A Prince's Sacrifice

Once upon a time… a baby boy was born.  But he was no ordinary infant.  This baby boy was a prince!  It was true that he had no official title as a prince; he did not possess riches or a crown.  His birth was that of a pauper.  He was not born in a palace, surrounded by doting and attentive maid servants; rather, he was born in a stable, surrounded by animals.  It was hardly an adequate birth for a prince, but yet it was as it had been planned from the very beginning.  How many nights to come a humble pillow of hay must have seemed a great comfort to his weary head!

This little prince grew up in the small village of Nazareth.  No one treated him as the prince he really was, for he was not an ordinary prince.  Indeed, he was not even an ordinary little boy!  He had a name, of course, but more often than not he probably was called a name.  His behavior was odd and unnatural, and puzzling to many.  He never seemed to do or say anything wrong!

As the little prince got older, he grew in wisdom and stature.  His wisdom surpassed even the wisdom of the land’s greatest teachers!  No one could find a single flaw in him, although many must have attempted to.

You see, this prince was very special.  His royalty was not an earthly kind, with a palace and army and high rank of authority.  It was of a spiritual kind.  He was kind, just, and wise.  He was humble, although he had every reason to exalt himself.  And most importantly, he had a heart of love; love, grace, and kindness.

Around the age of 30, the now not-so-little prince began a ministry.  He traveled around, telling others about the one true God, the Father.  Wherever he went, he worked miracles in the name of the Lord.  He turned water into wine, raised the dead, and healed from afar.  And then he said something that shocked them: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)  He was claiming to be equal with God, which was considered blasphemy!  The prince had declared his equality with God very boldly, even though he knew that one day he would have to pay a great price for declaring such a statement…

It was a calm, quiet evening, and he knew it was coming soon.  His holiness fought against the temptation to give into the natural sinful emotions and reactions of humanity.  With a heavy heart, he took three of his closest friends for a walk in the garden of Gethsemane.  The sky was dimming as he stopped in the middle of the garden and instructed his friends to sit down.  He then went a little farther into the garden and kneeled down, beginning to pour his heart out to God. 

“Not as I will, but as thou wilt,” he prayed earnestly.

Hours had passed, and still the prince was on his knees in prayer.  Something caused him to look up.  In the distance, he saw a figure coming towards him.  As it drew closer, he could make out more shadows following it.  With a heart still filled with love, he greeted his betrayer, Judas, and was seized by the hands of the enemy.

It was a long night, and the prince was well aware of his predicament.  He knew exactly what would happen to him.  As he was placed before Pontus Pilate and a large crowd of onlookers, his fate was sealed.  The Lord had answered his prayer, and God’s will was being accomplished. 

The prince was hung on a cross.

In next few hours, the prince suffered pain, misery, and anguish beyond human comprehension.  And worst of all, even the prince’s own Father, the mighty King, God, had turned His back on Him.  He was all alone, facing the worst method of death the world has known: crucifixion.

But even as the soldiers unleashed their terror on him, completely unaware of what they were really doing, the prince clung to his spiritual royalty. 

In the midst of the nightmare, grace flowed from the cross. 

Kindness flowed from the cross.

And love still flowed from the cross.

            When all else was gone, there was love.  There was love in the aching heart of the prince.  He was forsaken; estranged from God.  The sin of hundreds of generations was laid upon His shoulders.  It was an unimaginably heavy burden to bear, but yet, love still prevailed.  Love carried those burdens.

Hours passed, and the prince could not bear the burden any longer.  With a loud cry of “It is finished,” he yielded up his spirit.

It was Jesus. Jesus: the infant in the stable; the little boy from Nazareth.  Jesus: the King of kings; Prince of peace; Lord of lords.  It was He who was nailed to a cross for the sins of humankind.  It was Jesus.

As Jesus hung there in agony, an eerie darkness shadowed the land…

It came upon them like a lightning bolt.  Before anyone knew what had happened, the land was filled with darkness. For hours, there was nothing but blackness; dark, deep blackness.

Then suddenly, over on the hill of Golgotha, something happened.  The prince, who for the last few minutes had cried out in distress, now hung still and silently.  He had given up his spirit and had just become the greatest martyr in all of history.  He was dead.

But although there was a silence on the hill of Golgotha, the earth was anything but silent.  As soon as Jesus had died, the earth began trembling and quaking.  The rocks began cracking.  The earth groaned.

The veil of the temple was torn in two.

The veil, which was too thick for human hands to tear, had been torn.  But the veil had not only been simply torn; it had been torn from the top to the bottom, in a way that only divinely strong hands could have managed.  Clearly, something miraculous had happened.

Over on the hill, Jesus’ motionless body was a sad sight.  A man by the name of Joseph came and took his body, prepared it for burial, and placed it in a tomb.

For two days, nothing happened, but on the third day the tomb was found open and empty.  The body was gone!

As the mystery of the empty tomb spread, and eye-witnesses reported the bodies of many other saints rising from their graves, slowly it dawned on the world: Jesus Christ was no longer dead.  He was who He said He was: the Messiah; the Savior of the world.  He had conquered the grave.  He had risen!

Days passed, and Jesus walked again on the earth.  He talked with His disciples, and was seen of many.  Then one day, He rose into a cloud and ascended into heaven.

The shocking fact about this story is that it actually isn’t just a story.  It’s real.  Jesus Christ was real.  He did conquer death and ascend into heaven.  In fact, He is in heaven today, at this very moment.   And He is looking down, right at you.  He is offering you something that is priceless.  It will change your life.  It is the greatest gift in the entire universe.

Jesus is offering you eternal life.

            But I have to explain something first.  You need to know exactly why you need a Savior.  Because if you don’t need one, why have one?  So, let me tell you another story…

            A long time ago, when there were only two people on the earth, Adam and Eve, everything was perfect.  Not a single thing was wrong with the earth, or the creatures that lived there.  God promised that everything would remain that way, if the people were to not eat the fruit of a certain tree.  If they obeyed this command, they would live forever in perfection.  If they did not obey, the world would be cursed and they would die.

            One day, an interesting snake slithered into the garden where Adam and Eve lived.  He tempted Eve to eat the fruit of that one forbidden tree.  He lied to her and promised her great things if she only ate the fruit.

 And so Eve was deceived and did what the serpent had tempted her to do.  She ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, and gave her husband the fruit as well.  He also ate. 

Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden.  The curse of sin fell on the earth, causing great heartache, pain, and suffering.

            Thus sin entered the world.  And God’s ultimate punishment for sin is death, because unrighteous people cannot live in heaven with a righteous God.

            Because of the curse of sin, a Savior was needed to rescue humankind, unless everyone would be condemned to eternal punishment without any hope.  The Savior would have to live a completely perfect life, and then die without giving into temptation.  His death would be the ultimate sacrifice for sin.  If this was carried out in perfection, there would be hope for the sinful people on earth.

            Jesus was that perfect sacrifice.  And although no human being is capable of living perfectly on this earth, Jesus did the impossible: He lived a perfect life and died a sinless death, giving us hope.

            But that’s not it.  There is still something that you have to do in order to receive that eternal hope.  If you don’t, you are still condemned to hell.

            You have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that if you repent of your sins and believe on Jesus Christ, you will be saved from your sin.  The moment that you confess that Jesus is Lord; you will be loosed from the chains of sin and embraced by the Savior of the world.  You will receive eternal life, in heaven, with Him!  What could be more glorious?!

            All you have to do is believe. 

Jesus is standing there, His arms outstretched, waiting for you to come to Him.  The love that He had through His life and death is being offered to you, if you only believe.

Will you believe?  Will you accept His gift and embrace Him?  He is waiting for you!  Come to the cross and leave all your burdens with Him.

And the best part: Jesus is coming again one day!  He will create another place for His saints, where sin is nonexistent.  And He will live there with us, forever!

So I plead with you, please, accept His gift of salvation today!  Secure your place in His kingdom for when time ends and eternity begins.

And then, with Jesus, you’ll live happily ever after.

Girls, let’s rejoice today knowing that Christ has RISEN!