Session 24

Why the crucifixion?

From Matthew: A 28-Day Devotional

Every other Friday, people everywhere rejoice. Why? Because it’s payday! We get a little slip of paper that represents exactly what we’ve earned from the work we’ve done. It’s easy to understand: the wages of work is money.

The Bible also uses the idea of wages. In Romans 6:23, Paul writes that “the wages of sin is death.” That means that sin earns death. But what exactly is sin? Sin is missing the mark, falling short of God's law in our thoughts or actions. Sin isn’t just about what we do or don’t do; it’s also about what’s inside of our hearts. The death that sin earns is both physical and spiritual. Physical death is the end of your body. Spiritual death is an eternal separation from God. Earlier in Romans 3:23, Paul wrote that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Based on the Bible, we know that sin earns death and that we’ve all sinned. But, here’s the good news: God loves us so much He wants to rescue us from our sin!

The debt of sin must be paid. In the Old Testament, people paid the debt of their sins with sacrifices. But this method of atonement wasn’t permanent. One sacrifice didn’t cover all of a person’s sins. God wanted to not only erase our debt, but in doing so restore us to a right relationship with Him.

To do this, a sacrifice like no other was required. Jesus' death was significant for many reasons. First, while Jesus faced temptation, He never gave in (Hebrews 4:15). Second, Jesus willingly gave up His life (John 10:18). And third, it provided forgiveness for our sin (1 John 4:10).

Reflect:

• Ask God to reveal to you any sin that is in your life right now. What is one step you can take to help you turn from that sin and pursue righteousness instead?
• Take a moment to thank God for loving us and sacrificing His Son for us. If you’ve never asked Jesus into your life, you can do that today. Go here to learn more.