We know all about the cost of things these days, don’t we?  Fuel prices are at nearly an all-time high, food prices are on the rise, housing and utility costs are rising daily.  People on a fixed income are hurt the most by rising costs, for their income doesn’t go up just because prices rise.  For some, just eating each day is a major challenge, and there are some that don’t get to.  The Lord Jesus said the poor would always be among us, and we could help them anytime we wish.  So the Lord decided to help the poorest of the poor, namely, mankind.
   The poverty I’m talking about is not food and drink and material goods.  But it’s poverty so severe that there is absolutely no hope for ever coming out of on your own.  That poverty concerns sin.  We owe a sin debt so huge, there isn’t a one of us which can pay it off, that is, to ransom our soul from hell.  We don’t need a bandage to cover our debt, we need a CURE for it.  For example; imagine a credit card debt so huge, that just the interest each day amounted to ten times what your entire annual income is.  Imagine the hopelessness of waking up each day facing that staggering debt that is increasing each day, with absolutely no way to stop its increase, let alone pay it off.  Imagine never having a good night’s sleep over it, always fearing who is waiting to take your life and whatever you DO have away from you without warning, and there isn’t anything you can do about it.  Now look at your life without Jesus, and you have an accurate picture of your life with a sin debt.
   We know sin is not a God problem, it’s a mankind problem.  Actually, it’s a rebellion problem, caused by man’s rebellious nature.  God says, Do this…., and we say, No, I don’t want to.  Of course, if not for the devil, we wouldn’t be presented with temptation in the first place, but we can’t blame everything on the devil, because he can’t make you do ANYTHING you don’t want to do already.  He merely suggests things to us and we decide to run with it.
   So, this rebellion problem leads us to sinning against God, even as Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought misery and death unto themselves, and all their descendants.  And one sin leads to another sin, and the wages of sin is death.  And it doesn’t matter whether it’s one sin, or one million sins, because even one is enough to make you a sinner.  And of course, no sinner will inherit eternal life with God, so we have a problem here; a very big problem, indeed.  You see, we are all born in sin.  Even a five minute old baby is a sinner, having inherited sin from his or her first father Adam.  You might say that child was altogether born in debt.  From the time that child is old enough to know right from wrong, every sinful action adds up, and unless atoned for, results in eternal death.  With every wrong action, every wrong word, every act of rebellion, every hateful attitude, sin multiplies.  And the debt gets deeper and deeper, you can’t climb over it, you can’t dig under it, and you can’t go through it.  And every second, it’s getting bigger.   Now, THAT’S poverty!  Add to that the fact that the Creditor can demand payment in full at any time without a moment’s notice.  You’d better have a plan. And you’d better not wait, because you never know when your debt will be called up for payment.  You’d better have a GOOD plan, with a Savior who will redeem you.  You need SALVATION, and as a certain credit card company puts it, ”Don’t leave home without it!”
   Most of us know the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross because of sin.  Not HIS sin, mind you, but OUR sin.  A debt can only be paid off by someone rich enough to do it, and just being rich enough to pay the debt off doesn’t MAKE it paid.  That person must actually PAY the debt off, in order for it to be cancelled.  Now, why would the Lord Jesus want to pay off your sin debt?  Your first question most likely is the same as mine was: What’s in it for HIM?  The answer is short:  absolutely NOTHING.  God has nothing to gain by paying your sin debt for you, but YOU have EVERYTHING to gain!  I’m sure the Lord Jesus had something more enjoyable He could have done that day, than to endure a horrible beating, then being nailed to a cross, hanging there in agony beyond our comprehension, bleeding out his life’s blood on the ground for someone who couldn’t care less that they caused His suffering in the first place.  That “someone” was me and you, and everyone else who has ever been born, or will ever be born.
   God could have looked upon all us sinners with pity and said, Those poor people, they’re lost and headed for Hell.  I feel sorry for them, and hope they find a way to save themselves, but it’s THEIR problem, not mine, so I’m not going to get involved.  But He didn’t do that, did He?  Instead, He saw we were in sin debt so deep, there was no way we would ever get out, and He had pity upon us.  In fact, that debt was so huge, it required the very life of His only begotten Son, to pay it off.
   We think that if God had wanted, He could have simply said, I hereby cancel all of mankind’s sins, and that would have been that.  But it isn’t that simple, for sin requires the shedding of blood for remission.  If YOU shed your blood and died for your sins, yes, your debt would be paid, but you’d be DEAD!  We would ALL have to die for our sins, and we would all be dead, every one of us.  God saw the only way the sin of mankind could be paid for and they still live would be for Christ Jesus to shed His blood for them.  He is the only one qualified to die for us, absolutely sinless by nature, the perfectly obedient Son of God, the Creator himself, willingly laying down His life for His creation.  That, my friend is LOVE.
   Yet, because Christ Jesus himself was sinless, death could not hold Him.  On the third day His Father raised Him up from the dead, cancelling your sin debt FOREVER, and you shall live evermore with Him if you remain His disciple to the end.  Imagine waking up each day without any dread of how you are going to settle with God for your sins, because your account is already settled.  Imagine your joy in that day when the Lord says to you, Well done, my good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joy of your Lord.
And THAT is the ultimate debt cure!

   How do I get in on this ULTIMATE DEBT CURE?  Make Christ Jesus your LORD and SAVIOR right now!  Why wait?