THE MISSION OF THE SON: THE DISPLAY OF DIVINE LOVE

THE MISSION OF THE SON: THE DISPLAY OF DIVINE LOVE

By: Daniel McMillin

Salvation is the gift given freely from heaven by the Father that was brought to earth through the Son and was sealed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus revealed His divine mission to bring salvation in His conversation with Nicodemus. He said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). The Father sent His Son knowing that the Son must suffer and die on the cross because He loved humanity. But notice this: the Son knew that He would experience death long before He approached Calvary’s hill. For a moment, think about the implications of this reality. While incarnate, Jesus understood His life mission and knew the end of His story, or at least, what initially appeared to be the end but was, in reality, the completion of His mission. Jesus predicted His death during His earthly ministry (Mark 8:31-33, 9:30-32 and 10:32-34). He understood that He would suffer as He prayed in the Garden (Mark 14:36), He knew that He would be betrayed long before Judas came with soldiers to arrest Him (Mark 14:18–21), He knew that He would be denied by Peter long before He ever went to trial (Mark 14:27-31), and He knew that He would be crucified long before He entered the city of Jerusalem for the last time. Imagine how difficult it must have been for Jesus to know what He must endure to save us. Yet, Jesus willingly experienced this to set us free from our sins. He liberated us so we may all live with Him for eternity. Jesus saved us! He not only saved us from our sins but from the cross itself. He saved us from our sins so we may not die in our sins and surely perish, spending eternity in torment. But He also saved us from our sins so we may spend eternity with Him by granting us eternal life. Additionally, Jesus saved us from the cross so we may not endure the pain of the cross and die. That is, He saved us from the pain of the cross so we may not die upon it. He died for us, and He died in our stead. Salvation was freely given by God but paid at the price of that sinless sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God. Let us never forget the price Christ paid for us in our stead, saving us from our sins and bringing forth salvation to all through His death. May we all cherish the love of God.