We Shall Live!

During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a young soldier

to be executed. It was to take place when the curfew bell sounded. However, the bell did not

sound. That is because the soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the clapper of

the bell to prevent it from striking.

When the woman was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she

showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell’s heart was touched and he said, “Your

lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!” Cromwell commuted

the sentence.

All of us were like that young soldier. The guilt of our sin was exposed, and punishment was soon to commence. Then love intervened. It was not in the form of a girl climbing into the belfry and clinging to the clapper of the bell, but in the form of God’s Son climbing down from heaven and clinging to the old rugged cross. Her bruising and bleeding were nothing compared to His. And just as the soldier was spared by her act of love, we are spared by His act of love. If I may slightly modify Cromwell’s words, “We shall live because of His sacrifice!”

To benefit from the Lord’s sacrifice, we must obey the gospel. This includes believing in Jesus,

repenting of our sins, confessing our faith before others, and being immersed in water for the

forgiveness of our sins (John 8:24; Luke 13:3; Romans 10:10; Acts 2:38). Have you done that?