Corrie ten Boom, Her Story (continued)
11. Lizzy
WE HAD TO live in beds stacked one on top of another. There were three beds in each stack, and above the cots where my sister Betsie and I slept, there lived a girl, Lizzy, who was a prostitute. Every day Betsie gathered the people around us, and she or I gave a little Bible talk. Lizzy did not join us, but she always listened, and once I heard Betsie talking with her.
"IT do not know if I can come to Jesus," Lizzy said to Betsie. "Why not? The Lord loves you. You are very precious in God's eyes, and when you come to Jesus, He will not send you away. He has never sent anyone away who came to seek forgiveness and to find the answer for his sin or guilt problem.
"God made this world good, and human beings were without sin, but then we people started to do wrong things, and God had to punish us. But He loved us so much that He had a talk with His Son, Jesus, and God said, 'What must I do? I have to punish people, but I love them.'
"Jesus said, 'Father, I will go to the world, and I will carry their punishment.' And the Father agreed. Jesus came to this world and He lived here for thirty-three years. That must have been a difficult time for Him, even from the beginning, for He was used to being in heaven, and then He came to such a dark world, full of problems.
"The most terrible thing He experienced was when He was crucified. Crucifixion is a very cruel, torturous way to kill people. He could have been saved from that. There were many angels around Him, and had Jesus told them to keep Him from the cross, they would have done so. But He did not ask them, because He
JESUS IS VICTOR 399) was willing to suffer and die. It was His purpose, when He came into this world, to die for your sins and mine.
"Now when we believe in Him we do not have to fear any punishment. We are free! There will be a Judgment Day and every one of us will be present there, but we have nothing to fear when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation for those who belong to Him. And Jesus Himself is our Judge and Advocate. You can read that in the Bible."
Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For he is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us there in heaven.
Romans 8:34 LB "But I don't do what I should do!" said Lizzy.
"T don't believe that you must do anything," replied Betsie. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. What had to be done has all been done by Jesus
Christ. Your part is to accept that at the cross He died for your sins."
Lizzy folded her hands and said, "Thank You, Jesus, that You did it all at the cross. I surely am not able to do much to change myself, but I thank You that You will do it in me."