A Glorious Substitution

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. Galatians 3:13.
It is the province of the law to condemn, but there is in it no power to pardon or to redeem.
Without Christ the law of itself was only condemnation and death to the transgressor. It has no saving quality—no power to shield the transgressor from its penalty….
The transgression of God’s law made the death of Christ essential to save man and yet maintain the dignity and honor of the law. Christ took upon Himself the condemnation of sin. He opened His bosom to the woes of man. He who knew no sin became sin for us.
As man’s substitute and surety, the iniquity of men was laid upon Christ; He was counted a transgressor that He might redeem them from the curse of the law…. He, the Sin-Bearer, endures judicial punishment for iniquity and becomes sin itself for man.
Sin, so hateful to His sight, was heaped upon Him till He groaned beneath its weight. The despairing agony of the Son of God was so much greater than His physical pain, that the latter was hardly felt by Him.
God permits His Son to be delivered up for our offenses. He Himself assumes toward the Sin-Bearer the character of a judge, divesting Himself of the endearing qualities of a father.
Herein His love commends itself in the most marvelous manner to the rebellious race.
The sin of the whole world was laid upon Jesus, and divinity gave its highest value to the suffering of humanity in Jesus, that the whole world might be pardoned through faith in the Substitute. The most guilty need have no fear that God will not pardon, for because of the efficacy of the divine sacrifice the penalty of the law will be remitted. Through Christ the sinner may return to allegiance to God.
The Faith I Live By p. 104
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Prayer Requests
—-Mark. He has to go for chemo next week. He had a tumor removed from his brain on Jan 20th. Pray for healing and his family that God continues to pour out His Spirit and healing upon them. Matthew
—- Prayer request for Yolanda who is battling colon cancer. Jenny
—- My stepson’s girlfriend, Kelly, died suddenly today. She was only 31 years old. It has come as such a shock to the family. And he and her mom are taking it extremely hard. My heart aches for them. Please keep them in your prayers — for comfort, and hope beyond this world. Kathy
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, we had a van that I really liked because the seat made a bed in the back which made travelling so much easier. When it was about ten years old, we decided to have it repainted. The grey paint was gone in a few spots and rust had taken its place. There were a few dents here and there. There was a small rust hole near the tail light that caused the brake lights to blow a fuse occasionally, so something needed to be done. If we had left it alone, the van would only get rustier and rustier until it would finally be so rusted that we could not drive it. We called several body shops and decided on the cheapest price.
Ron let Eileen and I pick out the color. I knew it had to be blue, my favorite color. We looked at so many sample colors that they began to look alike. Finally, we chose a bright blue metallic paint. It was hard to be without our van for a week, but when we got it back, we knew it was worth. Instead of a dismal rust-spotted grey, it now was a beautiful blue. Even the dents were gone.
About a year after getting it repainted, we began noticing a few bubbles under the paint on the driver’s side door. It was evident that the body shop had not sanded all of the rust off from the door but had only gotten the worst of it and covered it with paint. It had looked fine for awhile, but under that beautiful blue paint the rust was growing again. It has continued spreading until there are two bubbled up places about three inches in diameter.
How often we make the same mistake in our life. We are willing to be rid of most of our sinful ways, but we fail to get rid of our “darling” sin. At first, that cherished sin does not show. We appear to be pure and clean, but over time, that pet sin grows and grows until it is evident to all.
Jesus showed the Pharisees the fallacy of allowing a little “rust” deep down inside us. ” Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matt 23:25-28
Yet, we are unable in our own strength to cleanse ourselves as Jeremiah observes, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jer 13:23 We can make an effort to clean up the outside as did the Pharisees, but soon we find that we are also as whited sepulchres. We cannot change our heart by ourselves. Praise God! Our dear Saviour can do it! He promises, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Eze 36:26,27 Only He can change us on the inside as well as on the outside. Only He can remove every trace of the “rust” of sin in our life.
Zechariah had a vision of this very thing. “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments.” Zech 3:3-5 Jesus, the True Witness, offers these change of garments to us. “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Rev 3:18 If we allow Him to do it, He will remove the filthy rags of our own unrighteousness and place upon us the pure and glistening robe of His righteousness.
Let us reach out by faith and lay hold of that spotless robe of righteousness. Let ask our loving Saviour to cleanse us from all iniquity praying as did David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” ps 51:10. Let us, this very day, allow Him to remove every speck of “rust” in our hearts and make us clean and pure and spotless is my prayer.
Rose