For He made Him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us,
that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
II Corinthians 5:22
We’re focusing on three words as we meditate on the Cross:
- Intersection
- Substitution
- Completion
Let’s look this week at substitution. Merriam-Webster.com defines substitute:
a person or thing that takes the place of someone or something else.
You and I are that someone else. We deserve the death penalty, but Jesus became our substitute.
One of my college professors described it this way:
God can, but should not.
Man should, but cannot.
Thus – the need for the God-Man –Jesus Christ.
Jesus took our rap. We deserve death the death penalty, but Jesus stepped up.
He takes our punishment. We get His righteousness.
He takes our sin. We get eternal life.
What a trade!
When you trade with God, you always trade up – you always get better than what you give!
It’s illogical. Unfathomable. And overwhelmingly wonderful.
Have you thanked Jesus this week…this month…this year…for becoming sin for you?
When Jesus uttered these heart-wrenching words in Mark 15:34:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
He is not calling out only because of the horrific physical pain. His cry, I believe, is a wail of sorrow resulting from the separation from His Father. God is Holy and He is perfect. He can tolerate no sin in his presence.
The sins of the world were heaped on Jesus. Sins of pride, murder, rape, incest, lying, adultery–and, yes, sins of gossip and laziness and coveting and selfishness. All these despicable acts condemned by the Word of God were all loaded up on Jesus. That meant that, for the very first time, Jesus was separated from His father. As God’s presence abandoned Him, He cried out
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Our sin – yours and mine – was the cause of that separation.
He became our substitute. He took our place. He became sin. We deserve to be separated. We deserve to be abandoned.
No one loves us like Jesus. No one else qualifies to be our substitute, to render our spiritual tab, “Paid in Full.”
Are you grateful? Have you told Him you are grateful? Are you aware of the gravity, the seriousness, and the penalty of your sin? Only an awareness of our sin leads us to acknowledge our need for a Savior, a Substitute.
The woman of God is grateful for the cross, the place of substitution.
The audio teaching lecture for this message can be found here: http://fbcsiloam.podbean.com/e/ladies-bible-study-mark-lesson-29-laura-macfarlan-%E2%80%94-5-1-14/
{Photo attribution: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/wooden-cross-jerry-bunger.html}
