Every Valentine’s Day millions of men and women give special gifts— flowers, candy, even jewelry—to a spouse or sweetheart to express their love.
But God gave the supreme gift to prove his love for us: he sent his Son to earth to die for us! “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation [payment] for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Jesus is God’s “valentine” to us. Has anyone else ever died for you? Has anyone else’s death ever brought you what the death of Jesus gained for you?
Christ died willingly, though it meant enduring great humiliation and agony.
“Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
For us death is an unavoidable destiny—“It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27). But for Jesus it was a choice. He became “obedient [to God] unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).Why did Jesus undergo such torment? It was for us. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten….He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:23-24).
Christ died in our place, though we have all sinned against him.
“He was crushed for our iniquities [sins]….We all, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).
Christ died for us because he loves us.
God’s love is undeserved.
“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
God’s love is universal.
“God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God’s love is personal.
He cares about you so much that he was willing to give his own Son so you could live with him forever in Heaven. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord….To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Romans 6:23, John 1:12).
If you want to ask Christ to forgive you for your sins, you can tell him in words like these:
God, I know I have sinned against you in many ways. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for my sins by dying on the cross for me. I now ask him to be my Savior and to forgive me for all my sins. Amen.