While we were still sinners

Lately this passage has been amazing me

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (romans 5:6-8 NIV)

 Its so easy to race through that- "Christ died for sinners, know that, next verse...." But have you ever stopped to consider what that really means? We often get the mentality that we are generally pretty good people who deserve salvation. I've even had people say to me that they deserve salvation more than someone who had committed a particular sin. This passage should lay any thoughts of such nature to rest. In reality we were enslaved by sins, powerless to help ourselves and totally undeserving of the grace of God. What's more, our sins were against God and deeply offensive to him. God would have been totally justified in leaving us to the fate our sins had made for us- but he didn't. How amazing is such a love that God would make the biggest sacrifice possible to redeem people who had done nothing to deserve it and were in fact in rebellion against him. It is such a humbling thought.