Recognizing that you’re very busy and can’t devote your time
to only one person, I’ve tried to give a fair appraisal.
You’ve noticed that I didn’t indicate your service was “the
greatest in the world.” Do you wonder what would be required to merit that
rating? Well, you could have paid what I owed! Ridiculous? Of course! No one
could expect such service. It would have cost you to serve me!
And to give the most exceptional service in the world would
require your paying the bill for everyone you serve. Such service would cost
you everything!
Yet there is one who did choose to serve in such a manner.
His name is Jesus Christ.
Christ came to serve.
The Bible says of Him: “Even as the Son of man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many”
(Matthew 20:28).
In this verse, to minister means literally to serve. It can
refer to waiting on tables (Acts 6:2) or other forms of service. The supreme
service that Jesus Christ provided is precise here: He gave His life as “a
ransom.” His service indeed cost Him everything. Why would He pay such a price?
His very life?
Christ provided the world’s greatest
service—He paid the debt we owe.
He paid the price of death on the cross because it would pay
the debt that each of us owes. That is the debt of death spoken of in Romans
6:23—“the wages of sin is death.” Every person owes this debt because “all have
sinned” (Romans 3:23). This debt must be paid.
Every honest person admits he has sinned. However, many
people fail to recognize that, at their very first sin, they are condemned to
death. This debt for sin includes both an eventual physical death (Romans 8:22,
23) and a spiritual death, which is both immediate and eternal, and referred to
as the second death (Revelation 21:8). To pay for your sin, you must spend
eternity in the torments of Hell, which is the place of the second death.
But the divine Son of God (John 1:1) has graciously provided
the only way to escape, to be ransomed from, this debt. He paid the ultimate
cost: death!—not the death of one who
deserved to die because of his sin, but the death of one whose life was perfect
and sinless. The price He paid was sufficient to settle your debt for sin. The
cost was so high because He paid the sin debt of every person (I John 2:2).
Christ and His service must be accepted to be effective for
your debt.
You must personally accept what He did for you to make the
ransom price that He paid for you effective (John 1:12). Taking Him means that
you, confessing that you are hopelessly condemned by your sin, fully trust and
believe that Jesus paid for your sin with His blood (1 John 1:7). Thus, you put
your faith in Him, knowing that He has fully paid the debt you owe. This means
that your sins are forgiven.
Christ’s service also includes eternal life.
Not only did Christ pay the penalty of death, but He also
overcame death by His resurrection from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20). He is
alive and victorious over death. He thus has the authority to grant the gift of
everlasting life to all who put their faith in Him: “For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Those who accept Him
will never perish. They will never be condemned. They have passed from death
unto life (John 5:24). In all of the world, no higher service could be given!
Every individual, including you, needs to come to a moment
in life when, by faith, they accept Christ and the payment paid for their sin.
If you are not sure that you have done this, you can do it right now. You can
pray to God from your heart. Confess your sin and the need for His forgiveness to
escape the second death. Trusting in Christ, tell God right now that you accept
His Son as your Savior. Once you have trusted the Savior, you can thank God for
the gift of eternal life that He has given you.
Will God accept such a prayer coming from a sincere heart?
He who never lies has promised, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out” (John 6:37).
If you have now prayed such a prayer, putting your faith in
Christ, you are a child of God. If you can sincerely sign the following blank,
do so and mail this tract to us. Helpful literature will be sent.
— Donald L.Winch
