Topic: CHRIST OUR SUBSTITUTE – Right From The Heart Daily Devotional by Bryant Wright Ministry 20 July 2024
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CHRIST OUR SUBSTITUTE
July 20, 2024
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”
1 Peter 3:18
Asubstitute is defined as “something or someone that takes the place of another.”
Most likely, we’ve all had a substitute teacher in one of our classes. And as the definition implies, this person took the place of our regular teacher.
But how does this relate to Christianity?
Well, in today’s verse, Peter points to a doctrine that theologians call “substitutionary atonement.”
Put simply, when Christ gave his life at the cross as a sacrifice for our sins he became a substitute for us. He took our place and died the death we deserve. He paid the price that our sins deserve. “The righteous one died for the unrighteous,” as the scripture says, “that he might bring us to God.” He paid the debt that we owe and offered His perfect righteousness as a gift so that we can be brought to God on account of His suffering and His sacrifice.
Jesus became our substitute.
Listen to how Charles Spurgeon explains it:
“One thing I know: Christ thinks more of our sins than he does of our righteousness, for he gave himself for our sins. I never heard that he gave Himself for our righteousness. I do think that this is the grandest truth in heaven and earth – Jesus Christ, the just one, died for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. It is meat to my soul. I can feed on it every day, and all the day.”
– Charles Spurgeon
Our sin has created a debt that we are incapable of paying, and it deserves punishment. At the cross, God’s perfect, spotless lamb took our place and took our sin on His back so that justice could be served and sin could be paid for. He is perfectly just and the perfect justifier through the sacrifice made at the cross.
The phrase “For Christ also suffered” is an incredibly important statement in the Christian faith. Through this one statement, Peter invites us to reorient our perspective in the midst of suffering. He calls us to look to the one who truly and completely understands suffering because he also suffered. Jesus is called the “suffering servant” who willingly and intentionally stepped into suffering so that we would know we are never alone in the midst of our suffering.
Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for our sin and the only worthy substitute that could bring us to God.
He is the gift we could never afford or deserve.
Taken from a sermon by George Wright, Senior Pastor, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL
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