Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
If someone gave you a precious gift, your most natural response would be to say a fervent Thank you! And, further, according to the value of the gift, your most natural response would be a desire to demonstrate your gratitude to the friend for what he did. This capacity for glad, thankful response is built into your human nature, a part of the package that is you. It is almost instinctive. Dozens of times a day we will catch ourselves saying Thank you for kindnesses done, and as often will we find ourselves watching for opportunities to respond.
This simple, unaffected, uncomplicated response of our humanity is all that God has ever asked from anyone. Christ gaveHimself for us on the cross. If we don't see it, or can't sense how there was any real gift or sacrifice involved, there will naturally be no response of loving sacrifice on our part, only the self-centered desire for our own personal security, which leaves fear still intact. Such a half-hearted, lukewarm response is inevitable from anyone's heart when Satan succeeds in obscuring the reality of what Christ gave for us.
But when we see what happened at Calvary, something begins to move us. "Through death [the second death]" Christ destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and" thus released "those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14, 15). Truly,
None of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed,
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
But we do know a little something about it! Our search is begun. As Satan seeks more and more to ensnare us in the allurements of self-seeking, sensual or material, we shall find something wonderful happening. As "sin abounds," the stronger grace of Christ will "much more abound." As we remember the cross, Satan will be defeated continually. Many people all around the world will respond exactly as Paul did:
"We are ruled bythe love of Christ, now that we recognize that one Man died for everyone, which means that they all share in His death. He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for Him who died and was raised to life for their sake" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15, Good News Bible).
Now we can see what Paul meant when he said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." And now that we, too, have had a glimpse of what he saw in his day, our hearts cry out with all our being, "Yes, Paul, we're with you! We kneel, too, at the feet of the Crucified One and confess Him Lord of our lives, King of our love, eternal Sovereign of our hearts."
--Robert J. Wieland
From: In Search of the Cross,1999.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."
