"Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends." - Jesus
One of the greatest news stories I have ever had the privilege of
publishing at INCN (Inter-National Christian News) will probably never make it to the "Christian News"
that we have today. Oh I could tell you stories of dramatic healings
(some that I have witnessed personally) and even resurrections from the
dead in Jesus name. But of all those
reports, this one stands out the most in my memory because, of all of
the stories I have been privileged to publish in those "Newsie" days or even witnessed, this
one perhaps expresses the Love that God has for us the most. It
demonstrates the definition of a "Christian," a follower of Jesus that
by it's nature humbles us before Him.
I believe it was in Iran
where it is the death penalty to convert to Christianity. A relatively
newer Christian had converted and was charged and sentenced to death.
Another man who had become a Christian years before very quietly
maintained his relationship to God. He was a fairly highly placed
government official. It was extremely dangerous for him to witness to
anyone. Even though he wanted to share the love of God that he had
discovered in his own life for years, there was very little he could do
to share it because of his position.
There is (or at least was
at the time) a law in that country that said that a man's guilt and
sentence could be absolved if someone else were to take his place. It
was the greatest witness of that high ranking official to show the love
of God in Christ that he presented himself as the legal substitution for
that newer convert's life. He took the death penalty upon himself so
the other man would be set free. Of all the years of his life as a
Christian, his greatest witness of the Love of Jesus and faith in the
promises of Jesus to everyone around him was in his death.
If
his final testimony doesn't grab our hearts and humble us to our knees
before God, then we are yet spiritually dead in our sins.
ps that was in the days when news articles actually had to be fully confirmed by reliable witnesses...
