“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5”8 NASB 

Footsteps #296 We are considering Rom.5:6-9. If God is commending (proving) His love to us then my mind hovers over the phrase “Christ died for us.”(v8). It was much for Him who was the equality of God to strip himself of the glories of His Godhead for a while, to become an infant. The eternal God from whose shoulders the universe hangs, became so helpless as to hang at the breast of women, slumbering in a feed stall for animals. Surround by sacrificial animals, He was to become the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. 

It was no little condescension when he divested himself of all his glories, hung his mantle on the sky, gave up his diadem and the pleasures of His infinity, and stooped to become flesh. It was moreover, no small love when he lived a holy and a suffering life for us; it was love amazing, when God, with feet of flesh, trod the earth, teaching his own creatures how to live, all the while bearing their scoffs and jests with cool un-angered endurance. It was no little favour of Him that he should condescend to give us a perfect example by his spotless life, but the commendation of love lies here; not that Christ lived for us, but that “Christ died for us.” Calvary was a mountain that felt the footsteps of its creator. and there saw him lifted on a roughhewn cross between heaven and earth as if he were not for either! 

Weigh the words for a moment. “Christ died for us!” How we honour and commend, on our Anzac parades, those who died in far-off lands. We remember their selfless love, sacrificing for the good of others. The apparent defeat of Gallipolli speaks to us of Calvary. The birth of our nation from that defeat speaks to us of the resurrection. When Jesus cried “It is finished” death and defeat became a victory. We are in a war that may seem futile and overwhelming, but there is a far greater wealth of glory that awaits us.