Pain in Vain.

This semester has been a good semester so far...a lot of laughs. Just to point out one example, in Personal Evangelism class we are watching a video on Evangelism. Evangelism is no laughing matter. But when coupled with poor acting and mullets galore, bringing people to Christ is hilarious!! This class is also at 7:00 in the morning, so that also aides to the comedy. There are plenty of other things that have produced laughs this semester, but I will save those for another post.

But on a serious note...Have you ever heard that someone "died in vain?" Some movies include this phrase. The characters will say something like, "Don't let him die in vain!" Basically, they don't want the person that died to die for no reason. Everyone wants to die a noble death. I don't know of anyone who wants to die knowing that they died for nothing.

A good example of this is seen in the movie Saving Private Ryan. A group of men are sent on a mission during WWII to find Private Ryan and bring him home to his mother who has already lost her other sons in the war. Unfortunately, a few men die along the way to rescuing Ryan. Sometime into their mission, a few soldiers want to quit and go home because the mission seemed impossible. John Miller (Tom Hanks) tells them that they cannot quit or else their friends who died would have all died in vain.

Luckily, the squadron finds Private Ryan and takes him back to his mother in the United States. I know of another man who died not knowing if he was going to die in vain or not. When Jesus was on the cross, he knew he was taking on the sins of all humanity. Romans 5:6 says, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." The Godly died for the ungodly. The Creator was crucified for the created.

As I was meditating during Communion last Sunday a thought popped into my mind, "Did Jesus die in vain?" A better way to ask that question is, "Did Jesus die for people who would not accept his love?" It just shocks me that Jesus would die not really knowing if anyone would accept his free gift. He trusted God, and by obedience allowed himself to be mocked, flogged, and crucified. I guess you could say that Jesus did die in vain in some people's perspective, because they ignore His grace. Even though these people will not accept Jesus' crucifixion, he still died for them just for the chance that they might call him their Savior.

So did Jesus die in vain? Absolutely Not! He has graciously saved me, a disgusting sinner, and for that i am so grateful.
Thank you God for crucifying your son on the cross. Your love is outstanding, courageous, and powerful. I will not let your pain be in vain.
Amen.