We love free gifts. Most of us love a good deal, we love to get something for free. My wife and I ate at McDonald’s the other day for lunch. Even though we were in a hurry to get there, my wife took a minute to find a coupon. I told her that I didn’t realize that McDonald’s even had coupons. But she found the coupon and we bought a fish sandwich and received one for free. Man I love saving money. I like free things (most of the time… sometimes you get what you pay for).
The greatest gift of all time is a free gift. The gift of salvation is a free gift from God. It doesn’t cost us anything to receive it. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Even though salvation is free. It is a costly gift. It cost God more than we will ever know to see Jesus suffer and die for our sins. Jesus paid a very high price for our salvation. He suffered tremendously at the hand of the Roman soldiers. Then he died an excruciating death on the cross. Dying on the cross isn’t like you usually see in the movies (although The Passion of the Christ did a pretty good job, even though you could still recognize the actor. The prophet Isaiah says that Jesus was beat beyond recognition).
Jesus willingly suffered and took our punishment upon Himself because He loves us. Even though He loves us, our sin separates us from God. Because Jesus took our punishment for us, we can legally go free. We’ve all sinned and we all deserve eternal punishment in Hell. But Jesus took our punishment for us. All we have to do is accept this amazing free gift of salvation from Jesus by turning away from our sins and putting our faith in Him. Won’t you repent and put your trust in Jesus? Will you surrender fully to Him? Are you willing to accept this free gift today?