Thursday, June 6, 2019, marks the 75th anniversary of the D-day invasion of France by American and Allied forces.

The upper Normandy region has doubled in population this week. It’s impossible to find a hotel, difficult to lock down an Airbnb, the main highway, the N13 that links Cherbourg to Caen is closed to allow the passage of the world leaders who have come to remember. In fact, it’s more accurate to say, the French have never forgotten. From the first time I visited Normandy, I’ve heard—from people of all ages and with deep sincerity—“We will never forget.” True to their word, this week has served as proof in the form of conferences, films, reenactments and parachuters jumping from real C-47 paratrooper airplanes within view from the freeway! Add to that the many people dressed authentic 1940’s US military uniforms and French Resistance fighters. Traffic has been slowed to a crawl due to all the Jeeps, Ambulances and Military transportation vehicles from the day. To be honest, there are times when it feels like we are on the set of a World War II movie.

In quieter times, I like to take friends and family to the D-Day Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, (otherwise known as Omaha Beach.) There is nothing like surveying the field of crosses and stars of David which stand up from the perfectly manicured lawn like stalks of wheat in an immense harvest. I’ve walked through the crosses in the rain when hardly a soul was present; I’ve sought shelter under the trees while the sun beat down and the grounds were covered with visitors from all over the world. I’ve never gotten over the prevailing hush as one looks over the thousands of lives laid down to save Europe from Nazi oppression.

Last time I visited this sacred ground, it was a particularly cold day with a light wind sweeping off the shore finding its way into my bones. We walked over to the edge of the Memorial to a stone wall that stands waist high to take in the breathtaking view of the beach. Three shades of blue appear to be painted as if by the brush strokes of the wind, sun and waves. The beach itself, covered with white sand, so quiet, it could have been a postcard picture of any other place in the world. If it were not so terrible, not so… hallowed. We met a Veteran from the War in a wheelchair. He wore a picture of himself in his youth with the phrase “Forever young” printed on the bottom. We talked for a moment and thanked him for his service. As we walked back to the car, I mulled over the words of the troops assuring General Eisenhower before loading up, “Don’t worry about it General, we’ll take care of things for you.”

And the freedom we enjoy today is proof that they kept their word.

Even amongst friends, the ride home is less talkative. It takes some time to process through the heaviness of such a scene. As I drove home that day, I couldn’t help thinking about all that’s changed since the invasion. Here I was, a US-born citizen, a pastor of a church in Paris, France, living in a suburb that as I was told by a man who lived there during the Occupation, was once “inhabited by German officers in black uniforms.”

I wouldn’t be here, nor would my church, nor would many of the gracious people I’ve met over the years in France. Those men who gave their lives that day are heroes.

As I pondered over all that I had taken in that day, I was reminded of a place in Scripture that also describes heroes of the faith who paid the ultimate price. Theirs was not so much as soldiers but as those who lived by faith and testified in death to God.

“Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:35-38).

Those of whom the world wasn’t worthy… They are heroes also, heroes for eternity. We don’t know their names, but if not for them, something great would be missing. They lived and gave their lives in the image of the Savior. Who didn’t hold on to His divine privilege as we often do our own rights. He humbled himself. Jesus took on our humanity, lived in obedience and gave his life to end the wretched oppression of sin and death that keeps humanity in the Devil’s clutches. Our lives will not be the same because of His great sacrifice and life now filling our mortal bodies. That’s the path those amazing believers of the past followed. Each one had a role to play in the glorious work of God throughout the ages. We may not know the impact now, we may not even get to visit the place where they fell for the Kingdom, but we long to join them in Heaven.

That’s when my mind turned to the many unsung heroes who are still tortured, executed, imprisoned and excluded for their faith today.

These men, women, children, and even the elderly lay down their lives, oftentimes willingly. We know they are given a special measure of grace, that they receive eternal rewards, but we also know they cry real tears. Some still hunger and thirst, crying out for proper medical attention. They pray with all they have within them for freedom. Their pain is real, and their lives will probably never go back to what we call normal. These are my heroes too. They probably would have chosen a different lot for their lives, if they had been given the chance. But what a precious place they will have in the Kingdom.

“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also” (Hebrews 13:3).

Remembering these things has given me a new perspective. I want to remember those men fallen on June 6, 1944. In the same way, I want to remember those saints who died through persecution. I also want to remember those who are suffering right now for the name of Jesus.

It’s true, we can petition our Representative on their behalf. But there is more. We can subscribe and support ministries and missionaries that are involved in these very points of conflict. And still, we need to pray. May we never forget them and may we pray for them as we do for our own family. This is the hardest part. To be honest, I need to pray that the Lord would remind me to pray!

That brings me to my last point, knowing that it’s not by works we are saved, we need the Spirit in our lives. In our world today, anyone is on the front lines, in the image of a paratrooper who is willing to live openly for Jesus. We need His Spirit because we are sinners and sometimes we do fall. But the Lord will help us get up. He will even rescue us and bring us through to a place that reflects His love and grace in flesh and bones. So let’s remember the heroes of the past and present. Let’s especially not forget the One who through His ultimate sacrifice, became the greatest Hero to the glory of the Father.

I recently returned from a trip to Israel, where I led worship for a church tour! It was a super full trip, but always such a gift to be where Jesus walked, worked and gave His life for us!

During the first week of the tour, our team was staying in Tiberias, which is on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee. We spent a few days in the town, and one of those days we were able to take a boat ride across the sea as we shared worship and heard a teaching. The Sea of Galilee looks less like a sea and more like a lake, so it can be hard to picture the story in the gospels that talks about Jesus calming the stormy sea when he was on the boat with his disciples. You may look at what seems like a harmless sea and think, “Really, guys? THIS sea scared you?” But, I was actually happy that for the few days we were around Galilee, it was stormy! I mean, massive thunder, lightning and major downpours off and on for three days! This stormy weather made it WAY easier to understand the fear the disciples may have felt as they bobbed around on the stormy sea thinking they weren’t going to make it.

Now that I have set the stage for the story, I want to tell you a modern story of servanthood.

While we were on our bumpy boat ride, the wind was whipping through any crack and crevice of the thick, clear plastic sheeting that was meant to keep the wind out. Us Californians hunkered down as much as we could to try to stay warm under our hoodies and single-use plastic bag type ponchos. Sitting next to me was a woman named Diane, her husband Harold was sitting on the other side of the boat. During the teaching, he walked over to her, took off his thick coat and wrapped it around her shoulders so that she would be protected from the wind. He then walked back to his spot wearing only a long sleeve t-shirt in the freezing wind! I was struck not only by his thoughtfulness for the woman he loves but for the joy it brought him to serve her. He smiled brightly as he looked at her from across the boat, content that his sweet wife was now warm and protected from the wind.

It was then that I realized that the definition of being a servant is allowing yourself to be uncomfortable, in order to make someone else comfortable.

Harold didn’t give his wife his jacket so he would appear to be husband of the year. It was apparent by the joy it gave him, that he gave her his jacket to ensure that she was taken care of, comfortable and happy. What a true example of a servant! I wish you could have seen these two during the trip! They were so cute; Harold was always making sure Diane had what she needed, helping her walk on uneven ground, taking her hand to help her up steps, and they even walked together holding pinkies! It was the cutest thing ever!

In the books of Mark and Matthew, you may have read the story of the sons of Zebedee. There was a bit of an argument on their account because they asked Jesus if He would do them a favor and let them sit in places of honor, one on His right and the other on His left in Heaven. Silly sons of Zebedee! They were wanting status and thinking all they had to do was ask for it because they had connections with the big man.

Little did they know, status was the very LAST thing Jesus was about. On the contrary, Jesus was all about serving others and giving away His status, His position to become just like us. In Mark 10 verse 42-45 Jesus reels His disciples back in because they were getting a little irritated at this whole “place of honor” business.

It says: “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’” (Matthew 20:25-28).

So, Jesus set those sons of Zebedee straight by letting them know that they had it all backward. His whole reason for coming was to serve others, not to be served, and as a matter of fact, He came to give up absolutely everything, the ultimate sacrifice, His own life to ransom all of ours. Talk about being uncomfortable to make others comfortable…Jesus took death to give us life!

Our “sacrifice” in this life is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us.

As I watched Harold care so tenderly for his wife, not for his gain, but for hers, my heart was completely touched and stirred. It reminded me that my job is to be a servant, not to be served, in order to make myself more comfortable. And another thing, not once did I see Harold point his thumbs towards himself and say, “Did everyone see me? I gave up my jacket to my wife! I am the husband OF THE YEAR! Take notes, boys!” No, he did it in humility and genuineness and simply because he really loves his wife, and he showed it by serving her.

What ways might God be asking you to serve others? Have you had times where you have thought, “Well, if I do that for them, then who will do it for me?” Or maybe you’re like me, “Well, if my husband eats my last french fry, there will be fewer fries for me! No one gets between me and my fries.” I know, it’s a problem; pray for me.

One of the last things Jesus did with His disciples was to wash their feet, an act of total service to them. In this way, He showed them that even He was willing to bend low to serve others, and He was GOD! What an example left to us by Jesus. I hope that this encourages us to live our lives looking for ways to serve others. Try to think of some simple ways today that you can reach out to help someone else; I know you will be blessed for it!

The idea of surrender, most commonly, has negative connotations. We think of armies and nations that have surrendered in wars; they saw that they were defeated by the victors, and so they gave up, admitted defeat and surrendered to their conquerors.

None of that sounds great! We generally don’t walk around thinking, “Oh, I hope I am defeated today – so that I can surrender.” But in the Christian context, surrender is the most wonderful position to find yourself in, because in our case, the victor is also our Savior.

To live our lives in a posture of surrender to God is a glorious freedom.

We must come to the place where we “give up,” where we finally admit that we cannot do it on our own, that we cannot meet God’s standard. As we read in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” This causes us to see our need for Jesus to be our Savior. It is in this moment of “defeat” that we surrender to our Savior, and in that glorious moment, we realize Jesus has not won victory over us, but He has won victory for us. He is not our conqueror; He is our Savior. Indeed, Jesus surrendered all so that He could be our Savior. He surrendered His power and glory to come to the earth as a baby. The Bible tells us that Jesus, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:6-7). He surrendered His very life on the cross to take the penalty for our sin, so that one day we could willingly surrender to Him, to be adopted into His family and gain access to the throne of God. What a wonderful victory Jesus won for us; what a joy to fully surrender our lives to His great love and salvation.

The reality of surrender, however, is something that continues to resurface during different times in our lives. Our ultimate surrender comes in our decision to receive Christ as our Savior, however, as we go through life, there will continually be moments and seasons where we will need to surrender once again to the will of God. This may come in the form of a call of God you feel that you are resisting, a relationship you feel God is calling you to surrender, career, future plans, friendships, whatever it may be, I would encourage you to stop resisting God and once again surrender your will to His, just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He said to the father, “Father if you are willing take this cup from me, but not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). With those words, Jesus willingly laid down His life for you, and bearing this great truth in mind, I encourage you to willingly surrender every aspect of your life again to the God who loves you, has the best for you and who has already surrendered everything for you.

You surrendered all,
You surrendered all,
All for me, my blessed Saviour,
You surrendered all.
And because the Lord did surrender all for us, everyday we say;
I surrender all,
I surrender all
All for thee my blessed Saviour,
I surrender all.

There doesn’t need to be any fear in surrendering to the God who loves us and wants the best for us.

We are not surrendering to a mean or capricious God. Even though sometimes there can be a sense of disquiet in trusting God in the things He has called us to. We must remember that in being obedient to Him, we will see His absolute best for us come to life. He only has good for us. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

There is freedom in surrender to God. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). In fact, true freedom is only found in surrender to God. Nothing else can make us free, but the Bible tells us that, “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:36). Therefore, let us surrender fully to Jesus and let us stay surrendered to Him. Let us always remember that He surrendered all for us, and that through His sacrifice, He won us a victory we could never have gained on our own. He gave everything for us, so let’s hold our lives lightly, not grasping desperately to things we feel we cannot do without; let’s instead, live in a continual posture of surrender, finding peace in the fact that we are being held in the mighty hand of a loving God.

It’s not often that we hear stories of heroism on the evening news. More often we have to wait until after the program and turn on a movie. Last week in France we witnessed one of those rare moments; a man gave his life to save someone in danger of losing theirs. His name was Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, a highly decorated officer, and as more information became available, we discovered he was also a Christian brother.

On Thursday March 22, Radouane Lakdim, a 26-year-old Moroccan extremist with connections to ISIS, acted out in three acts of terrorism in the vicinity of Carcassonne, in the South of France. He was known to the authorities, under investigation and had a case pending against him.1 He stole a car, fired on its owner, killing the passenger, drove to military police camp, fired on and wounded an officer before ending up at the grocery store and attacking it, taking hostages.

During the negotiations, Lieutenant Colonel Beltrame, offered to take the place of the hostage.

The terrorist accepted and freed her as soon the Lieutenant Colonel entered. Beltrame opened his cell phone, placing it on the table, allowing the Anti-Terrorist Squad to follow what happened inside the store. Lakdim fired four shots at the officer, as the special forces unit attacked and successfully liberated the supermarket, killing the terrorist. Beltrame was rushed to the hospital but died of his wounds later that night.² Since, the moving testimonials have not stopped pouring in from family, friends, colleagues, clergy and even the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.

Arnaud Beltrame was born into a non-practicing Catholic family. He graduated from an elite military school, served in Iraq, served on the security committee at the presidential palace, Elysée, served in the government under the ministry of Ecology before returning to the terrain as an Adjoining Commander in August 2017. At the age of 39, he entered into the Legion of Honor.³ His career was exceptional, and his devotion exemplary. His mother spoke of him this weekend saying, “If he were here, he would say, ‘I was just doing my job.'” Clearly there was something else inspiring him than pure duty.

In 2008 he had a real conversion experience, became a practicing Catholic and took his first communion two years later. His colleagues spoke of a man full of faith, who shared what he believed in word and deed. A local clergyman close to him told of how he prayed to meet the woman God had for him and how that prayer was answered. At 45 years old, Arnaud Beltrame was married without children.⁴

In today’s complex geopolitical context, it’s not easy to read into these situations where faith comes into play.

This story is intriguing because out of the darkness of a crime committed in hate, came a life-sparing sacrifice of a man who wanted to follow Christ. The timing of his act of bravery corresponds to the season, a time when we remember the One who in perfect innocence, gave his life for a world in rebellion, to save us, give us life and hope. We can only imagine the welcome Beltrame had entering into his heavenly reward. May it inspire us to be brave, seek justice and live out the Gospel, as we pray for his family.

¹“Le suivi du terroriste de Carcassonne en questions”– LaCroix
² “Attaques terroristes dans l’Aude : le récit de 4 heures de terreur”– Le Parisien
³ “Communiqué – Décès du lieutenant-colonel Arnaud Beltrame”– elysee.fr
⁴ “Arnaud Beltrame : Le témoignage bouleversant du prêtre qui l’a accompagné jusqu’au bout”– famille chrétienne

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

It was a stormy night in Somerset, England, in 1763. A large thunderstorm had quickly moved in, and Augustus Toplady, a preacher in the village of Blagdon, found himself exposed in the brutal elements of wind, rain and lightning. Noticing the nearby gorge of Burrington Combe in the Mendip Hills, he quickly found a small gap in the gorge and took shelter from the violent deluge.

While huddled in the small cove, Toplady was suddenly inspired with words. Scrambling to write them down, he found that he had no paper to write on except a playing card. He quickly scribbled these words:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me
Let me hide myself in Thee

These words later comprised a hymn, known as “Rock of Ages.” Within a generation, this hymn became known as one of the four greatest Anglican hymns of the 19th Century, sung by millions around the world, including at the deathbed of Prince Albert. It is claimed to be in more hymnals than any other English hymn! The lyrics later state:

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

Toplady was saved that fateful night from the storm because of the shelter provided by the rocky cleft. You and I, in like manner, have been saved by Jesus Christ from the despair and destruction of sin and death. 1 Peter 1:2 speaks of three unique aspects of our salvation:

“…Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” (1 Peter 1:2).

1. CHOSEN: “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”

First, Peter says that we have been elected according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. The word “elect” is the Greek word eklektois (ἐκλεκτοις), which is a plural adjective from the verb eklego (ἐκλεγο) which means “to pick out” or “to select out of a number.” The verb is used in Ephesians 1:4 where it is rendered “chosen,” referring to the act of God in sovereign grace choosing out certain from among mankind for Himself, the verb in Ephesians being in middle voice, meaning the subject acts in his own interest. Quite literally, those to whom Peter is writing could be called “selected out ones.”

Election is tied to foreknowledge. This may seem difficult to understand with our finite minds, but God knows the end from the beginning. James the Apostle points this out in Acts 15:18: “Known to God from eternity are all His works.” Consider this truth: God is omniscient, which means “all-knowing.” God has always been omniscient, which thus means He cannot learn. He knows all things, thus there is nothing new for God to learn. So all His works were known to Him before a single one of them came to be.

I used to love Legos. Okay who am I kidding…I still love Legos! Legoland is only a few hours away from my house, and to be honest, I would probably go to Legoland even if I didn’t have kids (most people know Legos from their reputation in the middle of the night as parents go to check on their kids and step on one with bare feet!)

When I was growing up, I would get a Lego castle set. It came with a bag of bricks, and I would begin to organize each brick based on its size and shape, start reading the detailed IKEA-like instructions; and then I would begin selecting certain blocks to fit together.

One time it was dinner right when I opened my Lego box. I had dumped all the blocks out, and I had to leave it there and go to the dinner table. I remember coming back to the blocks after dinner once I had finished dish duty that night and my sister and brother had gone through my room and dumped all my normal blocks in with the new blocks. I was so mad! It’s funny to look back now, but I was so stressed out at the time, I thought I was going to have a small 12-year-old heart attack. I could hear the doctor saying, “Yeah we’ve never seen such a young boy have a heart attack of this magnitude…what happened…did one of his siblings mix up his Lego blocks?”

I had to slowly and methodically build the castle and look into this pile of mixed up blocks as I was hand selecting…or you could say… “electing” the blocks that were needed for this project. This selective process doesn’t make Lego unfair as a company or uncaring to the other blocks – it simply means that the Designer of the castle had a plan in mind from the beginning. The end result would mean some blocks would be chosen, and others would not.

Foreknowledge means that God knew us from the beginning. It isn’t solely based on knowing and electing us because He knew we would turn in faith to Christ, but that is certainly an aspect of it. What a wonderful truth! The Lord knew me and elected me before the foundation of the world! God foreknew and elected you to eternal life. Glorious!

2. CONSECRATED: “in sanctification of the Spirit”

The second aspect of our salvation is that we are sanctified or set apart: consecrated by the Holy Spirit. This concept is linked to the word “obedience,” meaning that when we first obeyed by placing our faith in Jesus, at that moment we were sealed and sanctified. We were made holy, forensically and legally put in the category of NOT GUILTY.

The Spirit of God has sanctified us, set us apart, consecrated us. Though we are already saved, past tense, we are “being saved” present tense (2 Corinthians 2:15; Philippians 2:12-13). This is the process of growing more and more like Jesus that begins with conversion and then continues endlessly until we see Him face to face in glory.

3. CLEANSED: “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”

The third aspect of our salvation is the cleansing, atoning work of Christ on our behalf. Peter uses the phraseology and typology of the Levitical ritual where the priest sprinkled the people with the sacrificial blood. The writer of Hebrews picks up on this in chapter nine of his letter and speaks of the shedding of blood on our behalf.

Did you catch the Godhead’s work in salvation in these verses? Notice that each member of the Trinity has a work in our salvation:

. The Father knows us in advance and thus calls us the “elect”
. The Spirit sanctifies us (makes us holy, consecrated to God)
. The Son, Jesus, cleanses us from sin through His atoning sacrifice, made effectual to us by faith.

Vincent says “The Father foreknowing, the Son atoning, the Spirit applying the Son’s work in sanctifying.”

I like what one person said about these three aspects of our salvation:

“We have therefore the three steps taken by the three Persons of the Triune God. God the Father chooses the sinner to salvation. God the Spirit brings the sinner thus chosen to the act of faith. God the Son cleanses him in His precious blood. Perhaps someone may read these lines who is not saved. Your question is, “How can I know whether I am one of those whom God has chosen?” The answer is simple. Put your faith in the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, the One who died on the Cross in your stead to make atonement for your sins, and God will save you. You will find that God the Father chose you for salvation, God the Spirit brought you to the act of faith, and God the Son cleansed you from your sin.”

Are you saved? Chosen, consecrated and cleansed? Those who receive Christ as their Savior are protected like Toplady from the wind and lightning. No one else can save from the torrents of sin and death. Only Jesus can be your true Shelter. Will you receive Him today?

If you are saved, what a wonderful reminder for us today: We are chosen! We have been elected to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We are consecrated: set apart to obey God and mature in Him. We are cleansed: washed white and clean because of the Word spoken to us. Let’s trust our Trinitarian God in our salvation so that:

While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.

We believe there is a plan and a destiny for every life, but that was true of Jesus in a way unlike anyone else. As Jesus taught, made disciples, healed, confronted corruption, and performed miracles, He lived a life like no other. Yet, the life of Jesus was directed towards one goal greater than any of those remarkable things He did: His destiny was to die in obedience to His God and Father. The work of Jesus on the cross becomes the center of all history. Everything before it looked ahead to what God the Son would accomplish on the cross. Everything after it looks back to the work that had to happen. In the season of Easter and Resurrection, it’s good for us to think deeply about how Jesus had to live, had to die, and had to rise again.

Here are a few thoughts on why Jesus had to die and die on the cross. It’s a short and incomplete list – feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.

Jesus had to die to fulfill all the types, promises, and prophecies of the Old Testament.

From God’s promise to provide a sacrifice (Genesis 22:8-14), to the prophecy that the Messiah would be cut off (Daniel 9:26), to almost innumerable promises and prophecies in-between, it all had to be fulfilled in the death of Jesus. Even the way Jesus would die was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened (Psalm 22:11-18, Zechariah 12:10).

Jesus had to die to finish all the sacrifices and ceremonies of the priesthood.

Everything that Israel’s priests did pointed to the perfect atonement that Jesus would accomplish in His death on the cross. Every animal sacrifice the priests of Israel offered was like a bank check that would be paid out at the cross.

Jesus had to die to completely identify with humanity.

Man is born to trouble (Job 5:7), and that trouble ends in death. As children of Adam and Eve, we are born to die, and death has spread to all (Romans 5:12). Through His life, Jesus identified with the misery of humanity. He was born in danger and humility, lived most of His life in obscurity and hidden obedience, and Jesus experienced the temptations and challenges we all face. When He voluntarily laid down His life at the cross, He tasted death for all humanity (Hebrews 2:9).

Jesus had to die to complete His perfect obedience.

Jesus lived His entire life in obedience to God the Father, but it was important for Him to remain faithful unto death. In John 12:27-28 Jesus said shortly before He went to the cross: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

Jesus had to die to satisfy the justice of God.

All the sin of humanity made a debt greater than any mere man or woman could pay. It took the God-Man, Jesus Messiah, to pay the price of our collective and individual debt to God. Just before He gave up His life on the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) – which has the sense, paid in full. Jesus paid every obligation that God’s justice requires.

Jesus had to die to defeat the power of Satan, sin, and death.

Humanity’s debt of sin may be our greatest problem, but it isn’t our only problem. We also face the adversary of Satan, the power of sin and death, and the bitter reward of sin. The work of Jesus disarmed Satan and his evil associates (Colossians 2:15), triumphed over the power of sin (Romans 6:10-11), and defeated death (2 Timothy 1:10).

Jesus had to die to demonstrate the love of God.

God’s love is written on every page of the Bible, yet the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). Alexander Maclaren said this about the necessity of Jesus’ death: “He must die because He would save, and He would save because He did love.”

In light of the greatness of God’s love demonstrated at the cross, we should not ask God to prove His love for us – He already has, and He can give us no greater proof. It’s fine to ask God for fresh demonstrations of His love, but the greatest proof was given once and for all. Now we can, “… Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2).

Pick up just about any good book about the history of Christianity, and go to the section on persecution in the first few centuries of the Christian movement. Scan the paragraphs until you come to the part where they describe the reasons why Christians were persecuted, or at least why people in the Roman Empire thought Christians were worthy of persecution.

I took a quick look through Kenneth Latourette’s and Philip Schaff’s works and here’s what I found:

– They accused Christians of hostility to the emperors and conspiracy against the state.

– They accused Christians of incest.

– They accused Christians of cannibalism.

– They accused Christians of being atheists.

– They accused Christians of being “haters of humanity.”

– They accused Christians of being the reason why problems plagued the empire.

That list is interesting for many reasons, especially for the twisted reasons behind these beliefs and accusations. For example, they called Christians “haters of humanity” simply because they didn’t agree with pagan beliefs and they didn’t participate in pagan immoralities.

Yet to me, the most interesting thing about all those beliefs and accusations is they were not true. They were all lies. Christians were loyal, good citizens who only refused to call Caesar “Lord.” Christians were moral, upstanding people in a culture soaked in immorality, they loved others but refused to approve of or join with the immoralities of their age.

This came to mind when I recently read that apparently, according to some surveys, many people in our society think that Christians hate women, hate homosexuals, and are generally a bad influence. Apparently there are also many – perhaps a majority – of Christian young people who believe this about their fellow Christians, and this makes them embarrassed.

I’ll be bold enough to say those are lies. Just because many people believe these lies doesn’t make them any truer. Even if many Christians believe it about their fellow Christians, it doesn’t make it true.

I’m not saying that there are no Christians who hate or who are a bad influence. To those few among us who do hate, Jesus has a word for you: repent. If your opposition to certainly political or social policies makes you hate those who disagree with you, then you are wrong and need to change.

Yet my experience – and that of many others – says that accusations of “hate” or “bad influence” against Christians as a whole are simply lies. The world will lie about us and falsely accuse us. Our duty is to ignore the lies, love like crazy, and be about our Father’s business. If the world lies about us and hates us in return, so be it – but we should live in such a way that shows that the accusations are in fact lies.

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. (1 Peter 4:14-16)