An Italian journalist in Iraq had just been... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
John 10:11; Romans 5:6

An Italian journalist in Iraq had just been released from hostage detention. She was on her way to the airport with an intelligence agent who had been instrumental in her release. Suddenly, just 700 metres from their destination, they came under heavy fire. In a flash, the agent threw himself over the journalist to shield her from the bullets with his body. He was fatally hit but she escaped with her life.

This makes us think of the voluntary, sacrificial death of the Son of God.

God is holy. Therefore, He cannot simply pass over sin. He must expose all that is wrong and deal with it in righteous judgment; this is according to His nature. But God is also love. That is why He sent His own Son to earth and gave Him to die for us. In His love, He wants to save the ungodly; this is also according to His nature.

The Son of God came into the world to suffer and die vicariously for guilty people. In Him there was not the slightest trace of sin. Therefore, He was the only one who could protectively place Himself before us and thus shield us from the deserved judgment of God. And that is exactly what He did! On the cross of Calvary, Jesus endured the deepest sufferings: God turned away from Him; He forsook Him; He “laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

And who does this benefit? All who acknowledge that they have deserved God’s judgment and who now believe in Jesus Christ. In His substitutionary sacrifice they find protection and redemption.

Today’s reading: Ezekiel 32:1-32 · Psalms 133 u. 134