The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 2001

The: <>hI<> I t :Bc:llpti..st The News letter Promoting Interdependence Within The Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches Vol. 74 No. 1 February 2001 r~ en OU e he Hall mark Card Company ha done a great ale job on me. Their motto come to my mind whenever I receive a card , and I oon find my elf turning the card over and looking to ee if the sender "cared enough to end the very best." I know if only a motto, a ale slogan, yet omethi11g about tho e word trike me as being di tinctly true. When we really do care about omeone we actual ly do give to him or her our very be t. A caring heart gives- and generou ly at that. Our giving mirrors our caritig. We learned this from God, didn 't we. Paul said it on at least two occa ion . " 4 But God demonstrates Hi own love toward u , in that while we were sti ll sinners, Christ di ed for u ·" (Romans 5:8). Simi larly Paul wrote, "He who did not spare Hi5 own Son, but deli vered Him up for us all , how shal l He not wi th Him also freely give u~ all thing~?" (Roman~ 8:32). Most as\uredly God cared enough to send His very be~t - our Lord Jesus hri~t. I ii~ giving mirrors lfis cari11g! What stands out in Romans 5:8 i!-> ju!->t how undeser ing we a re oi God 's love. hri\ t did not die 1or tho,e who ~in1ply 'Aicre weak but for tho,e who were \Al tcked. f)aul rea\on\ "We n11ght be willing to die for sorncone who , .., righteou\ or for ~on1cone who J\ a good per\on ; he 111ght de\ervc our ~a<.:rifice. Hut no way wi ll we die f 0 1 sinners! I;e in1p)ie~ that \i nner\ don't deserve such treatincnt. They de\er\ e punishn1ent for their \Ill They ~hou ld reap the consequences of their ac. t1on;.;! ·1 hey deserve \\'hat the) get! lt ' 'i onl> na1u1 al. are Rather, omething upernatural happen . God demon. trates the depth of His care for unde erving people at the cro . At Cal ary ' 'whi le we were ti II inner , Chri t died for u ." God looked beyond our fault and aw our need. Mo ed by love He di d omething about our in even though we did not de erve it. Nor was it j u t the Father who loved us so very n1uch. The Father did not have to force the c ro upon an unwill ing or reluctant Son. In another place, Paul de cri be Chri. t as the one "who loved n1e and gave Himself for me· ' (Galatians 2:20). Both the Father and the Son cared enough to give their ery be t. The Father gave His Son and the on gave Hi s li fe- al l for unde. erving s inners! Wha t s tands out in Romans 8:32 is the uniqueness of Christ . God cared enough to send th very be~t. The Lord Jesus \\i as God 's Son fron1 eterni ty past and C<>ntinucs in tha t relationship to this day. None other is like I lin1 or con1parcl'> to Hin1. In other word~. there just isn' t anybody lil-. c hrist: I le i~ one or a kind hea en's be~l. The writer to the I lebrcws n1adc hri, t ' \ uniquenc, the whole poi nt or hi '-1 boo l-. . l ~hc Lord Jcsu\ ('hri~t is better than any and all ange ls, better than tvloscs, bcttc1 than Aaron , better than Joshua, heller than J...cv i, and better than all lhc ()l<l 'f cs ta1ncnt pnci.,ts put t(lg,1: thcr. As a n!\Ul t or I Its unique character v.c no\\ cnjo) 111 ('h1 i"t a better re\clati on, a better \,H: rtfi cc, a hl' th.~1 co, cnant . anu bcttc1 p ro 1n1 \C\ . ..(.,od..ha" in thC\C la '-l t <la) \ \ !) Oh.en to Lt\ b) 111-.. Son" ( I lebrev." 1. l 2) AnJ) <HI cannot gL't ,tl1) bctte1 than that ! 0 E eryth ing about Chri . t i. better becau. e He i. the best heaven has to offer. God cared enough to send His ... very be t! Chri st understood thi\ uniqueness a · seen in His parable of the vineyard. He described I-l in1 ·elf there not as a n1ere servant to the n1aster but as the beloved son of the n1aster. The n1aster saved the b "st unt i I last. ( ee Matt. ~ I :33-39.) adly, si nful n1cn rejected e en Hin1. Yet that very rejection becan1c the springboard for the salvation of ~inful n1cn. The death of God 's Best pro i<le ' Ii f'e for n1an at his \\, orst. hrist dicJ care enough to gi\ c Hi!-. \ cr 1 bc~t- 1-l i~ life. Lire i~ our nto, t preciou-.. posse~sion. \:Vithout lire nothing cl,c \\ c have 111att ers. We cannot gi\ c n1orc than ou1 life. To gi \c our life is to g.i\C our all. ,\ nd that is precisely \\ hat hrist did on thL· cro"" · ..No n1an tal-.cs it fron1 t\1c. but l ht\ it do\\ nor - t\1y,elf" (John l(): 18). l lis \ oluntar) death al the cross ,vas thl' \ er\ hc-..1 l I L' hltd lo t!I\ e. . ~ When ) ou <:drL' enough > ou -..L'lld thL' \ L't) hc-..1 . (il)d the ~;at her·, pdrt . \\, hL'll) uu L4ll'L' enough )Oll g i\L' the \L't) 1110,t. Ciod thL' S<>n'-.. part. ()ur" i-.. lhL· L'.t\) pa11 T't, IL'l'L'I\L' \tH: h )<.)\ l \ to L'n1hracc \UL'h d Sa\ 1nr. l\) cntru -.. t our\L'l\ L' " tu ( )nL· \\ h<l I t)\ L'" u-.. \l> 1ha1 · .... ou1 part. l 1 ndL'-..t'I\L'd .> 'l ou hL'l 1 Llth1pprer 1.1lL'd' ' u \\ .t)' StllLL' I lL· -...11t·d L' t10Ugh l O "l.'lld lht' \ L' I \ bL'\ l, lht' k'.t,l \\ L' l. ,Ill do I\((} \h()\\ Olli ,l()pll'L' l i lllllfl h\ , lLL L' ('(ll\~ ( ' h11-..( ...... Ull l pL't \Utl.d S.t\ ll)I l l.t\ l' \ tlll th lilt' Lh.tl \ L'l ) I >II II