Christ Our SubstituteSample

Humanity’s Dilemma

Sin in the human family produced a terrible harvest. Its penalty was death (Ezekiel 18:20). Because all were guilty of sin, and under the judgment of death, no human could intervene on behalf of the guilty to bear the punishment for their crime. No degree of human goodness is adequate for redemption (Ephesians 2:8–9, Titus 3:5). Intellectual development cannot alter the human condition. Moral behavior cannot reverse the effects of sin. We were separated from God (Isaiah 59:2).

The Old Testament Law and the Levitical system of atoning animal sacrifices were never intended to effectuate the remission of sin (Galatians 3:24; Hebrews 10:11). They were God’s illustrations to expose human frailty, to reveal our inclination toward sin, and to foreshadow His coming in Christ to be the once and for all sacrifice for the sins of the world (Romans 8:3–4; Galatians 2:16, Hebrews 10:12–17).

Alienated from God, people were helpless to redeem themselves. No amount of human effort and goodness could produce salvation. But a light shone upon the canvas of God’s Big Picture. It lifts our gaze from the darkness and gloom of human enslavement through Satan’s deception. God took the initiative to redeem humanity, motivated only by His love for those He had created (1 John 4:10).

The Master Artist revealed an underlying scene that was sketched into place long before the destructive fingerprints of death smeared God’s beautiful design. In His sovereign foresight, God planned to restore His masterpiece (Revelation 13:8). Christ would be our Substitute. God would step out of the heavenly realm and would be incarnated in the flesh of a human being. As the sinless Lamb, fully God and fully human, Jesus Christ would take on Himself the sins of the whole world. He alone would bear the penalty of humanity’s transgression, thus removing the barrier that had separated people from God. Only the eternal God could be both Master Artist and Master Restorer. Christ, our Substitute, died in our place. He paid the penalty for sin. His redemptive mission to save us included the agony of the cross and the triumph of His resurrection.

Thank You for not abandoning me in my spiritual state. Help me to fathom the depth of Your love.