The Great Sacrifice and Love of Christ
John Telgren


Oh how much Christ gave up in order for us to have the change to be reunited with God! I used to think I knew what that meant. Sacrifice?

If I were to talk about the sacrifice of Christ, I could talk about him leaving Heaven and coming to earth. I don't know what that transition must have been like. But one passage in scripture describes it as him, "pouring himself out" or "emptying himself" and becoming a bond servant (Phil 2:5-7). I cannot imagine the sacrifice of being in perpetual fellowship with the trinity, enjoying union, love, and all the goodness of being God...then to empty yourself and become a man...but not a king, a ruler, or any other such thing that would be fitting to the creator of the universe, but a bond servant, a slave. What a great sacrifice that must have been!

I could also talk about the sacrifice of his life (Phil 5:8). He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cruel, shameful, degrading, cross. He was displayed as an object of scorn for all to see. He was whipped, tortured, and died on a cross. What a great sacrifice Christ gave in giving his own life up on the cross!

But I have come across something that leads me to believe that his sacrifice was greater than this. It appears that his sacrifice may not have been a one time act, as horrible as that is. Based on various passages through scripture, Christian theology has taught that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God and that they are equal in a homeostatic union. Jesus himself is God as the Father is God, therefore Jesus did not empty himself of divinity when he poured himself out. I understand this last statement, but it leads to the impression that Jesus' sacrifice did not affect him for all eternity. Did it affect him for all eternity? Consider this passage:

"For he has put all things in subjection to his feet. But when He says, 'All things are put in subjection,' it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15:27-28).

So, the Father put all things in subjection to Christ, and ultimately, the Son will be subject to the Father for all eternity. This seems to indicate that Christ gave something up for all eternity. If all parts of the trinity were equal before, they no longer are after he was "begotten" and became flesh. Therefore, Christ's sacrifice may be greater that we could have ever imagined!

Truly, the love of God is greater far than tongue nor pen could ever tell. Like the song says, "Could we with ink, the ocean fill. And were the skies of parchment made. Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love, of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky."