The Best Thing God Ever Did for Us
Communion Focus: God is so loyal that he sacrificed his only Son on the cross of Calvary. It is the best thing God ever did for us.
He first showed up in the 1930s. And, no, I do not remember it firsthand! They’re still making movies about him in the 21st Century. He’s one of America’s most enduring superheroes. Here’s a clue from the 50s TV show about him, “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … Superman!” The Superman story begins with the meltdown of the planet Krypton and the decision by one of its leaders to save his son by launching him in a small rocket he has built. Destination: Earth. In the latest movie about the guy in the red cape and the blue suit with the big letter “S,” his father sees that the people of Earth need some help, and he says these words: “I’m sending them my only son.”
Superman is just a story. However, there is a Father who sent his only son to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, and that is not a story. It’s history. What God did actually has the power to change our personal destiny. Because God looked down and saw our need, and he said, “I’m sending them My only Son.”
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the book of Romans. Let’s listen to Paul’s words from Romans 8:32…
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
There is a magnificent reference which would stand out to Jews anywhere who knew their Old Testament well. Paul says in effect: “God for us did not spare his own Son; surely that is the final guarantee that he loves us enough to supply all our needs.” The words Paul uses of God are the very words God used of Abraham when he proved his utter loyalty by being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command. God said to Abraham in Genesis 22:12…
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Paul seems to say: “Think of the greatest human example in the world of a person’s loyalty to God; God’s loyalty to you is like that.” Just as Abraham was so loyal to God that he was prepared to sacrifice his dearest, most precious possession, God is so loyal to us that he is prepared to sacrifice his only Son. Surely we can trust a loyalty like that for anything. God gave up his Son for us - for us.
I remember as our son-in-law Robert held our first grandchild in his arms for the first time. He said, “This is my son; my only son.” The thought of giving up Caleb was unthinkable. Why would God bid goodbye to his only Son and send him from the glories of heaven to die with spikes in his hands and feet, suspended on a cross?
The Bible answers that question. It says in 1 John 4:10…
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God gave up his Son because he loves us. God loves us that much. God sent Jesus to be the only sacrifice that could pay for all the things we have done against God; every dishonest thing, every dirty thing, every hurting thing, or every selfish thing. We’ve kept the God we were made by to the margins of our life and we’ve hijacked from him the life he gave us. That’s punishable by separation from God, forever. But God said, “They can only be saved if their eternal death penalty is paid. And someone has to die for that.” And so, his one and only Son poured out his life in exchange for our lives. That’s why what we do with Jesus is so critical. It literally decides where we will spend our eternity.
Some years ago, a noted photographer spent months taking pictures of people as they came and went from the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. One morning, before anyone else was there, he noticed a new remembrance at the wall. There was a picture of a soldier, a medal, a picture of Jesus, and a simple, three-word inscription. As he was focusing his lens on the scene, an elderly man came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Excuse me,” he said, “but do you like it?” The photographer told him how impressed he was with it. The man replied, “I’m glad. I put it there.” Suddenly, that little three-word inscription came to life for that photographer. It said, “Only one son.”
God brings us to a cross where his “only one Son” gave his life for us, and God is asking each of us, “What do you think?” Jesus’ death for us is our only hope. Jesus is the rescuer we either embrace and hold onto with total trust, or the rescuer we ignore or push away.
Let’s get personal for a moment. You may have known about Jesus’ death on the cross for a long time. You may have commemorated his death at church many times. But you’ve never made what Jesus did on the cross personal for you. Has there ever been a time when you said, “Jesus, I’m yours … totally yours.” If not, then you’re living under the death penalty for your sins; the penalty Jesus already paid for you.
Believing in Christ is hanging on to Jesus like a drowning person grabbing a lifeguard and saying, “Lord, I ‘m fixing all my hopes of forgiveness and rescue on you.” When you give yourself to the Savior, the sin-gap is gone forever, and at last you have a personal relationship with the Person you were made by and made for! The “missing person” is missing no more!
This relationship can be yours for life…and forever! Be willing to pray this prayer:
“Lord, I have been running my own life - but I resign as of today. I’ve been living for me. I’m sorry for my sin. Please forgive me. But I believe your Son Jesus Christ paid my death penalty when he died on the cross. Right now I am turning from a life of ‘my way’ and I am putting all my trust in Jesus Christ to erase my sin from your book, to give me a relationship with you, and to get me to heaven. Lord, from today on, I am yours.”
If you really meant what you just prayed you have begun life’s most important relationship!
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17…
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
When our little time on earth ends, and only God knows when that is, there’s really only one thing that will matter. What did we do with God’s Son? As we go to the table of the Lord and partake of Communion, let’s remember that the cross of Calvary is “the best thing God ever did for us!” Amen.
