This morning for our Bible study,
I would invite you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 at verse 21. Let's read this verse together. For God had made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Now this verse presents to us
a very foundational Bible truth, and that truth is substitution. Substitution, and that's what
we want to talk about this morning. Christ, the sinner's substitute. Now everyone knows what a substitute
is. A substitute is one who stands
in the place of another. I'll give you some examples.
Your child sometimes would have a substitute teacher, a teacher
who stands in the place of a regular teacher. The ball team uses a
substitute player, a player who fills the place of another player
who is taken out of the game. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sinner's
substitute, very vital, very necessary. The Lord Jesus Christ
stands in the place of God's elect as a designated substitute. Everywhere in the scriptures,
the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth as
the work of a substitute. Substitution is a great foundational
truth and the great foundational doctrine of the Bible and a very
vital issue for you to consider. Now, I want you to think with
me this morning. Substitution. Christ the substitute. We have, all through scriptures,
many, many places that teach, teaches this fact, but here's
one scripture in particular found in Isaiah 53. Substitution. Surely he hath borne our griefs,
as our substitute, carried our sorrows, as our substitute. Yet we did esteem him, stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression.
See, that's teaching substitution. He was bruised for our iniquities.
Again, substitution. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. Again we see the truth of substitution. The man who understands the gospel,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine of substitution,
understands the message of the whole Bible. The man who has
no clear knowledge of this fact of substitution is ignorant of
the message of the Bible, ignorant of the message of the gospel.
Now let's think about this matter of substitution this morning.
This is the gospel doctrine of substitution. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, stood in the place of the sinner, so
that all who trust in him might stand accepted before God, justified
in Christ. Since I do fully trust my soul
upon the merits of Christ and Him alone, resting upon His obedience
for my righteousness, His obedience is my righteousness and his blood
atonement is my sacrifice to put away my sin. Resting upon
Christ my substitute, I have a good hope through grace resting
in Christ. Now let me give you briefly five
things that we find the scriptures teach about Christ the substitute. Here's the first one. You can
write these down if you want to or you can call or write and
ask for this take. Very vital. Now consider these
things with me. Here's the first one. The Lord
Jesus Christ stood as my substitute from all eternity. That is, eternity
past. He was made the surety of God's
elect in that everlasting covenant. We read in Hebrews 7, 22, by
so much with Jesus made a surety of a better covenant. Before
I'd ever sinned, Christ stood as my surety. Before I'd ever
sinned, He stood as my Redeemer and Savior. Before I'd ever broke
God's law, He stood as my righteousness from all eternity. God the Father
gave my soul, along with the host of all of God's elect, into
the hand of Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ, as a surety, stood
as a guarantee of my salvation. Now, the Lord mentions this all
through the gospels, but here's one particular verse in John
6, 37. He said, All that the Father
hath given to me, they shall come to me, and those that come
to me I will in no wise cast out. God the Father gave all
the elect to the hand of the surety, the Lord Jesus Christ,
before the foundation of the world. That's the truth of eternal
election, Christ standing as my substitute. Now listen to
the Apostle Paul. In 2 Timothy 1.9, it's God who
saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, now listen
carefully, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. So every believing sinner can
say that Christ stood as my substitute from all eternity. Secondly,
Christ stood in my place as my substitute, as my federal head
and representative while he lived in this world. Now this is the
reason he came. He came to fulfill all scriptures
as my substitute. He came to satisfy the law of
God as my substitute. The sinless life of Christ was
as necessary for my redemption as his death. In his life, the
Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the holy law of God. He said that
in Matthew 5, 17. I didn't come to destroy the
law. I came to honor it. By honoring that law as my substitute,
he established perfect righteousness for every believing sinner. Without
that righteousness, I could never be justified before God. Matter of fact, his obedience
and his very life of righteousness is my basis of justification
before God. We have a righteousness given
of God, imputed by grace, whereby we stand justified before God. No longer going about to establish
a righteousness, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. That's why we read in scripture
he's called the Lord our righteousness. He's made unto us Righteousness,
and this righteousness we have is His obedience, and it's imputed
by grace, and it's an eternal righteousness. Christ is my substitute. He lived in this world working
out perfect righteousness through His obedience. The Son of God
stood in my place as my substitute at Calvary. Not only is his life
a substitutionary life, but his death is a substitutionary death.
He died under the penalty of God's law, bearing my sin. Now,
we read this in 1 Peter 3, 18. We read that Christ suffered
once the just for the unjust. He suffered once for sin, the
just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God. You
see, he's dying as my substitute, bearing my sin, bearing my guilt. Our verse this morning, 2 Corinthians
5, 21, says that God made him to be sin for us. All the sin
of God's elect were imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. laid on
him, and he dies under the wrath of God as my substitute, bearing
my sin and his own body on the tree. He died in my place and
in my room and in my stead, so that I would never die and never
suffer the condemnation and justice of God against my sin. You see,
God punished my sin in my substitute. God satisfied his law and his
justice for me and for all who believe Christ as our substitute. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. There's substitution
again. You see how vital this is to
the salvation of our soul? Christ the substitute. Here's
the fourth fact. what the Bible teaches about
Christ the substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous,
stands in my place today as my advocate and my substitute before
God. We read in Hebrews 1, verse 3,
when he had by himself purged our sin, he sat down at the right
hand of God, and he sits there, my friend, as my advocate, as
my substitute, as my intercessor before God. Now John put it this
way in 1 John 2, my little children, these things I write unto you,
that you sin not, but when you do, when you sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, he is my
propitiation. And that word simply means he's
my sacrifice, he's my substitute. His precious blood sacrifice
secures my presence before God. He ever lives, we read in Hebrews
7, 25. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make
intercession for us. You see, He's my advocate. He's
my propitiation. He's my mediator right now. He's
my ever-living intercessor between God and me. There's one God,
one mediator between God and man. That is the man, Christ
Jesus. You see, he's my substitute,
not only in eternity, not only in this life, not only at Calvary,
but when he ascended to heaven, seated at the right hand of God,
satisfying all of God's law and justice for me, now he ever lives. as my substitute to represent
me before God's throne of grace. Lastly is this, the Lord Jesus
Christ himself shall stand in my place as my substitute before
God in judgment. When God examines me, he will
find no spot or blemish in me. and every believer because his
own son, the Lord Jesus Christ, performed in my place as my substitute
perfect obedience, perfect righteousness, perfect atonement for sin. We
read this glorious promise in Jude chapter 1 verse 24. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Trusting Christ as my substitute,
I fully expect to hear him say, well done, thou good and faithful
servant, enter into the joy of the Lord. You see, my friend,
there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He took
my judgment at Calvary, and therefore I have no judgment to face. Judgment
is over. My sin was judged as my substitute,
and he justified me before God. Now, here's my question to you
this morning to consider carefully. Carefully consider this. Do you
have a substitute? You say, well, I have religion.
That's not what I'm asking you. I'm asking you, do you have a
substitute appointed of God? Do you have a substitute? I hear
a lot of people say, well, I've joined the church. That's not
what I'm asking you. I'm asking you, do you have a
substitute? Is the Lord Jesus Christ your only hope of acceptance
before God? Is he your substitute that's
appointed, anointed, and approved of God? God made him to be sin
for us, substitution, who knew no sin, spotless Lamb of God,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's Christ,
my substitute.