Devotional:First Responders:Romans 3:23-26

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10, NASB).

September 11, 2011 will forever be itched in the minds of the American people and remembered as the September 11 Attacks, and commonly known as 9/11. The attacks were a series of four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by the militant Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda against the United States. Americans watched on live television as two airplanes crashed into two towers in New York City. Americans saw the destruction of property and the loss of life. Police, EMT, and firefighters immediately rushed to the emergency scene to provide assistance to prevent further destruction of property and to save lives. Those persons are known as First Responders.

Christians celebrate Good Friday, the day that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on a cross on a hill called Calvary. During the week leading up to and including Good Friday churches will hold special worship services to commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross. In many of these services there will be sermons preached on the last seven sayings (words) of Jesus as He hung on the cross. When we first think about the cruelty of the mock trial, the scourging, and the weight of the cross, we have mixed feelings. We know that this innocent man was wrongly convicted to die by crucifixion; a method of execution reserved for the vilest criminals. Mothers weep when they hear Him tell His disciple to take care of His mother. We cringe when we think of the nails driven into His hands and feet. Hanging was not enough. They even took a sword and pierced His side. How cruel and inhuman can you get?

Why do civilized people celebrate such a cruel event? Are those celebrating any different from those that killed Him? We celebrate His death because we know that Jesus was a First responder. He was God’s only responder that God prepared and sent to intervene in the tragic emergency of human beings. God had allowed that the sacrifice of bulls and goats be made in anticipation of the coming First Responder, but those sacrifices were insufficient. “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4, NASB). There was the need for a First responder; someone trained to respond to our emergency. He was prepared to come to put His life on the line to save us from our sins.

We do not celebrate the death of Jesus because of the intentions and actions of men. Rather, we celebrate His death because of what God was doing for us through the sacrifice of His Son. God loved us so He sent His Son. Jesus shed His blood for our redemption. He died so that we would live instead of dying eternally. Although He died, we celebrate because we know that He was resurrected from the dead. He lives forever and we who believe in Him will also live forever.

Prayer: God, we thank You for Your love shown through the death of Jesus. Amen.