Today we celebrate what we call Memorial Day. This is the day we set aside to remember the most heroic of men and women – those who sacrificed their lives in the defense of and spread of the freedoms that all to often we take for granted. We do well to pause and reflect on the cost at which our liberty was won and is maintained. Life is precious, and life is the currency used to purchase our freedom.
Remembering the Ultimate Sacrifice
As Christians, we also can use this day to remember the One who sacrificed His life to gain our most precious freedom: the freedom from sin. Jesus’ death on the cross makes all other freedoms worthwhile. What good does it do us to have freedom of religion if that religion cannot free us from the eternal chains of sin and death? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples, He gave the Seder a new meaning. As broke the bread, He taught them to remember His body which would be broken – beaten beyond recognition – to appease the wrath of God on the sin of mankind. As He passed the cup, He taught them to remember that His blood would be drained from His body; His life would be given, as the substitute atoning sacrifice for our sin to pay our debt to sin. Jesus encouraged His followers to commemorate the meal often.
Three Truths to Remember
As we memorialize Jesus, we remember first that there was a cost. Jesus was painfully and brutally beaten more than any human being could endure. He then hung on a cross to pay for sin He didn’t commit, but rather than His own creatures commit when they choose to rebel against the grace and love He offers. That cost was on our account, our tab, we owed that bill but could never have paid it and forever we would have been enslaved to sin. Our salvation may be free for us, but it did not come at no expense. There was a great cost, it cost the Son of God His life. Remember that when you are tempted to slack off because you are inconvenienced. Remember the cost when you are tempted to cruise through life rationalizing your behavior, explaining away your sin and rebellion as just “the way I am.” Is Jesus getting what He paid for?
Also we must remember there is a covenant. Shedding blood was often a way that parties ratified a contractual agreement. In Old Testament times when two would agree, they would cut a sacrificial animal into pieces, sacrifice the blood on an altar (bringing heaven to witness their agreement), and then they would walk together between the cut up pieces as a symbol of their agreement to abide by the terms and conditions of the covenant. Jesus said His blood ratified a New Covenant between God and His people. Through Jesus’ death, God agreed to forgive and hold fast to any and all who would forsake their sin and follow Him. Simple conditions . . . on paper. On our end, living up to our side of the deal proves hard, but God never fails on His end. His covenant is everlasting. If you have placed your faith in Jesus you are totally and fully forgiven and you are in His hands forever. Remember His end of the covenant when the devil tries to tell you that you are an utter failure.
Then we remember there is a coming. Jesus reminded His disciples that one day He would return to establish His Kingdom on earth. What a day that will be. We are reminded that the present situation is but temporary. Yet, we tend to hold tightly to the things of this world, don’t we? We value and treasure the temporal more than the eternal. But all of those things on this side of glory which seem so important to us will one day be gone – possessions, positions, prestige, even relationships. They will one day step aside to make room for the heavenly and eternal. Remember Him, remember He IS coming back. What will He find when He returns for you? Are you busy storing up treasure in heaven or spending your way through your earthly existence.
Listen to this great song for your viewing and listening pleasure.