VIDEO His Love for Us: God Loves Us by Dying!

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

Thermopylae is the ancient Greek location of numerous battles of antiquity, most notably between the Greeks and the invading Persians in 480 B.C. A vastly outnumbered Greek army—including the 300 Spartans—were tasked with delaying the hundreds of thousands of invading Persian warriors. Knowing they were doomed to defeat, they went to Thermopylae to die. Such was the Spartan ethic: Life was consummated in a noble death.

Such was Jesus’ ethic: He came into the world to die for sinners. (And not just to die, but to conquer death and live forever—1 Corinthians 15:54-55.) Such was His love for us that He “set [His] face like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) and “steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) to die the death of a sinner. Why did He do this? Because “greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).

We may never be called to die physically for another, but we are called to love others by dying to ourselves daily. Make February a “month of love” by putting others’ needs ahead of your own.

Until you are free to die, you are not free to live.  Unknown

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Unrivaled Love – Romans 5:6-11 – Skip Heitzig