Just to Be with You

 All of heaven watched as Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, became a man. Leaving behind every luxury and comfort, Jesus left his throne for a dirty stable in which He was put in a bed that was meant to be a feeding trough. After thousands of years of watching His beloved creation worship everything but Him and turn their backs on Him repeatedly, Jesus began to fulfill the promise He made in Genesis 3:15—He was going to defeat death and sin once and for all to rescue sinners like you and me.

          How many kings have you read about who would give up being constantly praised for a life of persecution? Well, this Jesus did, and He left His home just to be with you—a sinner.

Not only did Jesus come to the earth, but He also taught us how to live through His life. Jesus was tempted just as you and I are. He was gossiped about, wrongly judged, mocked, beaten, betrayed by those He loved, laughed at, and He was even filled with sorrow over the death of His friend Lazarus. I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but Jesus knows what it means to suffer—just like you and I. He experienced all of this to show His unconditional and irrevocable love for us.

This week is considered “Passion Week” in honor of our God sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cursed cross so we can be saved (John 3:16). Isaiah 53:5-6 tells us that Jesus “was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (New Living Translation). Jesus did nothing wrong, yet he took the entirety of God’s wrath (meant for us) upon Himself so we can have a relationship with Him.

He chose to lay down His life for every one of us, no matter how badly we have sinned. The great news is that the story didn’t end with His death on a cross. All of heaven and earth rejoiced as Jesus Christ defeated death and the grave and rose again from the grave! Guess what? The story doesn’t even end there. Jesus is now in heaven so we can have the Spirit, and one day, if we believe in Him and become followers of Him, we will be with Jesus forever—what a day that will be!

Just to be with you, He laid down His life. Just to be with you and love you forever.

How will you thank God for His love this Easter?

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas