Daily Devo
Because of CHRIST
By: Mae Archila
Monday, April 28, 2025
“He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself” Hebrews 7:27
Easter is a special, emotional time where we are reminded of Jesus' sacrifice. We reflect on what Christ went through to save us from sin and eternal death. The cross is where our salvation was sealed with God's promise of forgiveness and reconciliation. After Pilate had Jesus scourged, he sent Him to be crucified. Scourging someone was horrific, a method of torture that left its victims unrecognizable. But His scourging was predicted in the Old Testament.
Many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. Isaiah 52:14 (NLT)
Jesus' body was bleeding and racked with pain, bent under the heavy weight of the cross. Jesus chose to walk down a road of suffering for us, our sacrificial Lamb who chose to die in our place. We picture lambs as being innocent, and in the OT, that made them the perfect sacrifice. Another verse from Isaiah compared our Messiah to a lamb.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7
We are so undeserving; Christ’s substitutionary atonement should move us to tears. But it shouldn't just move us to tears, it should move us to live a life worthy of His sacrifice! The penalty of sin is death—and the payment for it requires a life—a graphic way for our Heavenly Father to communicate how serious our sin is. I love the words to a song called “Because Of Christ” because they speak to my soul and remind me to remember Jesus.
May I never boast in anything, except the cross of Jesus Christ.
May I not forget the blood He shed. It is by His death I am alive.
Because of Christ, I am alive...
Because of Christ:
- We aren't condemned (Romans 8:1).
- We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
- We are part of God's plans (Jeremiah 29:11)
- We have been blessed (Ephesians 1:3).
- We are God's heirs (Galatians 4:7).
- We have a room waiting in Heaven (John 14:2-3)
Never forget that you are Christ's priority. Our salvation was more important to Jesus than His suffering!