Our Bible Study group is going through the book of Romans, and I stumbled across a thought worth repeating. Paul says, in some of our favorite verses in the book of Romans,”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [Rom 3:23-24.] It’s easy to stop there and think, “wow, that’s so amazing!” And, it is, but even more amazing is why.
We love, especially this time of year, to think about the birth of the baby Jesus, that we traditionally celebrate on Christmas day. But what we don’t like to think about is WHY God himself, reduced himself to human form, to live among us. It was not to gather gold, frankincense, or myrrh. It was done so that, as the person of Jesus the messiah, He could grow into a man, having lived a sinless live, and then sacrifice that life for us on the cross to atone for our sins.
Romans 3 continues with this very thought in verses 25-26. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood…he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” So the question for us, is do we have that faith? It is by faith alone that we’re saved, and even that faith is a gift! Praise God, that He loved us enough to send His one and only Son to die for us!