Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)
Today, many will enjoy time off from work while grilling out with friends and family as they celebrate Memorial Day. This is the day we pause to say thank you to those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice by freely giving their last full measure of devotion in defense of our country and for the cause of freedom around the world. We honor those heroes who willingly served and sacrificed their lives because they loved their country and their fellow man. We say thank you to all those who died defending our nation and to all those family members left behind. But that’s not all.
From a biblical perspective, I want to offer a deeper meaning to this annual holiday under the title Memorial Day Everyday, a sermon I preached yesterday at The Cross (www.thecrosscc.org – click on “watch our livestream”). The sacrifice of our military personnel is both moving and meaningful. But the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is miraculous. Our military sacrificed defending our nation. Jesus sacrificed for every tongue, tribe, and nation. The sacrifice of our military personal has brought to us benefits that are only temporal and physical. The sacrifice of Jesus brought to us benefits that are eternal and spiritual. And if that was not enough, when God the Father sent God the Son into this world to pay the penalty for sin, it was for His enemies, not His friends.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, thought for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).
Here we see the sinless Savior of the world dying for those who were his enemies. This demonstrates a love that is simply supernatural. Jesus took the place of rebels on the run away from Him when He was nailed to a cross and died an unimaginable death while we were still sinners and His sworn enemies. Jesus died to make it possible for enemies like us to be redeemed and reconciled to Him as His friends.
So, today, we celebrate the freedom we enjoy in our nation because of all those who have fought and died for it. But let this day remind all of us of the truth that Christ’s death brings the greatest freedom one can hope for – freedom from our bondage to sin, Satan, and our last enemy death. Pause to praise Jesus today, who purchased all those who trust in Him, by grace through faith, as their Savior, freely laying down His life to make available to us the greatest gift of all, eternal life with Jesus and all the saints of God.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 