Romans 5:6-11
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and many people received cards, gifts, or kind words from friends and family. But human love can’t compare to Jesus’ love, which He demonstrated by dying on the cross for us.
Jesus lived a perfect life: He was sinless and fully pleasing to God. He didn’t have any unrighteousness or sin for which He owed payment (Rom. 6:23), but we do. If Jesus had never come to earth, we would be headed for eternal separation from God. Yet our Savior cared so much that He left heaven and died for the world He loved—even for those who rejected Him.
Today’s passage describes the mystery of an innocent person dying in place of a guilty one. Paul asks who among us would volunteer to take on someone else’s deserved punishment. Maybe we’d consider helping a righteous person, but Jesus was willing to help the guilty. He became our substitute—taking on both our sin and our penalty. God’s wrath was poured out on Him for all our sins.
Jesus died on the cross so that we might enter God’s family and live with Him forever. Jesus’ sacrifice changed us from outsiders to children of God, from enemy to beloved, and from stranger to friend. No one could care about us more deeply than that.
