A Sacrificial Treasure

In honor of Easter I will blog tomorrow, too.



Adam and Eve sin.
To hide their nakedness, they make clothes out of fig leaves.
God sees what they have done.
He loves them.
He kills a lamb and makes them garments to cover their shame.

We sin.
To hide our guilt, we fashion garments out of denial or justification.
God sees what we do.
He loves us.
He points us to the cross.
He allowed the Lamb of God to be killed, not just to cover our
shame, but to erase it.

What a sacrificial treasure.


My son owns treasure; in fact a tin can full. I love to catch glimpses of him when he empties out the can on his bedroom floor to look at them. First, he lines them up neatly. (He has lined up things since he was a toddler – all his cars or stuffed animals sat in a line after he played with them) Next, he picks each up and admires it, sometimes engaging in boy talk, imaginary discussions. Then, he leaves them lying there until I tell him to pick them up. :0)

But I love that he has treasures:

A couple of beautiful polished rocks.
A rubber band.
One of those bracelets that have the ten commandments on them.
A car.
Chains and a stick.
Some fools gold.
A necklace.
A couple of keys.
A gold coin my husband gave him.
A medal my nephew Justin gave him when he returned from Iraq.

His treasures. In an old book and TV show called “The Littlest Angel,” everyone in heaven is preparing for the Savior’s birth, gathering presents. The littlest angel has nothing to give, so he asks permission to go back to earth where he was a boy and get his box of treasures. He does and presents it to the Creator of all. God smiles and throws it into the sky ceremoniously; the little box of treasures becomes the Star of Bethlehem.

The littlest angel’s sacrificial gift becomes the Light for those seeking to find Christ.

Beautiful.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God gave up a treasure. I mean, He had just created those animals, so I am sure He was getting a kick out of watching them. And then to kill one? This was the first time an animal had been killed.

Easter involves a deep treasure for all of us. A sacrifice so huge none of us can really understand it. How could I ever truly “get” giving up my only son for someone else’s wrongdoing? I cannot imagine sacrificing Noah’s life for anything.

But that is exactly what happened. God gave Christ. Christ gave Himself. He prayed, “Father Your will be done.”

The cross is chilling when you think about the physical pain and suffering our Lord went through. But it is also brings profound gratitude to me when I think that in those moments God was offering up his tin can, his box of treasure. He was saying “This is my beloved Son, my treasure, but I will give Him freely.”

Why? Because that was the plan. That was His way to conquer the sin in our lives and bring us back to Him. Through giving up His son, He gathered more treasure to Himself:

You
I
Our children
Anyone who calls upon Christ and says, “Forgive me. I want to live for You.”

Such sacrifice deserves and even demands a celebration of joy and wonder. It is a treasure.

(Tomorrow – Where is He?)