did. Grace is free, but it is not cheap 1.  It shows how much God values you. It shows how much you matter to God. Jesus died for you on the cross. How much are you worth? Jesus says, with his arms stretched out on the cross, “I’m willing to die for you, because you mean this much to me.” You may think that you’re worthless because of things you’ve done wrong. But Jesus says, “No. You’re priceless. And I’m willing to give my life in order to pay for your sins.” Talk It Over •   In what ways are you still making yourself pay for your sins, even when Jesus has already covered them with his death and Resurrection? *** *** *** Enjoy today’s devotional? Listen instantly to the full audio message at www.RickWarren.org/listen. Did someone forward this Daily Devotional to you? Get your own free subscription to The Daily Hope Devotional, your daily inspiration via email.