“I’ll tell you what it was that first brought me peace,” said a young friend to me the other day.
“When I was a child you often told me that it was for the chief of sinners―for those who hated Him―that the Lord Jesus died, and I felt that I was not bad enough to hate Him; I thought I could never have been wicked enough to spit in His face. I knew I did not love Him, but thought I could not have a heart as hard and as wicked as the hearts of those who mocked Him when He was dying upon the cross―that surely there was some good thing in me that kept me from feeling inclined to treat Him as they did.
“But then I remembered that it was for sinners, and not for good people, that Jesus died, and this thought kept haunting me, so that I could not rest. At last, in an agony, I prayed to God to teach me how wicked I was―to show me, if it was even by a dream, that my heart was just as bad as the hearts of those who crucified and mocked His blessed Son.
“Days and weeks went by, and still I had no rest; but one-night God, who had heard my prayer, sent me the answer. I dreamed that I was passing near an open space, and seeing, by the crowds who were collected there, that something unusual was taking place, I looked, and saw three crosses, and I knew that the One who was nailed to the center cross was the Lord Jesus Christ. I noticed that there were two separate crowds of people standing by; those who formed the one group were mocking Him, while those who formed the other were weeping.
“One, and then another came out from the mocking crowd, and spat in the face of the sufferer, and, as I looked upon Him, the same hatred arose in my heart; I, too, advanced and spat in His face.
“He spoke not a word, but turned upon me such a look of agonized love that it broke my heart. It showed me my vileness and the horribleness of what I had done, and I could no longer choose but turn and join the weeping little crowd of those who loved Him and sorrowed for His sufferings.
“That night I learned something of what my heart was, and of the love of Him who had died for me. I awoke, believing at last that God loved me, and that Jesus had died for me, even when my heart was enmity against Him.”
Yes, beloved reader, God loved my young friend, even when there was not one thought of love in her heart for Him. And He loves us also, for “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).) It matters not whether you think yourself good or bad―a big sinner or a little sinner―we are commissioned, as in Christ’s stead, to beseech you to be reconciled to God. The blood of God’s only begotten Son could alone fit you for God’s presence. Nothing less could have done it―nothing more is required. It was God who laid our sins upon the head of His spotless Son; the price that God’s justice demanded has been paid to the utmost.
Nothing that you can do will make the least difference as to your acceptance with God. Think you that God could accept your poor doings, as if the work of His beloved Son were not enough to secure eternal salvation? Away with the insulting thought! Jesus, the blessed Son of God, was a perfect sacrifice to satisfy forever the claims of a holy God. Nothing you can ever do, or think of, can make the shadow of a claim for you to God’s salvation. It was God’s majesty that was outraged by the sinner’s sins; it was God who loved the sinner; it was God’s hand that provided the remedy, and, with the sacrifice He Himself provided, His justice is forever satisfied. Jesus said, “It is finished”; the work He came to do is done; and if that is enough for God, poor sinner, is it not enough for you also?