Our Great Substitute

Well, it is a wonderful time of year to examine ourselves, like we heard in the sermonette. I so appreciate that, where we can take a look at our lives, take a look at our relationship with God, and see how we can reform and refine ourselves, have that relationship grow with God. Our hope is that today, through the sermon, and looking at Scripture, that it'll be effective for moving us to that end and becoming closer to God. The title of our study today, for the main message, is our great substitute. Our great substitute. The Bible says that there is a fundamental issue in our lives today. It is a fundamental issue that is irrespective of our background. It is irrespective of our status in society, irrespective of our gender or race, because it is the fundamental issue that we are all sinful. We're all sinful. There is no doubt that the Bible reveals that issue all throughout its pages, all throughout the Old and New Testament. And what we find with regards to that fact that we're all sinful is that never, never in the history of God's dealings with mankind did He ever say, that's okay, you know, your sinfulness is okay, or don't worry about it. Never, never has God ever merely excused sin or our sinfulness, never has He discounted sin. And we can ask why? Why is that? You know, many have wondered why can't God just say, don't worry about it, don't worry about your sinfulness. Why can't God just let it go? And even the question of all questions, why, why did He have to respond to mankind's sinfulness with the very life of His Son? Have you ever wondered that?

Well, let me tell you why. It is because of His righteousness. It is because of God's righteous nature that He cannot just say, well, we'll forget about your sins and your sinfulness. It's not possible for Him. Not possible due to His righteous nature. Because of His righteous nature, sin and our sinfulness must be dealt with. And that actually, that fact, we could say, as we look around society, is perhaps hard for many to understand, particularly in our culture today, and particularly in the environment in which we live. Because modern man and the modern mind, increasingly so, does not understand the righteous nature of God. Society has lost the concept of the fact that God is pure. God is holy. His way. His law is pure and holy. Society has lost the concept that God's law declares absolutely what is holy and pure, and it declares absolutely what is unholy and unpure. So, whether the individual acknowledges that fact or not, nevertheless, because sin goes against what is pure and holy, God's essence, His nature, God Himself must deal with it. And it's interesting to think about and to come to the understanding of exactly how God deals with sin. Do you know? Do you know how God ultimately deals with sin?

Write your answers on a piece of paper, and if you'll pass them to the middle... no, I'm just kidding. It's an interesting question. Well, the way He ultimately deals with it is through substitution. Substitution. If you wrote that down, give yourself an A. God designed it as such that someone other than the sinner would bear the sin. God designed it as such to where someone would substitute or bear the sin and its penalty so that the actual sinner, the actual offender, may be forgiven and released from the penalty. This is God's great substitution principle, where the sinner is forgiven and released from the condemnation because of the fact that someone else bore their sin.

Peter writes very clearly on this very thing. Let me show you this. If you'll open your Bibles, let's turn together to 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. Turn there with me. I want to begin to look at Scripture and to reveal this great principle. 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. Peter is going to now speak of Jesus, who bore the sins on our behalf.

It's absolutely fascinating to come to this revelation here. So, 1 Peter 2 verse 24. Speaking of Jesus Christ, Jesus, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Let's stop there. So, in other words, Jesus was the sin bearer. He was the substitute. The substitute provided for all of mankind.

He would die for our sin. Now, as we go through this, it might evoke different questions. And one of the questions that might arise is you might ask, well, why him? Why the one who would become Jesus Christ? Why the word? Why would he be the substitute? Well, the answer to that is it is because of the qualifications necessary for someone to be this kind of substitute sacrificial offering. And I briefly want to give you the qualifications, three of them, that will answer this question.

What are the necessary qualifications for someone to be able to be this kind of substitute sacrificial offering once and for all? There's three of them. Let me give you three to know. We're going to go through this rapid fire. First of all, the number one qualification to be the substitute is that they needed to be sinless.

That's number one qualification. They needed to be sinless. In other words, the one chosen to bear the penalty for sin must be untouched or unstained by sin. Makes sense if you think about it. In order for there to be a perfect sacrifice substitute for sin, the substitute must be untouched by it, must be unstained by it, untouched and unstained by the very thing that he is substituting for, you see.

So, needed to be sinless. Number two, number two qualification for the substitute. The substitute needed to be able and willing to take on the penalty of sin, which is death. All right, I'll repeat that. The substitute needed to be able and willing to take on the penalty for sin, which is death. In other words, they needed to confront and engage death, since penalty and triumph over it. Okay? So, second qualification, substitute needs to be able to die.

So, the substitute needed to be in the flesh. That was a necessity. And also, while in the flesh, needed to be willing to die. So, the word to become the substitute had to step into our existence. He had to come down to his and into his creation, able to die. He was able to die. He was willing, moving steadfastly toward that purpose to which he came. So, able and willing to die, to take on that penalty.

Number three. Number three, the third qualification. You may have more that you could think of later. Number three qualification, the substitute needed to have access to the power to recover life after death. All right? That's an important one. Again, thirdly, there needed to be the ability available to him to recover life after death, which Jesus Christ certainly had that power available to him through the Father. The Father would have the power to raise him after that penalty was laid upon him, so that there could be ultimate victory over sin in life once again.

So, those are three qualifications of the substitute. And if you think about it, then right away we're eliminated from the possibility. You know, no natural born son of Adam or daughter of Adam would ever meet this requirement. Right up front, we've all sinned. We've all fallen short of that glory of God. So, no natural son of Adam can meet these requirements. So then, who's going to do it? Well, only the Son of God could be the substitute.

And only the Son of Man should be the substitute. So, only the Son of God could. Only the Son of Man should. So, Jesus Christ stepped into that role as substitute. So, again, those are the three qualifications necessary for this kind of substitute sacrificial offering that we're speaking of here. And again, I'll just tell you, while some of this may seem familiar to you, this substitution concept, this notion of bearing sin, this notion of justice executed, but executed on someone innocent, it is alien to the modern mind. Absolutely alien. But nevertheless, this is the principle that God established from the very beginning. And if you know to look for it, you will see it all over the pages of the Bible, clearly introduced to us. I just want to take a look at two. I want to show you that this is the substitution principle established from the very beginning. Perhaps your mind is going, where would you go first to see this on full display? How about we go to Genesis 22, verse 6, in the story of Abraham and Isaac? Some of you were ahead of me there. Genesis 22.

And we're going to read verses 6 through 14. I'm just going to take a brief look at just two places in Scripture to establish that this principle was established from the beginning. This is the substitution story, if you will, of Abraham and Isaac.

Genesis 22. We're going to begin in verse 6 and read down through verse 14. Again, here is the one example where the substitute would bear or take the place of the one who was bound pending death. Okay, so be thinking about that. Genesis 22. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, my father. And he said, here I am, my son. And he said, look, the fire, the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham, his father, said, my son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. Verse 9. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. Abraham built an altar there, placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

But the angel of the Lord called from him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Here it is. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, offered it up for a burn offering, instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide. And as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. Let's stop there. Most certainly, the Lord will provide. And I hope you have the ability to read these well-worn stories with just fresh eyes. This is a remarkable moment. The Lord provided a substitute on this day, a substitute to take the place of the one who was bound for pending death. What do you imagine was going through Abraham's mind? If you're a father or a mother, you can certainly try to grasp this as Abraham raised that knife with full intention to to lower it into his son. But right at that moment, grace appeared. He hears the Lord's voice calling out his name. It must have been just so overwhelming. What did this scene look like, you think? Did Abraham drop the knife? And as he sees the ram, did he look down at his son? And oh, the emotion just must have overwhelmed him. Brings his son up to his chest. Immediately just wants to get the bindings off just as quick as possible. The Lord provided a substitute, a substitute to take the place of the one who was bound for pending death. Another substitution principle comes to us in Exodus 12. Again, I'm sure that's where you would have said to turn. Exodus 12 in verse 21. Let's turn there. Or if you'd like just to listen in your hearing. Exodus 12 verse 21. Here we have the story of the Passover in Egypt, where each Israelite family took a lamb, killed it, sprinkled its blood on the lentil side post. And it would be only by the lamb's blood, only in that way where they would be safe from the judgment. Here, the judgment of death. Look at this. Exodus 12. Let's read verses 21 through 23 here.

See if you can pick up on the substitution principle here. Exodus 12 verse 21 through 23. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, pick out and take lambs for yourself according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in blood that is in the basin, and strike the lentil and the two posts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning, and the Lord will pass through and strike the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood on the lentil and on the two door posts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. Stop there. So only in this way did they escape the death of their firstborn. Only in this way. There was no other way in which the death of the firstborn Israelites could be addressed on that day, except with the sacrifice and the blood of the lamb on that day, that lamb served as the substitute for the firstborn. And so then moving forward in the pages of history, there's John the Baptist, looks down the path, there comes Jesus Christ. And what does he say? Behold, behold, the lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world, who comes to take away the sin. That's John 1 29 for your notes. John 1 29. So suddenly Jesus Christ walks across this stage in human history as our ultimate substitute. Not just for one boy Isaac, not for many firstborn sons and of the Israelites. He came to bear the sin for all. He came as the substitute for all of mankind.

So then when coming to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we see that sin is ultimately dealt with in this way. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. I just want you to start picking up where we see this principle all throughout Scripture. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. Here is the fascinating passage of which Paul writes. We heard similar words to this from Peter earlier. Now here's Paul. He reveals this very thing. How is sin ultimately dealt with? Well, we find that Paul reveals this incredible truth here. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. Just one verse. For he, the Father, made him the Son who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. In other words, Jesus Christ not only came in the flesh, but he also was made sin, our sin sacrifice. This is what we want to really grapple with today, this whole matter. What actually occurred there when Jesus Christ was hanging and nailed to that stake? Because in that sacrifice scene, we're confronted with a fundamental question regarding this substitute principle. There should be a fundamental question that emerges from you when you think about this substitute principle, and it's a big one. It's a big one. The fundamental question that we're confronted with is this. Why? Why? Why should such a cruel punishment be carried out upon a person who did nothing to deserve it? Why a sacrificed Christ? Have you ever thought about that? Why did someone who lived so powerfully, so lovingly, so perfectly, why should he have to die?

If you've never asked that, if you've never grappled with that question, I want to tell you that all true followers of Jesus Christ must face that question. Because until we understand what it truly means to look upon a lifeless Christ, we will never truly embrace our need of it. That's where all this is leading. We want to embrace our need of it. This is what should be convicting us today. Until we understand all the wonder it is that occurred there when he was nailed there, we'll never truly bow down to the gravity of its meaning. What actually happened at that moment at Jesus Christ's sacrifice? What happened when Jesus Christ cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

It is right at that moment that he took your sin. He took my sin. He took your guilt, took my guilt, paid the penalty for us by his death just before that spiritual knife was lowered into us, just before that destroyer entered into our house. He stepped in, took that condemnation upon ourselves. He was our great sin substitute on that day. How could man and God the Father ever hope to be together? If God is pure and holy and mankind is sinful, how could reconciliation ever happen? It can't. Reconciliation cannot happen unless, unless, unless the Father would send his Son as the great substitute, someone to bear it all, making it possible for mankind to experience the wonder of what it is to be in God's presence, and not only his presence, but to be in the relationship with him.

What could motivate such an act as this?

What could motivate such an act? Turn with me to 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10. 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10. What could ever motivate God the Father and Jesus Christ to do this?

What has the power? What has the strength to motivate an act like this?

It's the most powerful motivator on earth and in heaven. 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10. John explains, in this the love of God was manifested toward us.

Love. Love's the great motivator. We heard that in the sermonette. 2 John 4, verses 9 and 10. That God has sent his only begotten Son into the world. Why? That we might live through him.

In this is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So stop there. He did this. He loves us and he wants us to live.

He loves us and wants us to live. Live forever. Join his family with his Father. You know, propitiation there. That's the act of making peace. That's the act which brings two people together. Going down to verse 14, staying here in chapter 4, verse 14. And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. This act that Jesus Christ, he was up there on the stake. This act would bear the sin so he could save the world. Save the world. He loves the world. He loves you. He wants you to live.

And it's only with this understanding that there will then be an incredible dimension added to our lives. A deep dimension. Especially since we'll be gathering around the Passover Table. Those of you who are baptized, we will take in the symbols of the spilled blood and the broken body.

Those of you not baptized, I hope this hits you deep, what we're speaking about today. And those of you who are baptized, I hope it hits you deeper. As a follower of Jesus Christ who truly understands what occurred there, then we're just speechless. We're again, we're lost in the wonder of what it is. This kind of love. We can't even truly grasp it. You know, Christ there was fulfilling that which went back to the eternal councils before the foundation of the world. When God and the Word, when the Father and the Son entered into a covenant with one another. You know, I wonder how long it was before the Word, the one who became Jesus Christ, before He said, I'll do it. I'll do it. I can't grasp it. And it was determined that substitution would be the answer for my sinful heart. Mankind found themselves in a position that would make reconciliation impossible, and Jesus Christ would now make that possible so that you and I would have life eternal available to us. You see, your and my opportunity to salvation was at great cost. Great cost. The message of the substitution is clear. His sacrifice establishes the gravity of sin. Sin is terrible. Sin is awful. Sometimes I just want to say that aloud sometimes so I can hear it, because my sinful heart needs to hear it sometimes.

And that truth is most clearly seen in that it took the life of God's Son to deal with it. The non-transgressor became numbered with the transgressors. And what crime did Jesus Christ commit? None. Again, I've never understood the awfulness of sin until we look upon the sacrifice. And understand that an innocent man died. He became nothing, poured out to death. Why? Why? To answer the gravity of my sin. So this is convicting. Every one of my unpure thoughts, every one of my unpure motivations, every one of my unpure actions, it's in the shadow of this. You know, if someone ever asked you why you do what you do, I hope you have the answer for it.

You know, why do you adhere yourself to the instructions of the Bible? Why are we here on a Saturday? If someone ever questions you about that, I hope you have the answer. And I'll tell you what it is. It's one word. Love. Love. We are responding to love. That's what we're doing. We receive this love. And so we look at this book and we begin to look and see what the, how can I love them back? I want to show my father, I want to show my substitute, my older brother, how much I love them. And we look and we see. He says, this is how you love me.

That's why we do it. We're just responding to love. It's the great motivator. It's what motivated the father and the son to even begin this plan of increasing their family. It's our motivation. And so if you haven't gotten it already, I just want to make something very clear with regards to the substitution process. And it is that the sin is not simply dismissed.

The sin of the sinner is not merely excused. We want to get this. In fact, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5 and verses 18 and 19, if you will. I want to show you this. This is a key understanding here.

2 Corinthians 5 verse 18 and 19. God has reconciled man back to him through Jesus Christ, but it wasn't by merely dismissing or discounting sin. And it's quite the contrary. Notice this carefully, these words. See if you pick up on this. 2 Corinthians 5. Let's read verses 18 and 19. Now, all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed us to the word of reconciliation. Let's stop there. Did you pick up on it? This is an amazing statement which Paul gives here. God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, not counting, not imputing men's sin against them. Okay? Now, I want you to notice something. It does not say that he wasn't counting man's sin, or that he wasn't imputing man's sin, just in a generic sense. Not at all. On the contrary, men's sin would have to be dealt with and at the highest of cost, the life of his son. So rather than imputing their sins to them, he is now imputing their sins onto his son. The cost? You better believe there was a cost. The cost of the very life of his son. So we're not speaking truth when we say that God just let you off. You know, your sinfulness is not that big of a deal. I don't want the sinner to feel bad. You know, it really doesn't matter. God's not counting your sins. Oh, yes, he is. He's absolutely counting your sins. In fact, he's either counting them against you or he's counting it against his son. But make no doubt, they're being counted for. We should build a weight of this, the significance of the great substitute Jesus Christ, laying down his life for you. And it would have been bad enough if he was subjected to some cruel beating of some sort. But in fact, he was subjected to the most horrible punishment that man has ever created. Appalling. It's absolutely appalling.

This is Jesus Christ. This is the one who welcomed children to himself. This is the one who just healed and healed and healed and healed.

This is the one who was concerned whether the crowd had been fed or not. This is the one who took this broken lady at the well that everyone else had dismissed, restored her.

Jesus Christ did not deserve to die. It's just not right. And so I don't even know if I truly understand what it means that Jesus died for me. I don't know if I truly grasp this. Think of who is this substitute that we're speaking about today. Who is this? This is the Son of God. This is the one who didn't consider it robbery to consider himself equal with the Father. This is the same one then who in the garden fell to the ground and sweat great droplets like blood and in his humanity he asked if possible, Abba, Father, if possible, could you remove this cup from me?

I put it to you. This is unbelievable. It's overwhelming. This notion. The Father who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. The Father did that and the Son fulfilled.

Jesus is our high priest. What kind of priest is this? What kind of priest is this that the priest becomes the sacrifice? Priests make sacrifices. The priest isn't the sacrifice. The priest isn't the sacrifice. What is this? How do we explain this?

He became our rebellion, if you like. He became our line. He took on our adultery, our filth, our ugliness. None of that was his. Stepping in as our substitute to give us life. It's unbelievable. I hope this stirs you today. When I look at this, I just think, man, I want to honor this. I just want to honor it with how I live.

I hope you believe these things and I hope that belief transforms you today in a very tangible way. How are you going to respond to this? What parts of your life do you need to change in order to better honor our great substitute? I just want to say one brief word regarding our response to all of this. What is our response to this, an innocent man, dying on our behalf? What's your response? I think verses 20 and 21 give us a good start here, a good beginning, staying here in 2 Corinthians 5. Look at verse 20 and 21.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. Yes, we implore you on Christ's behalf. Here's a response. Be reconciled to God, for He made Him who knew no sin to be sent for us, that we might become, here's a response, the righteousness of God in Him. Stop there. So what's your response? Well, be reconciled and be righteous. It's a good place to start. Be reconciled, be righteous. Do you have a reconciled relationship with God today? I mean a reconciled relationship where there's no fragmentation, there's no breakdowns, there's no distance? How can you better reconcile, be reconciled to the Father today? Think about that. Ponder on that. Meditate here before the upcoming Passover.

In what ways can I remove that distance that I feel sometimes?

Be reconciled and be righteous. And be righteous.

Be righteous.

Is there tangible spiritual growth in your life that you can actually see? It doesn't matter if others can see it, that you can see. Are you making progress in putting sin out? We all have sin that's just had a grip on us since maybe created or put there that weakness since a very early age. Dig into it. Make growth in that area.

Be compelled by this. Be compelled to live righteous and allow his love to compel your response. Love is the great motivator. I've got to tell you, some of the sin that's had its tightest grip on me, the way I've had some success, is I just began to think about how all the different ways that God has loved me and brought me through so much and just really ponder about that. And it just filled myself up with that love, those thoughts, those memories. And it's a great motivator. It's a great strengthening. Start with that practice and you'll see that grip, some of that sin just begin to loosen. Let love compel you to righteousness. Let's make progress this year, this year more than ever, for reconciliation, for righteousness. And may we just bow our heads tonight to our Father who did not spare his Son. Let's bow our heads and pray and just bask in the love and just thank God, truly thank God for the gift of our great substitute.