The Son's Sacrifice
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who in your life tends to bring people together or reconcile disagreements?
โข Have you ever seen a broken relationship get restored? What helped make it possible?
โข Whatโs a situation where someone took the blame or consequence for something you did?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ? โ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณโ? ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ณ
From the beginning, God has been pursuing a relationship with us. Weโve learned that His mission is driven by His love to reconcile us to Himself. But because sin separated us from a holy God, there was a cost: Jesus had to lay down His life to save us. His sacrifice on the cross made a way for us to be reconciled to God. Today, letโs focus on the means of reconciliation: Jesus giving His life so we could draw near to Him.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐โ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ข ๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ช๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฉ๐, ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ธ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ฏ๐ฎ
Could we have been saved without a sacrifice? The answer is no. The Bible says that ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด (Hebrews 9:22). If it werenโt for Jesus, we would have faced the punishment for our sinsโand it would simply be what we deserve. Yet Jesus laid down His life for us, even though He asked God to take the cup away from Him, because this was the only way to show Godโs mercy and justice. When you reflect on Jesusโ sacrifice, what emotions come to mindโgratitude, awe, or a deeper sense of love? Why do you think that is?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ.
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ข๐ฎ๐จ๐๐ก๐.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ฏ๐ฎ
On earth, we tend to judge, exclude, and cause division among those who may not look or think like us. We have prejudices and biases. But when Jesus came, He laid down His life to draw every kind of person to Himself: young and old, men and women, near and far, the religious and the rebellious. His sacrifice bridges the gap between us (fallen humanity) and Godโbecause without the cross, there is no reconciliation. How has Jesus drawn you closer to Himself over time? When have you seen Him break down barriers in your life or relationships?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Picture the world with no access to God. What would it look like? Take a moment this week to intentionally thank and praise God that you can freely approach Him any day and at any moment through Jesus Christ.
โข How can you view those around you with a new perspective, knowing Jesus came to save all kinds of people? Ask God to show you one person to intentionally reach out to and encourage this week.
โข How can you help others experience reconciliation with God? This week, commit to share to at least one person about Jesus and His saving work that causes us to have a right relationship with God and draw near to Him.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending Jesus to be the sacrifice that took away our sin and made a way for us to draw near to Him.
โข In a world where everyone seeks justice, ask to understand Jesusโ version of justiceโone that would lay down His life out of love to bring restoration.
โข Pray for eyes to see others the way God sees them, and for grace to walk in reconciliation.