"And when I think that God, His Son not sparing Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin!" by Carl Gustav Boberg, 1885 Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" The words of this beloved hymn capture something far greater than poetic beauty--they express the soul-staggering wonder of the gospel. "And when I think that God, His Son not sparing sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in!" This is the awe-filled confession of a redeemed sinner who has glimpsed the infinite cost of divine love! That the glorious God--infinitely righteous and perfectly holy--would not spare His own beloved Son, but deliver Him up for an ungodly people who had rebelled against Him, is a truth that overwhelms the heart! When Abraham was asked to offer Isaac, his only son, as a sacrifice, God provided a substitute. But when the Father gave His Son at Calvary, there was no substitute for Him--for Jesus was the substitute! The cross is not merely a demonstration of love--it is the only means of salvation. On that cursed tree, the spotless Lamb bore the full weight of divine wrath--not for His own sins, for He had none--but for the countless, crimson sins of His people! "That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin!" The sin was ours. The guilt was ours. The punishment was ours. Yet Christ bore it all, gladly and willingly. This was not a cold transaction, but a mission of infinite compassion. He who knew the joy of perfect fellowship with the Father, took upon Himself the horror of forsakenness and wrath