Have you heard the name Sydney Carton? This character in Charles Dickens’s acclaimed novel “A Tale of Two Cities” has everything to do with sacrificial grace.

Carton is a man during the French Revolution who has a chance to stand-in for a condemned man. In this way, the man will be free to go on and live his life. Carton takes the other man’s place, and is executed.

It was common for Charles Dickens to write novels that reflect the Christian faith. Does Carton remind you of anyone?

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Jesus is Carton, in a sense. Though the Messiah is infinitely more than a mere man. His sacrifice at the place of execution—the Cross—is an eternal reminder that there is One who loves us perfectly and without end.

Sydney Carton did not have to do what he did. No one forced him. It was a choice. He saved one man.

Jesus saved mankind. If you would like to meet Him, pray that God will give you discernment to accept the free gift of salvation from Jesus.

Let’s pray. Lord, Jesus is our Carton, for all time. And He is real, not fiction. Thank you that you show us true reality. Amen.

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