"Our Substitute"

Victory Can Be Yours!

Article #14 – Our Substitute

            In the beginning, God created the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all that is in them.  He then created man, Adam, in God’s own image and He said “it was very good”.  Then, Adam disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  That original sin of disobedience created a separation between God and man.  Man was left with no way back to God.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)  However, God promised in Genesis chapter 3, that someone was coming that would defeat Satan and death, and give man the opportunity to be reconciled to God.

            “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end’”. (Luke 1:30-33)  He has come to bruise the head of Satan, to destroy him and to defeat death.  The angel of the Lord announced to the shepherds, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”. (Luke 2:10, 11)  The someone whom God promised in Genesis chapter three, some six thousand years earlier, has come.  This is the reason for the celebration over Christmas and should be celebrated every day.  This should be a message of peace and joy and blessings to all at all times of the year.  We should all be jumping for joy that God the Father in Heaven has given us a way or a path back to Him, to fellowship, love, peace, and joy in His eternal presence one day in the future.

            Why did Jesus come?  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)  Because of the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden, all mankind since then has been born into sin, separated from God.  The penalty for that is eternal condemnation, separation from God.  But, God gave us the perfect gift, the only one that really counts, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16, 17)  Jesus came to give Himself as a substitutionary death to pay the price we owed.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)  What a simple plan of salvation but it was not without a terrible price, humiliation, torture, and death on the cross for you and me.

            You, too, can have victory in Jesus!  More to follow.

Lowell Parrish