In 1988, Anissa Ayala was sixteen years-old and diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. The doctors said that if she did not receive a bone marrow transplant after chemotherapy and radiation treatment she would die.

Neither her parents nor her brother was a match, and they could not find a donor elsewhere. Her parents, both in their forties, conceived another child and hoped that the child’s bone marrow would be compatible with Anissa’s.

To their great delight it was determined that this new baby was a compatible donor. When Marissa Ayala was fourteen months-old, they took some of her marrow and gave it Anissa. Anissa made a full recovery from the Leukemia and both sisters went on to live healthy lives.

In a very real sense Marissa saved her sister’s life. She later said, “Without me being a perfect match for my sister, she would not be here.” *

Because of our sins, we have a fatal condition, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

But God loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son into the world to save us (John 3:16).  Jesus was born as a baby – God in the flesh – to identify with us (Hebrews 2:17-18), to show us the Father (John 1:18), and ultimately to die on the cross for our sins (1 Peter 2:24).  He was the “Perfect Match” for us, for only the sinless Son of God who became man could pay the price for our redemption from sin (1 Peter 1:18-19).  That is the reason He was born into this world, and that is the reason for which He died.  He died for us so that we might live for Him and with Him in eternity.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NASB).

God will save from sin and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Consider the birth, the life, and the death of Jesus on the cross.  He was God’s Perfect Match to save us so that we might live.

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

-- David A. Sargent

 David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

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