LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

“But I have too!”

How many times have we heard our children say that? They ask to do something, and when we say “No,” they do their best to convince us of the urgency of the situation. I’m sure as adults we still do the same thing. “I have to buy that car!” “I have to stay home from work!”  “I have to go golfing!” Okay, that one hits way to close to home. We seem to have a lot of “have to’s.”

God also expressed a “have to.” You can see it in John 3:14. I will highlight it for you.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up…”

Jesus MUST be lifted up. But Why? There are two reasons:

1. Our sin had one consequence and one cure. Death is sin’s consequence, and Christ’s death is the cure.
   1. Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
   2. Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
2. God’s love had one expression – to suffer the consequence and become the cure.
   1. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus MUST be lifted up.

Our sin determines it.

God’s love demands it.

Pastor John