The whole of the Christian message can sometimes be summed up by just this one sentence.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, no matter how we look at it, justice should always be upheld, and when it is on us, it is no exception. We deserve our salary, our wages, for the money we earn just as much as the punishment we deserve for the things we do wrong.
When looking at sin as this thing, this action that we do that is deliberately turning away from God, or just not even following him, we get this idea that we have all done something like this along the way and all deserve the punishment.
Looking back through the whole Bible, we see countless stories of people trying to live up to this perfect sinlessness, but all of us, no matter how many good things we’ve done, will always fall short, and in the end, without God, this leads to death, not just physical death, but separation from life.
As God is the very author and sustainer of life, this means we are cut off from him, and nothing we alone can do can bridge that gap again between us and God, us and the very opposite of death.
But, that’s the beauty, this is not the end, there is a gift from God, this word gift in Greek, χάρισμα (charisma) is literally this very idea of grace, a free undeserved gift given to us by God, and this free gift of God is eternal life – no more death or separation but having everlasting connection, with him.
The gift of God, is eternal life, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, by what Jesus has done for us, Jesus, son of God, coming to earth and dying, receiving this punishment we deserve, these wages of sin, and then resurrecting again, we can know that we are no longer under this death penalty.
Instead, we can know the true and living father God, accepting this free gracious gift, by only trusting and following him ourselves. We can know this freedom from slavery, the slavery of sin, and join our father God, in heaven.
Later we read, “But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us so much. Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace.
As a Christian, I believe this to be true, and celebrate it everyday, especially at Easter.
Are you ready to accept this gift and know this freedom for yourself?
Click here to find out more about Jesus, or about whether this is for you
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