No matter how much we investigate and talk about the American Revolution, or any other war that the United States has fought for freedom like WWI and WWII, unless we ourselves were there we will never, in this life, fully understand what it meant to fight in such battles. I get the impression from some veterans that what they had experienced was somewhat inexpressible.

We can say "he fought in Iraq" but those four words can never fully express all the experiences that one had in Iraq. More than that, we can say, "Ed was a prisoner of war and finally died in captivity," and once again never fully be able to express or even comprehend what horrors the man went through.

So, it is the same when we say "Christ died for your sin," or "Christ took our sins upon Himself."

However the Holy Scriptures do give us some insight to encourage us to stop and think of what happened to Jesus as He offered Himself for us. While we can imagine the pain He graciously sustained when whipped, beaten, and crucified, we can also try to sense the spiritual aspect of His suffering.

Even before His body was attacked by His enemies, we can see He was having an immense struggle in Gethsemane. We know that He asked the Father to "let this cup pass from Me," but soon prayed His submission to His Father's will.

The cup He was dreading was not really physical death, but the actual acceptance of our sin.

Before I continue, most people who have a conscience that is not overly seared will readily recognize that when they do something wrong they are bothered by it. Some, who are tender, are more bothered than others.

So there, in Gethsemane, He began to take all human sin upon Himself. In fact, He actually became our sin. Look at the wording in 2 Corinthians 5:21--"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

I think most of us would agree that child molestation is a shameful, hateful, despicable sin. Now, read 2 Corinthians 5:21 again! No wonder our Lord did not want that cup at first.

And, no matter what sins have been committed by humanity, we see from the text that Christ was made that sin. What a price He paid!

But why? Because God immensely loved us and wanted to cure us of our sin nature and sin that would separate us from Him for all eternity.

The balance of verse 21 shows us the freedom we can have from sin if we commit to Christ. There is not a sin that we cannot be set free from as long as we take the cross of Christ. Oh what great freedom there is in Christ but, oh, what a price He paid!