Jesus and Navy Seals

Here is an amazing story of a Navy Seal laying down his life to save his fellow soldiers by taking the full force of a grenade blast. Faced with the decision to save his life by escaping before the explosion, he chose instead to sacrifice his own life for the sake of the other Seals. It truly is a heroic act and is one I don't think many would make.

Now try to picture that Navy Seal jumping on the grenade for an enemy, it would be unheard of! It is very rare that someone would die for their friends much less his enemies.

But this is what Christians believed happened in the Gospel. We believe that Jesus Christ the God/Man entered into space and time and gave himself up for his enemies. There was nothing in us that could have drove Christ to do this, we were hostile to God deserving nothing, it is only by grace that he would die for his enemies. I was an enemy of God, and Christ took upon himself the punishment that was rightly mine. This love, this grace, is unheard of, who would die for their enemies? But this is the glorious truth that Paul echos in Romans chapter 5.

6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11)

One of the main purposes and results from this act, is that we as enemies would be reconciled to God through Jesus. We would no longer be considered enemies of God deserving wrath but that God would look upon us as friends and we would receive adoption as sons because of what Christ has done.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/08/seal.medal/index.html