In the game of chess, the king is the most important piece (and the weakest), and the object of the game is to protect him while capturing the opponent's king. One of the most highly esteemed tactics in the game of chess is the sacrifice. This tactic involves giving away a pawn or piece seemingly for free while effecting a counter-attack to gain material or positional advantage. Since the queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard, when she is sacrificed, the moves are calculated (or desperate), and some decisive advantage is nearly always achieved.
In the cosmic game of chess, the most important piece is also the most powerful piece, the King. We, the pawns, are weak but not expendable. As Jesus says, the Good Shepherd knows His sheep and will go after a single lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14, John 10). God, in His divine sovereignty, sacrificed the King for the sake of the pawn. If a queen sacrifice for the sake of the king is extravagant in chess, how much more extravagant is God's King sacrifice for the sake of His pawns (Ephesians 1:7-9, 1 John 3:1)?
Romans 5:6-10 tells us:
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
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