Nothing in this world is free. Isn’t that the truth? My clothes cost money. My food costs money. Going places with my friends costs me something. I’m a college graduate. I guarantee you an education isn’t free. Everything comes with a cost. We pay bills, we buy supplies, we purchase entertainment. And that’s all monetary.
Sin comes at a cost, too. When I lie, I hurt others and break relationships. When I talk about someone behind their back, I not only dishonor that person, but I influence the person I’m gossiping with, breeding an attitude of disdain and anger towards others. When I snap at my parents or at a friend, I hurt their feelings, create an uncomfortable situation, and I open the door to developing bitterness and resentment. Every sin I commit I commit against God. I hurt my heavenly Father. I turn my back on Him and disobey His perfect law that gives life. My sin holds me captive. My nature, my desires, my lack of faith hold me prisoner in death. The more I sin, the more I turn myself over to death and the more I try on my own to pull myself out of my mess, the more I stumble. “But,” I tell myself, “this is the price I have to pay. This is the cost.” I couldn’t be more wrong.
Jesus paid the cost. Christ Jesus came into this world, took on my sin, died and rose again, freely. My God by His own free will took my sin, The price for my salvation has already been paid. Jesus offers salvation freely. It costs me nothing to walk in life instead of death. As Romans 3 tells us, we are justified in the eyes of God freely by grace through Christ Jesus. He sacrificed his all so that he could offer redemption to me at no cost. He paid for me to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, to become a daughter of God, and spend eternity with Him with His blood.
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'” John 8:34-36
Christ’s death and resurrection offers us freedom from sin, freedom from destruction, freedom from death, and all at no cost to us. This is the God I serve. His love for us is untameable. No one can stop it, no one can stunt it. It is this love that I will be traveling the world to spread. A love that cannot be measured from a God whose glory cannot be imagined. He is hope, He is life, He is love, He is joy, and He is our freedom! Praise God!
“And now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
