Have you ever been cooking something but in the middle of preparing everything you realized that you were missing an ingredient or two? What did you do? You could either try to run to the store quickly and pick up what you needed, or you can do what many people do, and try to substitute those ingredients for something else.
I have made pancakes for many years, and on some occasions I would start to mix up my first set of ingredients, only soon to realize that I didn’t have any cooking oil left. But I have learned from previous experience that applesauce will make an excellent alternative for oil in pancakes, so I used that in it’s place.
And that is what a substitute is; a replacement or a stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
In sports, players are substituted all the time, to either give a player a rest, or if they are not performing well. If you spill something on your bed, you might change out the sheets and blankets with something clean until you get the other ones washed.
Well, the Bible teaches us that all have sinned. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. We have all made mistakes, and are deserving of punishment. But what Jesus did is take our punishment that we deserved, and placed it upon Himself. He took the nails into Himself, suffering so that we wouldn’t have to.
Philippians 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Sin is greatly displeasing to God the Father, but the love of Christ towards us is so great that He sacrificed Himself in the greatest act of love that has ever happened. He became the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 3:23-25 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”
It could have been us receiving that punishment as a result of our sin. We could have been on the receiving end of those nails. We certainly deserved punishment, according to the Law, but that is the beauty of what Christ has done for us. Instead of that punishment, Jesus has given us grace. Instead making us struggle under the weight of our sins, Jesus bears our sins for us.
Without the forgiveness of Christ, we would be consumed with the knowledge of our sins. But we now can have peace in our minds, knowing that we have been forgiven. Always remember that. In Christ lies our salvation. In Christ, we have life.
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 