by Elyse Fitzpatrick
… delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4:25

Let’s think about what it cost Jesus to love us, because this wonderful, one-way love does not come to us free. It’s free to us, of course, but it wasn’t free for Him. The second person of the Trinity, who always existed in joy and light, left His Father’s home and gestated in the womb of a little virgin girl in a hick village. In darkness, He grew just like you. He had to learn language. He had to learn table manners. And He had to go with His father to the synagogue to learn the Word. He didn’t access His deity to make it easy for Himself, so that He could just automatically memorize passages. He didn’t hit a home run every time He played ball. He was completely weak in all the ways you and I are weak.
And after He fasted for forty days, the Bible says He was hungry. Now, why does the Bible tell us that? The writers of the Bible wanted us to remember that Jesus was a human. Because we need a perfect representative. We need someone who is human like us to fulfill all the law. He fulfills all the law in our place, so that as God’s perfect sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world, He could die the substitutionary death for us so that we can be justified.
If the gospel doesn’t hold the center of your life, if God’s one-way love isn’t what defines you, captivates you, and motivates you, then it’s going to be something else. It will be homeschooling, which is fine, or it will be politics or it will be gender roles or career or sports or whatever. Something will fill the void that should only be filled by the gospel.
The gospel must hold the center of your life. And the only way it can do that is by you saying, “God help me remember the price You paid. Help me remember the incredible cost paid by Your Son.”

Thought to Remember for Today

I’ve got to take myself back to the gospel over and over and over and over again, and I’ve got to pray, “God, help me remember. Help me remember that Your law has already been fulfilled and Your death has wiped away all my guilt. Lord, help me.” You need to do this too. And the joy is, by praying it, we’re remembering it!

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.