Christ Died for Me

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
-Romans 5:8
     I recently attended my church's spring conference, where I was very encouraged. One thing stuck out to me though: "Christ died for me". One of the messengers said this during his message, and it stuck with me. There's something so profound in this simple statement. I want to talk a bit about my thoughts on this statement today.
     Jesus died on the cross. That is a fact. However, the question to ask is who is responsible for crucifying Him? Was it the soldiers who placed the nails in His hands and feet? Was it Pilate, who handed Him over to be crucified? Was it the crowd, who called for Him to be crucified? Or was it even us, who sinned and therefore required Jesus' death on the cross? All of these are correct, but there is one more significant person to remember- Christ Himself. Christ is responsible for His crucifixion. Jesus was crucified by those around Him, but He let them crucify Him. If Jesus didn't want to be crucified, He could have easily escaped it. He could have even not come to earth. However, thank God that Jesus did not do that.
         Why did Jesus let Himself be crucified? Again, Christ died for me. Christ died for us. He saw how helpless we were, and His love called Him to action. He couldn't let us suffer and die for our sins. He chose to allow Himself to take on our suffering and death. He did this because He so loved us. Sometimes I forget that Jesus died for me. Of course I know it, but I don't always understand it completely. Sometimes I feel guilty because Jesus had to die for my sins. However, when I remember that Christ chose to die for me out of His love, it brings me peace and joy. It's hard to put all my thoughts about this into words, but I hope you are able to meditate on this simple yet profound statement: "Christ died for me".
-Smart