CHRIST DIED FOR US .

 

EVENING DEVOTIONS by James Smith

JANUARY 24

  

Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

 
What an unspeakable blessing is this!
 
Let us very seriously consider to-night.
 
Christ died,
   Jehovah’s only begotten Son,
       the fountain of being and blessedness,
           the centre and source of all excellence and glory.
 
Jesus, who united the divine and human natures in himself, he died:
   died as our great friend,
      who stood up for us in covenant,
           who stooped for us from heaven to earth,
                  whose love was stronger than death.
 
He died for us the objects of his love and his Father’s choice; died for us though we were base, the ungodly—weak, without strength—rebellious, his enemies.
 
He died for us, as the Head for his body,
—as the Surety for the debts he had undertaken to set free,
—as the Redeemer for captives he was pledges to deliver,
—as the Husband for his beloved, but fallen, bride,
—as the Shepherd to the flock entrusted for his care,
—as the Servant of the Father, who came to do his will and maintain his honour.
 
He died for us to redeem us from death, to raise us to eternal life, to restore us to friendship with God, to fit us for his holy service, and that we might be crowned with glory at last.
 
Let us therefore live looking to Jesus.
 

Christ bore our sins upon the tree,

To seek and save the lost he came;

There was he doomed to set us free

From death and everlasting shame;

The captive flock from hell was freed

And ransom’d when their Shepherd bled.

 
 
James Smith