Main Idea: Jesus gave His life to save you from the flames of hell.
Key Verse: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 KJV).
Illustration:
Once there was a fireman. One night he was fighting a fire in a house. The flames were consuming the building and the roof was about to cave in. Suddenly, he heard a woman cry out, “My daughter is inside.” The fireman bravely rushed into the building. He felt the heat of the flames upon his back. Bricks fell and hit his back. The heat was overwhelming, but he sees the little girl crying. He picks her up in his arms. He heads for a window. A wooden beam falls and slams into his back. He feels the floor start to give way. The fire burns his arm, but there is no fire on the young girl because he is protecting her with his own body. He gets to the window. Below there is a big net. He throws the girl out the window. She hits the net and bounces but she is safe. In that moment, the house caves in and the fireman is killed in the fire.
Twenty years later the same girl was at a graveyard in front of his tomb stone. She was crying. Someone asked her, “Was this man your relative?”
“No,” she replied, “he was the man who gave his life to save me from the flames.”
Two thousand years ago, there was a man who gave his life to save you from the flames. His name is Jesus. He gave his life and conquered the fires of hell so that your life can be saved.
