2 Corinthians 5:16–21 ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ (v21)
The meaning of words can change over time. What something meant in one generation, may not always be obvious in another. Today, when we think of the word ‘substitute’, our immediate thoughts may turn to sport, where a like-for-like replacement is tactically brought into play as the team manager seeks victory.
However, in the Bible, substitute is one metaphor that is given to speak of Christ’s atoning work on the cross for us. Verse 21 of 2 Corinthians 5 tells us, ‘God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’
In our hopeless state, staring sin and death in the face, the perfect, sinless Son of God, Jesus, became our substitute, and in our place died on the cross, defeating sin. Yet it did not stop there: three days later Jesus was raised to life, defeating death itself, snatching victory out of defeat (1 Cor. 15:3–4).
The apostle Paul, in unfettered celebration of this, could write, ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 15:55–57).
As those who have trusted Christ, who lean on and put our hope in the finished work of our glorious substitute, Jesus, we too can celebrate and sing the words of the hymn:
Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood, Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, thank You for taking my place, for taking the punishment that my sin and
rebellion deserved. Help me to serve You with unfettered joy. Amen.’
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
Think about the spaces and places we find ourselves in every day.
How might we point people to the One who has defeated sin and death?
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Gen. 22:1–19; Isa. 53:1–12; 1 Cor. 15:1–58; Heb. 9:1–14
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