Jesus Didn't Just Put the Weight Of Our Sin On His Back

Jesus didn’t just put the weight of our sin on his back, he did reps with it

The other day I was at my college football practice for stretching. I was not feeling it that day if I could be honest. My body was sore, and my attitude was far from a “go get-em” one. None the less, I jogged onto the field. There my team mates and I found a collection of sleds and tires, “Competition day.” You could hear it radiating through the players, everyone realizing what was ahead. The coach gathered us and we took a knee on the rough “greenish” grass. The rules were as followed, a) no cheating, b)do the exercise and then cheer on your teammate, c) the losing team has extra conditioning after the competition. Of course there was some cheating, some people didn’t quite go through the finish line; of course not everyone cheered for their team, a lot of them cheered against the other team; and of course we ended in a solid tie. So far no one is worthy of not conditioning, but the coaches go with it any way. A tie breaker, four players from each team will compete in sled pulls and tire flips. We picked our best and everyone sat the sidelines. Wouldn’t you know it another tie (even though the other team didn’t follow the rules), so then it comes down to one player per team. A plank hold and push up competition was the challenge that lay ahead. A plank is holding your body as parallel to the earth as possible with your arms locked out. A push up is bringing your chest to the ground and pushing the earth away using your arms only. Once again everyone sat the sideline as we watched them compete by holding a plank for several minutes. Even though the stress was intense, they bore the pain. Physically exhausted the call for pushups came, and not many were done. The great news, my team did the most pushups! I watched someone take my work load, bear it, and then finish the job all as a gift. Immediately afterwards a word came to mind, grace, this was grace. In the end no one had to run because of the great competition that was put up. Jesus was the grace that walked on this earth for us, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) He wasn’t just our grace but our truth, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) Because of his grace we received the gift of his blood; the gift of blood was the water to clean our sinful hearts. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of is grace;” (Eph. 1:7) Alright so its established that Jesus was the grace that walked among us, and his grace can wash any sin away; who deserves to get their sin washed away though? Is it the rich and the famous? Is it the proud and self righteous? I can answer that question very easily, no one deserves grace; however, everyone can have his grace! “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to ALL men.”(Titus 2:11) “For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” (Rom. 3:21) “For God so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) God loves everyone and because of this everyone can receive grace. Grace is a gift though, if something is a gift then it’s not earned or deserved. “But he giveth more grace wherefore he saith, GOD RESISTED THE PROUD, BUT GIVETH GRACE UNTO THE HUMBLE.” (James 4:6) God gives grace onto those who know they don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve a gift, but it’s still given! Jesus is offering his grace too you, give him your heart and all of your faith; know that even you can share in his love; put your sins on his back, and watch him do reps with it!

Verses used:

John 1:14

John 1:17

Ephesians 1:7

Titus 2:11

Romans 3:21

James 4:6