Daily Devotional

-November 14, 2020-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-The Substitutionary Death Of Christ For Us-

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

(1 Peter 3:18).

The mission of our Lord Jesus Christ in coming into this world was to die for us on the cross, bearing our sins, and shedding His precious blood. He died, He was buried, and He rose again. He willingly became our Substitute on the cross dying in our place.

There are four things this verse tells us about the substitutionary death of Christ: He suffered once for sins, He was the just, we the unjust, He brought us to God, and He was put to death in the flesh but raised by the power of the Holy Spirit.

• Christ suffered once for sins – In the OT, many, many animals were sacrificed for sins. The work of the high priest was never done. The reason for this is that the sacrifices offered only covered sin but did not pay it in full. They pointed forward to the coming of Christ. His sacrifice was once for all. He exclaimed from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Hebrews 10:10-12 tells us, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”

• The just for the unjust – Christ the Lamb of God was the sinless, holy, perfect Son of God. He willingly offered Himself for our sins on the cross. Hebrews 7:26 says, “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens.” We are the other hand are the unjust, sinners, defiled, separated from God, unrighteous and unholy. He took our place on the cross and bore our sins in His own body. As someone said, “He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.”

• That He might bring us to God – The Lord Jesus hung on the cross to bring us to God, to forgive us of our sins, and give us the free gift of eternal life. We now through His death are brought into the family of God and are children and sons of God. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a random for all, to be testified in due time.” The hymn writer Horacio Bonar said, “Near, so very near to God, I could not nearer be; for in the person of His Son, I am as near as He.”

• Being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit – Jesus Himself died for us on the cross. He suffered physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. No one else could have died for us but Him. God showed His satisfaction with His sacrifice by raising Him from the dead. He now sits at the right hand of God. Because He rose, we will rise with Him and be with Him forever. Our position in Christ is shown in Ephesians 2:5-6, “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Oh how blessed we are as children of God! We have a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. What a great Substitute and Savior we have. He died in our place on the cross so that we may share His place at home in the glory of heaven forever.

Have a blessed day thanking God for saving us through the sacrifice of His Son. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean