Two workers at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station desperately needed medical care. One had suffered a heart attack and the other was experiencing life-threatening gastric issues. The only way to ensure their recovery was to launch a rescue mission. Due to harsh conditions, however, including darkness and minus 75-degrees centigrade (-103F) temperatures from February to October, planes didn’t normally risk flying to the outpost during winter. But the pilots were determined to rescue the workers—and they did, despite enduring a difficult two days of challenging flights.

Stories of rescue are inspiring. The greatest rescue story was when Jesus rescued us from sin. The apostle Peter wrote, “ ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). He rescued us by bearing our sins in His body. He carried them as a sacrifice—a sacrifice in which he “suffered for you” and for me (v. 21). On the cross, Christ bore the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13) and endured our shame. He was wounded so we might be healed, and He died so that we might be delivered from the penalty and power of sin (1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5).  

How amazing it is to know that we were rescued from our own desperate condition by One who was willing to endure the harshest of conditions for us!