For Free

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NASB)


God comes down here in the form of one of us.  He looks down in the hole I'm in, jumps in next to me, boosts me out, and stays behind to receive the punishment I deserve.  What an overwhelming act of kindness...of love.  (Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 NIV))  What could I possibly do to deserve such a selfless act love?  Nothing.


Perhaps the most difficult part of God's grace is the fact that it is offered for free.  It is a gift.  I've had more than one time in the world of ministry when a person want's to show kindness to me through a gift.  I always find it awkward and humbling.  I was raised to work hard and deserve my pay.  I was raised to take care of my wife and children.  I was raised not to live off handouts but off of using the knowledge & skills I have in productive work.  I receive gifts for Christmas and birthdays, but I reciprocate with gifts to the giver...somehow making it all come out even.  I don't know how to handle it when someone hands me money, a check, a "paid in full" invoice, or a literal roof over my head.  I somehow want to pay for it, but then I look at my bank account and I can't.


God's grace is the same way.  It's a gift.  It's a huge gift - far greater than any financial gift we give one another.  But the feelings end up being the same.  I somehow want to pay God back for getting me out of the mess I was in.  Then I look at my spiritual bank account.  I'm overdrawn.  I can't pay Him back.


Grace comes from a Greek word that simply means, "gift."  By definition, a gift is free.  There's no reciprocation possible with a gift.  There's no payment plan.  It's given.  It's received.  It's free.


Take the time to wrap your head around the gift God offers you through the actions of Jesus.  Then, if you're like me, start to humble your heart to receive the gift.  You'll need it (humility, that is).  It will be the best decision you have ever made.

For You

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18 NKJV)
He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21 HCSB)


Even though he never fell, Jesus went down in the pothole.  He received the suffering.  He received the death.  The best news is his reason.  He did it for you.  He did it for me.


He did not know sin, but he became sin FOR US.  He suffered once for sins, the just for the UNJUST.  He did this to boost us out of the hole - to bring us back to God.  Through him, we are removed from the pothole of sin and death and are lifted up to a new life.  Through him, we become the "righteousness of God."


Thank you, Jesus, for showing me how much you love me in this way.  Thank you for not staying "up there," but instead coming "down here" to boost me up with God again.

Jesus Took Pain & Death

In God's own form existed he,
And shared with God equality,
     Deemed nothing needed grasping.
Instead, poured out in emptiness,
A servant's form did he possess,
     A mortal man becoming.
In human form he chose to be,
And lived in all humility,
     Death on a cross obeying. (Philippians 2:6-8 ISV)


I'm down in a hole.  It's deep.  I can't get out of it.  It's my fault.  I'm hurting and I know that I'm going to die. I look up.  I see a figure at the top of the hole.  Slowly the image comes into focus.  It's Jesus.  He's up top because he didn't fall.  He knew how to avoid the potholes in life.  I call out to him, "Hey Jesus, can will you help?  Could you throw down a rope or something?  I really don't want to be here...to die down here."  Now I wonder...what will he do?


I jump a little at the noise of a loud "thump" next to me.  I look over expecting to find the end of a rope coiled up on the cavern floor beside me.  Suddenly a strange feeling envelopes my whole body.  It's not a rope.  It's a person.  It's Jesus.  He stands up slowly, obviously hurt by the fall.  Without even attempting to brush himself off, he looks at me through eyes that show excitement, joy, and love all at once.  They also look a bit weary as though he hasn't gotten any sleep since I fell down here.  He opens his mouth and I here his voice saying, "Let's get you out of here."  He knelt down for me, told me to stand on his shoulders, lifted me up, and boosted me out of the hole...only to be left behind.  He was left behind where I was.  He is hurting.  He will die.


When God came down in the form of a man, it was much like this picture.  He left a safe, secure place where He deserved to stay.  He humbled himself to become one of us, raised by us, taught by us, lived with us, was persecuted by us, and died at our hands.  He did it all because He loves us.

Jesus Didn't Fall

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15 TNIV)


When I'm down in a hole because I fell, I want to get out.  I have no hope of getting out without help.  I need someone up top who can lower me a rope or something.  This is where Jesus comes in.  He didn't fall in.  He's standing up top.


Don't get me wrong, he had to navigate the same world filled with potholes that I do.  He just navigated through them better than I did.  He even came right up to the edge of some of them.  But he didn't jump.  He didn't fall.  He didn't even trip.


There's something comforting about that.  When I put myself in someone else's hands, I want to know he is trustworthy.  I want to know he is experienced.  I want to know that he know's what he's doing.


Jesus knows what he is doing.  He is quite experienced.  He faced everything I've faced and then some.  But he made it through without falling in any of the potholes.  Not only that, when he offers to help me up I know he is a man of integrity.  He will follow through on his offer.  I'm glad Jesus didn't fall.

Gravity Remains

For the LORD is righteous, and he loves justice. Those who do what is right will see his face. (Psalms 11:7 NLT)
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne  (Psalms 89:14a NASB)


Sometimes people struggle over whether God changes the rules.  If God loves me and helps me out of this mess I'm in, does that mean He is saying it was OK for me to do those things?  Isn't He approving of...even enabling me to do it all over again?  Isn't He changing the rules?


The answer is simple: No.  If God decides to pull us out of the hole we fell in, nothing will change except our standing with God.  The pothole (temptation) will still be there.  Falling (or jumping) into it will still hurt and result in death.  The gravity that pulls us into the hole will still stay into effect.  God's laws never change.  He designed the world to work in a certain way, and it will continue to work in that same way.


We also struggle over the fairness of God.  Is it fair for God to pull me out and not someone else?  I think you'll find the answer to this question equally simple: Yes.
You see, it would not be fair if God never told us about the pothole in the first place so we would fall and get stuck without knowing better.  But He does tell us.  He warns us of the pothole and the consequences.
It would not be fair if He offers to help you, but doesn't offer to help me.  But He offers to help both of us.  In fact, His offer for help goes out to the whole world and to every generation.


God didn't change the rules.  God is being fair.  He always has been.  He always will be.

Who Wants to Help

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8 NIrV)


Yes, God is standing up top.  He never falls into the potholes like we do.  He could help.  He's big enough.  He's strong enough.  He's resourceful enough.  Will he help, though.  Is He willing?


After all, I got what I deserved.  He did warn me before I fell down this hole.  Worse yet, He knows I didn't fall - I jumped.  I jumped in with both feet.  I knew I was jumping in when I did it.  I told Him to leave me alone.  I told Him I could do it myself.  I spit in His face.  I jumped in.  I regret it now, but I'm getting what I deserve.  Why would He want to help me?


Love.  God is love.  Even when we set ourselves up as His enemies, He doesn't want to be our enemy.  Even when we spit in His face, He is willing to lay down His life for us.  Even when we want Him dead, He is willing to forgive us and want's us alive.  God is love.


That's critically important since He is also perfectly holy (the only one who hasn't fallen down the hole).  That is a game-changer since He is perfectly fair (His rules - and their consequences - always apply).  Without love, we remain stuck in a position that ends in death (in this life and the next).  I'm glad that God is Holy - It lets me know I can count on Him.  I'm glad that God is fair - It means people can't get away with breaking the rules.  I'm really glad God is love - That means He is willing to help even when I mess up.

Someone Up Top

[J]ust as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."  (1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV)


So now I've messed up.  I've fallen down in the pit.  It looked like a little pothole when I jumped in, but it's a lot deeper than I realized.  Now I'm stuck.  I can't get out.  The walls are too strong and smooth.  I'm going to die here.


The only chance I have of survival, now is if someone finds me.  All I can do is look up at the top of the precipice where I fell in.  I need someone who is still standing up top who would be willing to pull me out here.  I need the help of someone else to save me.


Unfortunately, my friends and family can't help in this way.  They can empathize with me because they've fallen down in the hole as well.  They're stuck, too.  They're not standing up top where they can help me.  They are in the same situation I'm in.


God's not.  God sees the potholes in life.  He warns us about them so we won't fall into them.  He also avoids falling into them...every time.  He is perfectly Holy.  He is standing up top.  He could help.