Scars that Save

We are in the month of December and when we think of December most of the world thinks about Christmas and Christmas presents. When I think of December I think of the night Jesus was born. Ok, I admit, I do think of Trees, lights, and presents. Why though? Why do I think of these things more than I do my Savior and the night he came into the world? The world has made Christmas so much about themselves, sure we can say we are giving like Jesus, but how many of us give expecting something in return? (That is something to think about)

But more importantly than presents, trees, lights and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation we should think first and foremost of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think of how there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the Inn so they went to an old barn full of animals, where Mary gave birth to the Savior of the world. People denied the King before He was born and even after His death people still deny Him. Wow! That is pretty interesting to think about. While I believe the birth of Jesus is one of the most important events that ever took place in history, it is still not the most important and there is one thing that is even more important than His birth. His death.

Yes Jesus’ death was more important than anything in history ever! It is actually the most awesome event that ever took place in world history. Not WW1, WW2 or Obama being elected as the fist African American President of the United States tops Jesus’ death. Let me tell you why Jesus’ death was so important. Let me start with God, His Father…

God sent His son Jesus to earth as a human being. A living breathing human being in the flesh. God realized that there was so much sin in the world that we needed a Savior to come and save us. As I mentioned before, Jesus was born in a barn around several animals, He grew up, was a Jewish carpenter and started a ministry. He began preaching everywhere He went telling people about his Father in Heaven (God). He would tell people to follow Him, He would teach them right from wrong, and also taught about Heaven and hell. For the sake of saving my typing fingers I will say this and then get to the main point of this topic (Scars that Save). Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Judas led the Pharisees to Jesus in the garden. Jesus was captured, beaten, whipped, had His beard plucked and a crown of thorns placed upon His head. He was then nailed to a cross where he died.

Many people want to know why this is so important. Well here is why it is so important. Jesus was brutally murdered so that we could live!! What???? That is crazy……Yes, Jesus died so we can live. Jesus took on all the sin of the world and put them on His back so we can recognize this and give our hearts to Jesus. The Bible says that we will all die, but God gave His only son to save us. All we have to do is confess Jesus as Lord with our mouths, believe that He was raised on the third day and ask Him to live in our hearts. But here is where I think it goes a little deeper. We can confess all of this and our lifestyle not show any change. If we confess Jesus as Lord and ask Him to save us then our lifestyle should show what we profess. Being a Christian is more than believing, it’s about following after Jesus. We will never be just like Jesus in our earthly bodies but we can strive to be holy because He is holy. He has actually called us to be holy as well as to be imitators of Him.

So when I think about Jesus being brutally beaten and nailed to a cross I have to smile. Those images are comforting to me, yet disturbing. I don’t want to take anything away from the brutality of it all, but it is comforting to me to know that my Savior went through that so I could live! When I say live I mean live forever with Him because I am a sinner saved by grace. If you never choose Jesus you can still live but when your time on earth is finished, you will die and be tortured in hell. So if you have never given your life to Jesus, please recognize what He has done for you and surrender your life to Him. Follow after Him and live a life full of adventure, because following after Jesus is always an adventure. His scars really do save!