Jesus, a Most Unexpected Gift (2)

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. - Romans 5:6-11 CSB

I know the verses above are more often discussed at Easter than at Christmas, but I’m learning more and more that Christmas and Easter aren’t separate events though we celebrate them as such. Rather, like all of God’s Word, they are two points on the same thread in the lovingly woven tapestry of God’s plan to bring us into a loving relationship with Himself. And so, as we meditate today on Jesus, a most unexpected gift, I want to rest a while in the idea that Jesus embodies the unexpected gift of grace. (I’ve been reading Phillip Yancey’s “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”, so grace is in the front of my mind all the time lately.)

You see, the Bible makes it very clear that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). We see this penalty in action often in the Old Testament and especially throughout the Book of Numbers. It’s a rough book to study, but I encourage you to dive in sometime because all of God’s Word needs studying to begin to understand Who God is, even the hard parts. I say Numbers is rough because it seems like nearly every chapter features one or more people dying in really awful ways (being burnt alive, swallowed by the earth, bitten by poisonous snakes, plagues, supernatural food poisoning) for disobeying God in one way or another.

If that was the only part of God’s story that I knew, I’d be scared to death of God rather than in loving awe and adoration of Him. And you know, if punishment was the only side of God I knew, I’m aware enough of the flawed thinking of my natural spirit to know that I’d probably adopt a “go big or go home” attitude toward sin for fear that I was going to mess up and get killed anyway so might as well make it a good one. Thank God, He is too good to leave me to the thinking of my natural spirit!

And, friend, it’s important to note that God isn’t just the righteous judge we see in the Old Testament. He is righteous, yes. Perfectly so. And He alone is holy and right to judge us, for we are His creation and He is our God. And all people will be judged, either at the Mercy Seat or the Great White Throne (Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15).

But, sweet friend, God is ALSO our loving Father, and, as unpleasant as it can be to read, all of that harsh history under the Law of Moses when God’s role as Judge appears more obvious than His role as loving Father serves to show us our great need for a Savior and that God has planned from the beginning of time to send a Savior on our behalf (John 17:24; Ephesians 1:3-5; 1 Peter 1:18-20; Revelation 13:8). For without a Savior, we could never hope to overcome sin, and the wages of sin is always death.

I want us to think on that fact for a minute because while “sin” and the “wages of sin” is predominantly a Judeo-Christian concept, the idea that “evil deserves evil and good deserves good” is an idea that is held by all cultures and religions, even those who consider themselves unreligious have a version of it. Take the concept of karma – what goes around comes around – when you cheat others, people cheat you; when you help others, others help you. Consider religions that promote reincarnation – how you lived in your last life determines the quality of your existence in your next life. Then we have law-based beliefs, where you follow a certain set of rules, morals, and ethics and if you do good enough, you get to go to some concept of paradise and if you do poorly, you go to some concept of hell.

Even in our Christian walk, how often do we meet folks, or how often are we that person, who rings their hands and says, “I hope I’ve done enough to outweigh the bad in my life, or done enough for God to let me into Heaven”. As if, the determination of our eternal resting place is somehow dependent on the quality or quantity of our works.

And, I know I’ve taken a winding route to get here, but that, dear heart, is where Jesus comes on the scene as a most unexpected gift. Pop back up and reread Romans 5:6-11.

While we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly is how the Christian Standard Bible phrases it. Other versions, like the King James Version, read “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. Later in that set of verses, we see that before accepting Christ, we are God’s enemies.

Still helpless. Unable to save ourselves. Still sinners. Unable to perfectly follow the Law of Moses and the will of God. Enemies of God. Unable to submit to His will, rebellious and proud.

While we were still all of those things, Christ did what?

He died for us, the ungodly, the sinners, the very enemies of God. Jesus was born and died for you and for me and for everyone who has ever drawn breath, for all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23-24).

Jesus doesn’t follow the concept of Karma and only save the people who mostly do good. He doesn’t follow the principle of reincarnation and birth “good” people into a new, better life, and the “bad” people into a worse life. He doesn’t scoop up everyone who perfectly followed the law or had excellent morals and take just them home to live with Him in Heaven.

Jesus did the unexpected, He died for the imperfect, for people who couldn’t follow 10 commandments, let alone all the moral and ethical standards mankind has added to them. He brought the free gift of salvation, born of the grace of God. He spent His time on earth with untouchables, with people considered to be lower class, disreputable individuals, the worst kind of sinners as far as other people were concerned (because we know God hates all types of sin). He saved a criminal on the cross next to Him who had zero time to clean his life up (Luke 23:32-43).

And, He continues to do the unexpected today. In Christ, we are reborn spiritually (John 3:5-8), not because we deserve it, oh no, I’ve already shared what my natural spirit would have done and I know what I deserve on my own merit, but because of God’s great love for us. Because our Heavenly Father desired to walk with His creation in the Garden forever, but He knew they would rebel and He’s been preparing since before time began to bring each one of us back to Him. Because Jesus, the Son, had compassion on us and gave Himself freely as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2; Romans 3:25).

In 2 Peter 3:9 God shows us that He wants all people to come to repentance: He doesn’t want anyone to suffer eternal separation from Him. Jesus is the proof of God’s love for us; His mercy and His grace toward us. We deserve judgement and death for our sinful nature, but in a most unexpected gift, Jesus grants freedom from the bondage of sin and life to those condemned to death.

Thank You, God for not fitting inside our human concepts of karma or legalism! Thank You, Jesus for saving us from what we deserve! Thank You, Holy Spirit for helping us walk in the knowledge that God doesn’t operate on the principle of deservedness! What peace the unexpected gift of Jesus brings! What freedom!

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