For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. 1 Peter 3:18

Sixteen-million injections. That's a lot of shots.

A lot of shots mean a lot of pain. Sixteen-million injections is tons of pain -- pain that Professor Ian Hunter and his team at MIT believe ought to go away.

Not only do they believe the pain ought to go away, they've built a machine to make that happen.

Using a small magnet surrounded by a coil of wire, they have developed a machine that uses a high-pressure jet to send medicine through an individual's skin. Yes, there is still a puncture, but the diameter of the puncture wound is about the size of a human hair -- a puncture whose size means less pain. Indeed, most say the pain level is about the same as the bite of a mosquito.

All in all, this new machine will be of help to medical teams who are doing injections in remote places of the world; it will minimize accidental "needle sticks" and be a real blessing to folks who have diabetes and must have multiple injections every day.

Now let's take Dr. Hunter's thinking and apply it to our salvation. As you already know, in this world there are a lot of sinners committing a lot of sins.

A lot of sins mean a lot of lost souls. Lost souls end up in hell, and hell means a lot of pain -- pain our Lord believes ought to go away.

Not only does the Lord believe the pain ought to go away: He did something to make that happen.

Unlike Dr. Hunter's team, the Lord knew no invention, no machine could ever be built that would minimize or eliminate the penalty and pain of sin. Indeed, for transgression's painful reward to be eliminated for us, it had to be suffered by someone else.

That Someone was God's Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Through the living of a perfect life, Jesus resisted the devil's temptations and fulfilled all the laws our disobedience had broken. His death on the cross, accompanied by a third-day resurrection from the dead, says the punishment and pain for hell need not be the eternal future of anyone.

When the Holy Spirit calls a sinner to repentance and places faith within that heart, there is forgiveness and the gift of an eternal home in heaven.

And the pain that once was ours is no longer.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus for having endured my sin and my pain, I give thanks. May I always rejoice that You suffered, so I might be free from eternal pain. In Your Name I give thanks. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Proverbs 25-26    Acts 4:23-37

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