“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…” (Galatians 1:3-4).
Our greatest need is the salvation of our soul. We need to be cleansed from sin and restored to a right relationship with God. But the wickedness of our heart always leads us to seek our own remedy for sin or even deny that we need a remedy. This only demonstrates the depth of our depravity and our desperate need for the saving grace of God; and God’s grace is the only reason anyone is saved from the penalty of sin. Because God is gracious, loving, kind, and merciful toward sinners, Jesus Christ, who is fully God, took upon Himself the nature of man and came into this world and “gave himself for our sins.” He was pleased to lay down His life in order to redeem sinners given to Him by His Father and “deliver them from this present evil world.” As the Apostle Paul wrote in Titus 2:14: “…that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
This Gospel is something the world stumbles over and considers foolishness. “For we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness…” (1 Corinthians 1:23). But the Good News taught in our text is that Jesus Christ gave Himself to save sinners from the penalty and slavery of sin and the dominion of Satan — Jesus came to save His sheep from the wrath of God. Are you trusting Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice for your sins? Are you resting in Him as the only Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), the One who knew no sin but became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him? (2 Cor. 5:21) Are you resting in Jesus, the only One who can cover and clothe sinners in His righteous robes, cleanse us from the defilement of sin with His precious blood, and cause us to be accepted by the Father? Look to Jesus today … He alone can pardon! As the hymn writer declared:
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! precious is the flow, That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.