Two students were knocking on doors evangelizing. One of those doors was answered by a mother. It was not a good day. The house was crazy, kids were going nuts, and she was clearly tired and frazzled. They asked her: “Are you interested in eternal life?” Looking around at her chaotic life she replied: “Frankly, I don’t think I could stand it!”* 

The good news is that the afterlife is not just more of the same—it is a gift of perfect joy and peace that we receive by trusting in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. 

In a loving act of atonement, Jesus paid the consequence for our sin and gave us reconciliation and peace with God. The apostle Peter says it like this: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

In Christian theology this is sometimes called The Great Exchange. John Flavel describes what Jesus did for us in this way: “Lord, the condemnation was yours, that the justification might be mine. The agony was yours, that the victory might be mine… The crown of thorns was yours, that the crown of glory might be mine.”**

I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but God’s arms are open to you in Christ. He has a future for you which is not just more of the same. Every tear will be wiped away. The pain and chaos of life is temporary. Despite your sin and brokenness, he took on the agony to give you the victory. He wore the crown of thorns so that you could have a crown of glory. 

That knowledge works backwards from the future into the present. It gives us hope on dark days, strength when weakness abounds, perseverance when we want to give up, and love when we feel alone.

“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God”

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Notes:

-*A version of this story is recalled in: John Ortberg, How Do I Know If I’m Really Saved? (Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum, 2018), 6.

-**From the sermon: “The Solemn Consecration of the Mediator,” quoted in: Rosaria Butterfield, Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age (Wheaton: Crossway, 2023), 103.

-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on September 29, 2025.

-Bible quotes are from the ESV.