Freedom Isn't Free Part 2: Choice

Choice. Every day we get to make choices. It seems simple enough. We make a choice to eat out or make dinner at home. We make the choice to sleep in or get up early to work out. We make the choice to go on vacation or opt for a staycation. Choices are a part of life, and every choice we make affects us – positively or negatively.

But sometimes our choices affect more than our own lives, and sometimes our choices impact more than our day or week. Some choices we make can change the whole trajectory of our future. Then there’s the choice we make that has an eternal significance.

Jesus made a choice that not only affected Himself but all mankind – every man, woman, and child. It affected you, and it affected me. His choice changed the whole trajectory of our lives…our present, our future, and our eternity.

Before we talk about the choice Jesus made, let’s look at why He made the choice.

We are sinners – all of us. Because of the choice Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden – they chose to partake of a fruit God had forbidden them to eat (Genesis chapters 2-3) – we are born into a sinful world with a sinful nature. From the moment the fruit was consumed, our world has been corrupted by sin, and it is sin that separates us from God’s presence.

Because of that separation, Jesus made the choice to be our atoning sacrifice as a means for us to come back into relationship with God – our Creator. Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, chose to die a sinner’s death on the cross, although He was completely sinless. “Because Jesus lived a sinless life, He could stand in our place as a worthy sacrifice. By offering up His sinless life as a payment for our sin, He takes care of the sin in our life. God no longer holds our sin against us, so we can be restored to relationship with Him.”¹

Imagine for a moment how it would feel to be separated from God. That can be a difficult task, especially if we aren’t sure what separation from Him would actually look like or feel like.

Separation from God means we are desolate and have no hope (Jeremiah 6:8; Ephesians 2:12). We have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). We have no power and will live in eternal destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9) where there is extreme anguish and utter despair (Luke 13:28). We are in complete darkness (2 Peter 2:4), cut off (John 15:6), eternally punished, and burning in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8; Matthew 25:46).

Now, that you see what separation from God really looks like, does it change your perspective and how you imagine separation from God? As I was studying this, it absolutely gave me a new perspective – and re-ignited the holy fire to bring others to Christ.

It also caused me to think about the choice Jesus made to die on the cross. “When Jesus died on the cross, all our sins—without exception—were transferred to Him. He was without sin, for He was God in human flesh. But as He died all our sins were placed on Him, and He became the final and complete sacrifice for our sins. And in that moment, He was banished from the presence of God, for sin cannot exist in God’s presence. His cry speaks of this truth; He endured the separation from God that you and I deserve.” ²

When Jesus became sin on our behalf, a sin transfer was made - He took all of the world’s sins [past, present, and future] upon Himself. “The sacrificial offering [Jesus] was so thorough that the offering [Jesus] became sin itself. In Christ, then, a believer has already died sacrificially of his own sins through the blood Jesus shed on the cross.”³ And He did this so that we could be made the righteousness of God.

He knew by transferring our sin to Himself – the final sin offering that cleanses us from the inside out – He would be separated from God because God cannot be in the presence of sin. The brutality He endured prior to His death on the cross was unimaginable. I cannot even fathom the intense agony of that kind of separation from God – choosing to be in the presence of complete evil and darkness on our behalf. To think about being separated from God – even briefly – is heart wrenching. But Jesus knew this is what had to happen in order to save us once and for all. That’s truly a love like no other, and that was the choice Jesus made!

I don’t know about you, but when I think about this, it brings about so many emotions. Deep sadness as I think of what Jesus had to go through for me. Then there’s the emotion of the deep gratitude and an immense sense of relief because in Him there’s hope and an eternal future free of pain and darkness. It’s also quite humbling to think of all the times I’ve fallen short because I give into temptation rather than living out His Word. It makes me think of Paul when he wrote, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15b). I want to do what’s right, but then I give into impatience, gossip, harsh words, and all the other things I struggle with but don’t want to!

Along with the sacrifice Jesus made, believers also become the righteousness of God. Certainly, that doesn’t mean we will become perfect human beings – although pride can sometimes cause us to act as if we are perfect. Maybe not perfect but just a bit better than those who are not quite where we are in terms of our biblical, moral, ethical, and any other standards. “At least I’m not…at least I don’t.” Haven’t we done that? Our pride sure can get us into trouble. Goodness, if I could count the number of times I’ve been humbled by my Heavenly Father due to my prideful nature, I’d run out of numbers.

But the sacrifice Jesus made allowed us to become righteous, not in our thoughts and actions (Romans 3:10) but in our reconciliation with God (Colossians 1:19-20). And that reconciliation means, “Christians not only enjoy no condemnation and peace with God forever, but also that the tempting and destructive work of Satan and his forces is totally disempowered …forever.”⁴ 

In Jesus, we have a hope and future. We have the promise of eternity with Him. But it comes down a choice. We can make the choice to believe He is who He says He is and to follow Him all the days of our life – choosing the narrow road. Or we can make the choice to believe what the world says and live for ourselves – choosing the wide road. One thing is certain, we can put the GPS away because the road we want to take is our choice. What’s yours?

¹“Did Jesus Sin?” Billy Graham - Peace With God. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Accessed May 27, 2023. https://peacewithgod.net/did-jesus-sin/.

²“Did God Abandon Jesus on the Cross?” Billy Graham Answers. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. March 24, 2016. Accessed May 27, 2023. https://billygraham.org/story/did-god-abandon-jesus-on-the-cross.

³Commentary on the New Testament: Verse by Verse Explanations with a Literal Translation. Robert Gundry. Baker Academic, 2010.

⁴How Did God Reconcile All Things to Himself? John Piper. Desiring God. February 21, 2022. Accessed May 27, 2023. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-did-god-reconcile-all-things-to-himself.

Today’s Bible Verses

• “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV).
• ^“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20, NIV).
• “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:14, NIV).
• “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10, NIV).
• “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do”
  (Romans 7:15b, NIV).
• “Take warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so no one can live in it” (Jeremiah 6:8, NIV).
• “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12, NIV).
• “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4, NIV).
• “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
• “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth (severe anguish, utter despair), when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out” (Luke 13:28, NIV; Bible Study Tools).
• “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4, NIV).
• “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (John 15:6, NIV).
• “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 21:8, NIV).
• “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46, NIV).