He Gave Himself

“Who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”  Galatians 1:4

There can never be a greater gift than this. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only has given us forgiveness and salvation and all spiritual blessings, He gave Himself! The pure, glorious Son of God gave Himself, substituting Himself in our place to suffer the righteous judgement of God on our sins.

Six times this wonderful affirmation is found in God’s Word. The first is in our text, assuring us that, when He gave Himself, He paid the price to deliver us from this present evil would into the eternal world to come. Then, in the next occurrence, this promise is made intensely personal. Christ “loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). The gift Christ gave is more than the world could ever give.

The supremely sacrificed nature of His gift is then emphasized. “Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2). The sacrifice has brought us to Himself, for “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her...He might present to Himself the church in all her glory” (Eph. 5:25, 27).

The offering was sufficient to pay for the redemption of all sin, as He “who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Tim. 2:6). This ransom is not merely to redeem us from the penalty of sin at the judgement, however, but also from the power of sin in our lives, and this is the testimony of the final occurrence of this great declaration. Christ “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14).