There is an old story about a young man from West Virginia who went off to college at a prestigious eastern university. The mountain youngster was able to go to this highly regarded Ivy League School only because his father was so proud of his academic record…and his dad worked many, many hours of overtime in the lumber mill in his hometown to pay for his college. There was tuition and books and room and board and the young man told his dad that you weren't anybody unless you pledged the most elite fraternity on campus…and they wanted him…and so he really needed more money, lots of money…and of course, he would have to have a whole new wardrobe. His dad, who had never set foot on a college campus, was so excited to hear about his son's college exploits. So he always told his son, "no problem. Go for it." He would come up with the money…and he did. So it all worked out fine.

The young man was so caught up in his new friends that he just couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but of course, he would need some more money. And then when spring break came, he called his dad and said it was most important for him to go to the beach. Everybody was going…and he would need some more money. So, please send the money quickly. But, while he was on the beach in Florida, he got an urgent message that his dad had had a serious heart attack. He hurried home…but it was too late. His dad was gone. A few of his dad's life long friends from the lumber mill were gathered in the hospital waiting room. When the young man walked in, Wilbur, his dad's best friend, hugged him, and as he and the other friends left the room later, Wilbur handed the young man a pile of neatly folded clothes and a pair of shoes - his dad's work overalls and his dad's work boots.

As the young man sat there in the waiting room holding his father's clothes, he noticed the boots… the boots each had a huge hole in the bottom. His father worked each day in boots with holes in them. His dad, who always seemed able to come up with the money for his khaki slacks and crisp, oxford shirts and penny loafers… that man's feet burned from the heat of the lumber mill floor while he labored for his hourly wage to provide for his son…who just took it all for granted. And the pain was too much. The boy cried at the magnitude of his father's sacrificial love. And he cried in shame at his own apathy and preoccupation and selfishness and his lack of appreciation. It would be a long time before he could think of his father without weeping.

This father's love is just a small picture of the big love that prompted God to act for us! During this time of the year, as we look toward the cross, and see the agony of Jesus' suffering there, and are reminded of the fact that it was our sins that sent Him there, does it bring us to tears? Don't we think, "How foolish we are! How blind! How selfish! How ungrateful! How preoccupied with our own lives! How undeserving of such love we are!"

In so many ways, aren't we just like that college boy? Aren't we just like the Children of Israel we heard about in our first lesson today? We are selfish and egotistic. We get impatient. We speak against God. We complain. We take God for granted. And we certainly don't put Him first in our lives as He wants us to. The Children of Israel got what they deserved - an attack from a bunch of poisonous snakes. Many of them died. God was serious about how wrong their attitude was. And we deserve the same thing. A swift judgment and painful death - a painful separation from our loving God.

That is what we would have gotten if God operated like we do. You see, so often, the "love" we show to others, and the love we talk about in our life is nothing like the love God has shown us in our Bible text. We usually love something or somebody who has something of worth to offer us. That is a selfish love. We often love conditionally. In other words, we will love this person as long as they love us, or as long as they keep within certain boundaries or guidelines. But once they step out, that is as far as our love will go.

And our human version of "love" isn't always the best at forgiving. Perhaps you've heard about the father who introduced his children: "This is Pete. He's the clumsy one of the lot." That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one. As always, Ben's last. He'll be late for his own funeral, I promise you." That father did a thorough job of labeling his children with their faults and mistakes. People do it to us and to those we love all the time. They remind us of our failures, our errors, our sins, and they won't let us live them down. Try as you might to free yourself from your past, there are people who continue to remind you of it. And when we don't let people forget their past, when we don't forgive, we are doing the same thing and not showing real love. And by all means, God should be sending those snakes after us!

But what does He do? For those undeserving Children of Israel, He lifts up a snake onto a pole. And the simple act of a dying person looking at it in faith will restore life for that person. What did God do for us? Lifted his own Son onto a cross to die the painful death, the painful separation from Him that we deserved because of our lack of love. And the simple act of a dying sinner looking at the Son of Man with faith will bring a greater blessing, a new life that never ends! This is why Jesus had to go to the Cross! TO PAY FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD! Every one of your sins were placed on Jesus. He took them to that cross. And He was punished for them in your place. Now you won't have to be! That's why Jesus went to the cross. And that is what love is! God's love! Real love! That is how much God loved the world!

In an old Dennis the Menace cartoon, Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson's house, their hands full of cookies. Joey says, "I wonder what we did to deserve this?" Dennis answers, "Look, Joey. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice." God did all this for us, not because we're nice, but because He is nice!

God hasn't required the first thing from us in order to receive such a gift! He simply wants us to believe it. And faith, which is also a gift from Him, is the hand that receives this amazing gift. We need to understand this: the believer in God's Son no longer stands in the arena of judgment by God with the possibility of condemnation! As a believer, your faith in the Savior has removed ALL cause for an adverse decision against you. That's right, no matter how horrible your life has been, if God has worked faith in your heart that Jesus took those sins of yours to the cross and paid for them, you WILL NOT be punished for them! You have new life now, and new life in eternity to look forward to!

The police arrested 23-year-old Rusty Welborn in 1979 for one of the most brutal slayings in South Carolina history. Rusty was tried for murder and received the death penalty for his crime. Bob McAlister, deputy chief of staff to South Carolina's governor, became acquainted with Rusty on death row. Bob had become a Christian a year earlier and felt a strong call from God to minister to the state's inmates - especially those spending their last days on death row.

Bob's first look at Rusty revealed a pitiful sight. Rusty was lying on the floor when he arrived, a pathetic picture of a man who believed he mattered to no one. The only signs of life in the cell were the roaches who scurried over everything, including Rusty himself. He made no efforts to move or even to brush the insects away. He stared blankly at Bob as he began to talk, but did not respond.

During visit after visit, Bob tried to reach Rusty, telling him of the love Jesus had for him and of his opportunity - even on death row - for a new life in Christ. He talked and prayed continuously, and finally Rusty began to respond to the stranger who kept invading his cell. Little by little, he opened up, until one day he began to weep as Bob was sharing with him. On that day, Rusty Welborn, a pitiful man with murder and darkness behind him and his own death closing ahead of him, came to believe that Jesus died for his sins on the cross too!

When Bob returned to Rusty's cell a few days later, he found a new man. The cell was clean and so was Rusty. He had renewed energy and a positive outlook on life. Bob continued to visit him regularly, studying the Bible and praying with him. The two men became close friends over the next five years. In fact, Bob McAlister said that Rusty grew into the son he never had, and as for Rusty, he had taken to calling Bob "Pap."

Bob learned that Rusty's childhood in West Virginia had been anything but pleasant. His family was destitute, and Rusty was neglected and abused as a youngster. School was an ordeal both for him and for his teachers. Throughout his junior high years he wore the same two pair of pants and two ragged shirts. Out of shame, frustration, and a lack of adult guidance, Rusty quit school in his ninth grade year, a decision that was just the beginning of his troubles. His teenage years were full of turmoil as he was kicked out of his home many times and ran away countless others. He spent the better part of his youth living under bridges and in public rest rooms.

Bob taught Rusty the Bible. But Rusty was the teacher when it came to love and forgiveness. This young man who had never known real love was amazed and thrilled about the love of God. He never ceased to be surprised that other people could actually love someone like him through Jesus Christ. Rusty's childlike enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air to Bob, who came to realize how much he had taken for granted, especially with regard to the love of his family and friends.

In time, Rusty became extremely bothered by the devastating pain he had caused for the family of his victim. Knowing that God had forgiven him, he desperately wanted the forgiveness of those he had wronged. Then a most significant thing happened: the brother of the woman Rusty had murdered became a Christian. God had dealt with him for two years about his need to forgive his sister's killer. Finally, he wrote Rusty a letter that offered not only forgiveness, but love in Christ.

Not long before his scheduled execution, this brother came to visit Rusty. Bob was present when the two men met and tearfully embraced like long-lost brothers finally reunited. Rusty's senseless crime ten years earlier had constructed an enormous barrier between himself and the brother! The love of Christ obliterated that barrier and enabled both men to realize that, because of Jesus, they truly were brothers reunited on that day. You see, this is why Jesus had to go to the cross! To pay for all the sins of the world! And if He can pay for the sins of the man who hung on the cross next to Him, and if He could pay for the sins of this death row murderer, He can also pay for yours and mine.

This was a lesson Bob would never forget. Not only did Rusty teach Bob McAlister how to love and forgive, he also taught him a powerful lesson about how to die. As the appointed day approached, Rusty exhibited a calm assurance like Bob had never seen. On his final day, with only hours remaining before his 1:00 AM execution, Rusty asked Bob to read to him from the Bible. After an hour or so of listening, Rusty sat up on the side of his cot and said, "You know, the only thing I ever wanted was a home, Pap. Now I'm going to get one."

Bob continued his reading, and after a few minutes Rusty grew very still. Thinking he had fallen asleep, Bob placed a blanket over him and closed the Bible. As he turned to leave, he felt a strong compulsion to lean over and kiss Rusty on the forehead. A short time later, Rusty Welborn was executed for murder. A woman assisting Rusty in his last moments shared this postscript to his story: As he was being prepared for his death, Rusty looked at her and said, "What a shame that a man's gotta wait 'til his last night alive to be kissed and tucked in for the very first time." Friends, because we know Jesus went to the cross to pay for our sins, we have nothing to fear. One day, we are going to be tucked into bed for the very last time. And when we wake up, we will be in our real home - our eternal one with God. Amen.

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