This week, the country was provided an example of a sacrificial mother, who stood up to the government to feed her family. Mrs. Shelley Luther was jailed, her judge absurdly accusing her of being "selfish" for trying to feed her kids by keeping her salon open in Dallas.
This is an extreme example of the daily sacrifices that mothers make for their families and children. They work, cook, clean, transport, and put up with a host of indignities for the sake of their loved ones. Truly, a mother's work is never done!
Sometimes, mothers will defend their children, who can "do no wrong." Even President Trump admitted his mother treated him that way!
There's no telling what a mother will do when her children's lives are endangered. Mrs. Luther went to jail; others will lay down their very lives to save their children.
In the Luther case, the Lt Governor offered to pay her fine, and even serve her jail time in her place.
This calls to mind what our Lord Jesus did for us: He laid down His life for us! He died in our place, for our crimes, so that we might be saved! He was punished in the place of all those who trust in Him.
This penal substitution, as a general concept, has not caught on in most societies. It appears almost exclusively in God's dealings with mankind.
God often deals with men by and through their representative, or federal, head. The federal head is either by natural generation and descent, or is specially appointed by God. God then deals with the federal head in the place of those people he represents.
Paul teaches federal headship as the paradigm for the fall and redemption. All in Adam die. All who are in Christ Jesus are made alive! |
