Born To Die

One ultimate statistic of life is that 10 out of 10 people will die. Another ultimate statistic of life is that 10 out of 10 people living today were in fact born. I know; it’s amazing that I know that. Anyway, there is only one person born throughout all of history whose birth had a predetermined sole purpose; to die. This person, who was born to die, knew well before-hand the time of His death and the means by which His death would come about (John 12:32-33 & Matt 26:2).

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, a miraculous child was born. Two people, namely Joseph and Mary, were chosen as instruments in God’s hands to be used for His glory. The Scriptures tell us that Mary found favor with God, that she would bear a son and that she will call His name Jesus. The same is told to her husband, Joseph, by the same angel. This child named Jesus will “save his people from their sins”. The very name Jesus means God saves. Even at His birth, His death is foretold.

If you are like me, you must be asking, “How does His death save me from my sin”? It is no secret what happened in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and most people will admit that they have sinned. Notice how I said “Most”. Those that claim to be good, when they are confronted with God’s standard, will see that they fall short in some way or another. God said, “Be Holy for I am Holy” (Lev 11:44). If we honestly look inside our hearts and minds, we will see some sort of ungodliness. If we are to be Holy like God is Holy, we need to be completely good, completely loving, completely merciful, completely gracious, completely patient, completely peaceful and completely just. I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life that I am less than completely those things.

In the above list, I left off two attributes of God’s moral character. God himself tells us that He is not only jealous, but He is also wrathful (Ex. 34:14 & Eze. 25:17). Why? Because we have not kept His standard. God’s standard is revealed to us through His Son. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”. This means that God’s moral character is completely on display in the person of Jesus. So then Jesus was born of a woman making Him fully human and He possessed all of God’s moral character making Him fully God. I know this is hard to comprehend and I am not sure I fully understand all this either. However, I do know that He has completely changed me. If the fullness of God dwells in Jesus, this would make Him sinless; perfectly able to keep God’s standard because He IS the standard.

So back to the question, “How does His death save me from my sin?” Because I am less than perfect in character and God is perfect in character, I am guilty of His jealousy and wrath. Exodus 34:6-8 says “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty”. In these verses, God describes Himself as loving; forgiving all kinds of sin, but will “by no means clear the guilty”. If God is just, He will hold me accountable. He will not overlook my imperfection.

This is how He saves us. Colossians 1:22 says “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”. This is the amazing thing about Jesus. His sole purpose was to take on human flesh, live a sinless life, die a sinner’s death and ascend into Heaven “in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach.” He was born to die.