The Tree
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
(Romans 5:8).
One of Canada’s major newspapers, National Post, carried the following headline on November 20, 2007:
“Man ties children to a palm tree, as worst cyclone in a decade hits Bangladesh.”
The article went on to say that it was a horrific storm like few others, and killed an estimated 3,000 people. However, it was deprived of the lives of two children ages five and thirteen. They had been tied to a tree when the winds of 240 km per hour struck the coast.
In His Father’s will, the Lord Jesus was nailed to Calvary’s cross. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). It was not to save Himself from the storm of God’s judgment against sin, but to save us from it, and to pay the price for our sins. The rest of the verse in 1 Peter confirms, “that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
