Substitution 6

Let me, as plainly as I can, state the Gospel to you today:  It is hidden in one word - Substitution.  Christ Jesus voluntarily taking the place of sinful men.  I deserve to be lost and ruined; and the only reason why I should not be damned forever is this - that Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, was punished for my sins in my place, and God cannot execute a sentence twice for the same sins.  I could never enter God's Heaven unless I have a perfect Righteousness, and I am certain that I shall never have one of my own, for I sin every day, but Jesus has a perfect Righteousness that He worked out for me here on Earth when He lived, loved, and died for me.

The whole substance of Salvation lies in the inestimable truth that God Incarnate laid down His life for sinful men like me.  God tells us in the Bible, that the Word, the second person of the Godhead, took upon Himself human form, and came down here among sinful men.  And while He was here, He lived the life of a poor servant, and then at the last, He took upon Himself man's sins, and as the Substitute for guilty men, He went up to the Cross, and there He bore the divine wrath due to our sins, there He died all alone in the place of the guilty, and then three days later, He rose from the dead, and now He is alive forever more. This is the only good news that can bring peace to your troubled spirit and mind - Christ died for me, that I should not die; He paid my sin debt in full with His own blood, I believe in Him; therefore, my sins are gone, and my record is clear before God for Jesus' sake.  That truth is so plain, even a child can understand it.

The prisoner is in the dock, he is facing judgment and in great fear; for he is about to be taken away to be executed; he deserves to die, for he has been a great criminal.  But before he is taken to his doom, the merciful Judge asks whether there is any possible way whereby the prisoner's life can be spared.  Then an Innocent bystander comes forth and steps into the dock by the criminal, and pleads with the Judge that He would have Mercy on the convict:  "Consider Me to be the criminal; pass his guilt and death sentence on Me, and let Me die instead of him.  Reckon the criminal to be myself.  I deserve to be rewarded for the Works which I have done, but reward the criminal as if he had done My good Works; reward him as if here were Me, and punish Me as if I had committed his crimes."

Jesus then takes off His garments and shows His scars and wounds to the Judge, and says, "This criminal doesn't deserve to enter Heaven, for he has not kept the Law, but I have kept the Law for him.  Let him have My Righteousness, and I will take his sins.  He deserves to die, but because of My wounds, stripes, and scars which I have suffered in his place, I beseech You, to have Mercy on him for My Blood's sake." This is what happens in God's court of Law when a sinner trusts in Jesus' Blood:  the Savior says, "The sinner deserves to die; but let Me die in his place, and let him be clothed in My Righteousness, and be set free forever for My sake."

Jesus said to me, "There sinner, take My garments of Righteousness, put them on; and you shall stand before God as if you were Me, and I will stand before God, as if I had been the sinner.  I will suffer in your place. and you shall be rewarded for works which you did not do, but for Works which I did for you.  You shall go free, and I shall be condemned."

Many sinners who are under the conviction of guilt and are cast down over their sins, they will try prayer, Bible-reading, church attendance, quitting addictions; they try to change their manner of life, but they can never find peace with God until they personally come to Christ Jesus by faith, and trust to His atoning work on the Cross. The great plan of redeeming mercy through the Precious Blood is the only way to obtain the forgiveness of your sins and free eternal life.  Jesus knew no sin; He was the perfect man and the perfect God in one person. The grandest of all Gospel truths is Substitution.

Jesus is the Christ of God; He has taken my sins, and carried away my sorrows.  I am a sinner, and I trust only to the sinner's Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  You are the very person Jesus came to save.  Jesus came to take the place of the guilty, not good people.  There is hope; there is lifting up.  Turn your face to the Cross, and behold the Lamb of God, the substitutionary Sacrifice, which taketh away the sin of the world.  Trust your immortal soul into the hands of the faithful Crucified Creator.  The moment you trust your sins with the Divine Substitute, your soul is saved, safe from the danger of being lost forever.  Trust your Eternity with the Son of God, never trust in yourself at all.  Take your troubles and cares directly to Jesus.  Trust Jesus with the little things, "Give this day our daily bread," and trust Him with the big things, "Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."

Come to Jesus by faith, your guilt must be transferred to Christ, and taken away by the sinner's Substitute.  Christ never gave Himself for my goodness, but He gave Himself for my sins, because there was no way for me to be saved except by a sinless blood sacrifice for my sins.  Christ has been punished for my sins, therefore God cannot punish me anymore for my sins; no one can lay anything to my charge.  My God is just in Christ Jesus, and the Justifier of the ungodly.

Once day Justice drew His fiery sword and came after me, and would have cast me into hell for sure.  Justice's sword sought me, because I had sinned against the Judge of the universe.  Divine Justice said, "That man is a sinner, and he must perish!"  Then said Jesus on my behalf, "That man was once a sinner, but he is righteous now in Me, for he is clothed in My Righteousness.  If you are seeking his sins, here am I, I have bore his sins in My own body. I am this sinner's Substitute; all of this sinner's guilt was imputed to Me on Calvary; all of his unrighteousness is Mine, and all My Righteousness is now his.  I am his Substitute, so punish Me instead of him, and let him go free for My sake."  Justice accepted and was perfectly satisfied with Jesus' Substitution; Justice then took the Savior and crucified Him on Calvary's Cross.  My curse was made to fall upon the head of Jesus.

If you deny the great truth of Atonement by Blood, the substitutionary Sacrifice of the Incarnate God of Calvary, your soul is in imminent peril.  Jesus is not just my Example; He is the Maker of my Propitiation and Reconciliation by His own Blood.  There is no way of you being accepted by God except through the Blood of Jesus.  Now understand - The only road to God is sprinkled with the blood of the substitutionary death of the Lamb of God.  Keep to the Precious Blood with unshaken resolve.  Stay at the foot of the Cross, looking only to the crucified Savior.