Christ Our Substitute预览

The Best News

We have salvation, eternal life, forgiveness, relationship, and peace through faith in Christ. This is the best news!

The shame that clouded the consciousness of people who were made in the image and likeness of God could at last be replaced by forgiveness. Humanity was not created to live in shame, to experience the weight of guilt, or to succumb to inferiority and worthlessness.

The separation between the Creator and His creation that left people isolated from God and deeply fractured the human family, could finally be replaced by relationship. People were not created to endure injustice, inequity, and cruelty. We were never intended to be categorized according to gender, skin color, social and academic level, or any other societal distinctive. We were created to be in a beautiful and intimate relationship with God and to enjoy unbroken fellowship and oneness with each other (Colossians 1:19–22). Everything God determines for His children flows out of their relationship with Him. Eden, that beautiful garden of relationship with God, is recreated in the hearts of those who believe in Jesus Christ. God’s paradise of love is restored.

Fear is overcome by peace. When Jesus was born, angels proclaimed peace among those God favored. Years later, Jesus promised His disciples that they would have peace despite tribulation. People were not created to live in fear of God, others, or themselves. Rather, fear can now be replaced by the calming peace of God’s loving presence. Because of Christ’s substitution, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). There is no need for fear and conflict.

People were never created to live in bondage to shame, to separation, or to fear. Etched against the horizon of God’s Big Picture, the cross of Jesus Christ remains the eternal monument to God’s unconditional love for humankind. We are of incalculable value to Him. He has given liberty to return to Him. All we need is faith in Christ, our Substitute. What Christ accomplished on our behalf through His death, burial, and resurrection constitutes the good news, the best news that brings us hope.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your love that erases the scars of sin from my life and gives me a new beginning.

This devotional plan was based on material from God’s Big Picture: Finding Yourself in God’s Plan, by LaDonna Osborn. To learn more about her ministry, please click here.