Substitution

Q: What does the Bible say about substitution in the gospel?

Substitution, as explained in 2 Corinthians 5:21, reveals that Christ took our sins upon Himself so that we could receive His righteousness. The concept of substitution is foundational to the gospel, highlighted in 2 Corinthians 5:21, which states that God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. This means that Jesus, as our substitute, bore our sins on the cross. He fulfilled the demands of God's law on our behalf, allowing us to be reconciled to God through His righteousness. This substitutionary sacrifice is reflected in various scriptural examples, such as the Passover lamb and the sacrifices of Abel, indicating that substitution is an essential element of God's plan for redemption.

Q: How do we know substitutionary atonement is true?

Substitutionary atonement is affirmed throughout Scripture, particularly in Isaiah 53 and 2 Corinthians 5:21, which underscore that Christ died in our place. The truth of substitutionary atonement is confirmed by its consistent presentation within Scripture. Isaiah 53 profoundly depicts the suffering servant, stating that He was wounded for our transgressions and that the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. This prophecy is fulfilled in the New Testament, particularly in 2 Corinthians 5:21, where it is declared that God made Christ to be sin for us, underscoring His role as our substitute. Additionally, passages like 1 Peter 3:18 reveal that Jesus suffered the just for the unjust, providing further evidence of His sacrificial role as our Redeemer. Together, these verses provide a robust foundation for understanding the truth of substitutionary atonement.

Q: Why is substitution important for Christians?

Substitution is crucial for Christians as it embodies the heart of the gospel, providing a means for our reconciliation with God through Christ's sacrifice. The importance of substitution for Christians lies in its foundational role in the gospel message. It represents the essence of God's grace—Christ's sacrifice in our place ensures that God's justice is satisfied while offering us mercy and reconciliation. As Romans 3:23 teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, it becomes evident that substitution is necessary for our salvation. Without understanding substitution, we miss the depth of our need for a Savior and the magnitude of His love and grace. Through substitution, we are not merely pardoned but are made partakers of Christ's righteousness, which transforms our relationship with God, empowers our faith, and provides assurance of our eternal security.

The title of my message today
is Substitution. That's right, just one word,
substitution. And I'll be using for my text
a scripture found in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians 5 verse
21. If you want to take your Bibles
and follow along as I preach, I'd be happy for you to do so.
2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. Now, if we would learn the gospel,
the gospel of the grace of God, we've got to learn the meaning
of the word substitution. For that's what Abel's sacrifice
is all about. Back yonder, years and years
ago, when two brothers, Cain and Abel, brought their sacrifices
before the Lord, they came, both built an altar and both came
to worship God. And Cain brought the fruit of
his own labor, the things that he had worked and provided and
offered it unto the Lord. But Abel brought a sacrifice. He brought a lamb, slew the lamb
and put the blood on the altar. And the Scripture says God had
respect to Abel's offering, but he rejected Cain's offering.
Abel brought a substitute. He brought one in his place. Another died and shed its blood
in his place." That's substitution. Is this not what God taught Abraham
when he went up to the top of Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac? And God had told him to take
his son, his only son, to Mount Moriah and to sacrifice him there
as an offering to God. He bound Isaac and put him on
the altar. and would have slain his son.
He raised the knife and God said, touch not the lad. And Abraham
looked over and caught by his horn in the bushes was a ram. And God told him to take the
ram and put it on the altar in the place of his son. So he substituted
the ram for Isaac. The ram died and Isaac lived.
Is this not what the Passover is all about down in the land
of Egypt. When God would deliver Israel out of Egypt, He told
them to take a lamb without spot or blemish, the first thing of
the flock, and slay that lamb and roast it with fire and put
its blood on the doorpost and on the lintel. And He said, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. In other words, the lamb
died and the firstborn son lived. The lamb was the substitute.
Is this not what Isaiah is saying in Isaiah 53 verse 4 through
6? He said, he wrote this, he was
wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and by his stripes we're healed. That's substitution. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid
on him, on Christ, the iniquity of us all. Is this not what Peter
writes in 1 Peter 3.18? For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.
Christ suffered the just for or in the stead of, in the place
of, as the substitute of the unjust that he might bring us
to God. In other words, all that God commands and all that the
law requires of us and all that justice demands of us was met
and fulfilled by our Redeemer that He might bring us to God.
That's the reason I say if one would learn the gospel, he must
learn the meaning of substitution. If one would faithfully preach
the gospel, then he must preach substitution. Now, there's a
single verse of Scripture. I announced it to you a few moments
ago. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. There's a single verse of Scripture. And I do not believe there's
another verse in the Bible that's clearer, clearer on this matter
of substitution than 2 Corinthians 5, 21. And if you can get a hold
of this verse, and you know, I told someone recently, It's
not how much Bible you read and how much Scriptures you read.
It's how much Scriptures you read and understand and lay hold
of it in your heart. You can read three or four chapters
and not understand it and not experience it and not enter into
what it's saying. It does no good. But if you get
hold of one verse of Scripture, this is God's Word, and get hold
of one verse of scripture and really enter into it and lay
hold of it and experience what that one verse is saying, it'd
be so worthwhile. And so this one verse, this one
verse of scripture, if you can learn in your heart the meaning
of this one verse of scripture, you'll learn the gospel, the
gospel of God's grace, the gospel of God's glory, the gospel of
His mercy. Listen to what it says. II Corinthians
5.21, "'For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'"
Did you hear that? "'For he hath made him to be
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Now, I hope to deal with two things primarily, and may get
to the third, but certainly these two. Number one, the truth of
substitution found in this verse of scripture, the truth of substitution. And then we're going to look
at the purpose of it, purpose of substitution. And then if
we have time, the joy. of substitution. But here's the
truth of it. Listen to the verse again. For
He, that is the Father, the Heavenly Father, Almighty God of heaven
and earth, He, hath made Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man,
to be seen for us, Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free,
you and me. Here we have three persons Note
carefully three persons, He, Him, and Us. He hath made Him
to be sin for us. He knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now let's take these
three words, these three persons, He, Him, Us, and see what it's
saying. Take He. He hath made Him to
be sin for us. Now I don't claim to be able
to comprehend Almighty God. I can't tell you all about God.
I don't know all about God. I don't understand all about
God. Paul said, Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom
and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his ways and
past finding out who hath known the mind of the Lord. And I say,
I don't claim to be able to explain God or comprehend God understand
Almighty God, but I do know from the Word of God a few things
about He, the Heavenly Father. First of all, I know this, He's
absolutely sovereign, Almighty, omnipotent is the word. God rules
over all. Someone said to David, where's
your God? He said, our God's in the heavens. What's He like? He hath done whatsoever He pleased.
in the armies of heaven, among the inhabitants of this earth,
in heaven, earth, and under the earth. He's absolutely, indisputably,
unchangeably, infinitely sovereign. God reigns and rules over even
the minutest thing, even the hairs of your head are numbered.
Our Lord said, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your
father. Then another thing I know about God, He's holy, infinitely
holy. The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Bible is his holy word. The angels are his holy angels.
The place where he dwells is the holy of holies. When the
priest comes before him, he comes with written across his miter,
holiness to the Lord. God is holy. And then I know
this, God is just. God is just. He will punish sin. The judge of the earth will do
right. God will do right. He's just and holy and righteous. And I know this, He's love. God
is love. The scripture tells me that.
He's rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us. He
delights to show mercy. He's plenteous in mercy. There's
plenteous redemption with Him. And He's gracious. Now, did you
hear that? God is gracious. Now, it is when you learn the
gospel of substitution that you learn how God can manifest all
of these attributes, His sovereignty, His holiness, His justice, His
righteousness, His love, and His grace. How can God be just
and at the same time show love? How can He punish sin and forgive
the sinner? How can God be righteous unchangeably
holy and righteous, and yet at the same time show mercy to the
guilty." Well, when you discover that, you discover the gospel. That's what we're saying, He.
God doesn't change His character to save our souls. God doesn't
change His character to redeem us from sin. He, Almighty God. All right, what's the second
person? He hath made Him. Now, who is this, this him? Well,
it's the Son of God, the second person of the blessed Trinity.
What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Who is Jesus
of Nazareth? Well, he's the Son of God. I
don't understand the Trinity, do you? But I do know that when
God spake at the beginning of creation, he said, let us make
man. When he spoke to Isaiah one time,
he said, who will go Whom shall we send? Who will go for us?
When the Lord Jesus came into the world, the Father said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And our Lord Jesus
said one time, I'll pray the Father, and He'll send you the
Holy Spirit, the Comforter. And John wrote, There are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost. I just know this, that Jesus Christ is God. The Scripture
says, Under us a child is born, under us a son is given. And
the government shall be on his shoulders, and thou shalt call
his name Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. And then it said, Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Emmanuel, God with us. This Jesus is God. He made all things. God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. He's the image
of God. He's equal with God. He said,
I and my Father are one. And also the Father spoke to
the Son and said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. He hath made
Him the Son of God. But He's not only the Son of
God, He's the Son of Man. The angel said to Joseph, When
Mary was with child, the angel said to Joseph, don't be afraid
to take Mary to be your wife. For that holy thing conceived
in her is the son of God. And she shall bring forth a son. You call his name Jesus. For
he shall save his people from their sins. That's right. In
the fullness of time, God sent forth his son made of a woman,
a man, the son of man. made under the law to redeem
them born under the law. He's called in the scripture
the second Adam, the second man. It is said he's bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. It is said he is made like unto
his brethren. He hath made him son of God,
son of man, perfect God-man, but he is also the perfect man. He knew no sin. You see, he hath
made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. He did no sin. He committed no sin. He wasn't
acquainted with sin. He saw sin in others, but He
Himself knew no sin. Now, that's hard to even imagine,
isn't it? A man, a human being, walking on this earth in flesh
and blood and bones, who never thought anything wrong or said
anything wrong or imagined anything wrong dreamed anything wrong
or did anything wrong. Perfect. So perfect, the Heavenly
Father said, I'm well pleased. Perfect righteousness. He knew
no sin. And this Jesus, Son of God, Son
of Man, perfect man, is our high priest and sacrifice. He is our
mercy seat and atonement. God set him forward to be a mercy
seat. By his death, he justified us. By his life, He gave us a righteousness. Oh, He goes by many names. He's
called the Messiah. He's called the Christ. He's
called the Mediator. He's called My Servant, Mine
Elect. He's called Prophet, Priest,
and King. He's called the Lord. He's called the Lamb. He's called
the Lion of Judah. He's called Shallow. He's called
that Righteous Branch. But He, the Father, hath made
Him, that wonderful person, That unique individual, that God-man
who came into this world, died on the cross, was buried and
rose again, God hath made him to be seen for us, a substitute,
a mercy seed, a savior, a reconciler. Now here's the third person for
us. The third person is us, sinners. I don't know why it is. I don't
know why it is. that it's so difficult for people
to admit that they're sinners. Can you tell me why? Why is it
so difficult for people to admit they're sinners? God says you're
a sinner. God says I'm a sinner. He said
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God says
there's none good, no, not one. There's none righteous. There's
none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of the way.
They all together become unprofitable. God said He looked down from
heaven to see if there's any that did do good and sin not. And He said every imagination
of man's heart is evil continually. We've all sinned. The Bible declares
we're sinners. He said the Word of God says
if any man say he hath no sin, he's a liar. And that makes him
a sinner. Our conscience tells us that we're sinners. Does your
conscience tell you you're a sinner? I've had people tell me who have
been members of what we call holiness churches, where they
say they live without sin and live above sin and sinful nature
has been eradicated. And everyone I've ever talked
to said they really didn't believe it, that they knew in their hearts
that they were sinners, that their conscience troubled them
and disturbed them. And they just never did tell
anybody, but they knew they were sinners. You know, Isaiah said
that, the prophet of God, he said, I'm a man of unclean lips.
I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. David said,
King David, man after God's own heart, he said, my sins are ever
before me. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners.
Oh, wretched man that I am, the publican cried, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. I was preaching on this subject
one time several years ago, and it was the young man down in
the state of Virginia. And he turned the television
on, and one of the first things he heard me say, I said, you're
a sinner and I'm a sinner. That's one thing we have in common.
I'm a sinner and you're a sinner. And he went over and turned the
television off. He said, I'm not a sinner. And he went on
and sat down in his chair. He sat there and got to thinking
about what he just said. I'm not a sinner. He knew better
and you know better. And he got up and walked back
over to the TV and turned it on and said, well, maybe I'm
a sinner. And he sat and listened to me
preach the gospel to him. He learned the gospel and God
saved him. I tell you, Christ is the friend of sinners. He
came into the world to save sinners. It's not your sins that'll keep
you from mercy. It's your righteousness. It's
not your sins that'll keep you from God. It's your righteousness.
Christ said, I didn't come to call the righteous. I came to
call sinners to repentance. He died for sinners. He gave
His life for sinners. He, the Father, hath made Him
the Son to be sin for us. He didn't know any sin. He didn't
have any sin. Therefore, He could be a righteous
substitute for you and me. Now here, that's the truth of
substitution. Got it? He made Him our substitute
to be sin for us, that we might... Now here, here's the purpose
of it. In order that, read that verse, we might be made in him,
through him, because of him, the righteousness of God in him. Now the book of Job continuously
asks this question, continually, how can man be righteous with
God? How can man be just with God? How can he be clean that's
born of a woman? David once asked this question,
who can stand in God's presence? Who can ascend into his holy
hill? He that hath clean hands, A pure
heart who's never lifted up his soul to vanity, who's never sworn
deceitfully, and that's not you, and that's not me, and that's
not any son of Adam. But that's Christ. He had clean
hands. He did no sin. He had a pure
heart. He knew no sin. He never swore
deceitfully, lifted up his hands in deceit, never sin. That's what He came to do, to
do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. To do for us what
the law demanded, what God commanded, what the law expected, what justice
demanded. He came, that was the purpose
of His life and the purpose of His death, to satisfy God's law
and God's justice and God's righteousness and God's holiness in our place
and in our stead. He, God the Father, made Him
the Son to be seen to be a substitute, to be a sin offering, to be a
sacrifice, to be a representative, to be a surety for us in our
place, in our stead, everything God required, everything God
demanded, He had to meet, He had to fulfill, He had to complete. And He did just that for us in
our place, in our stead, in order that we might be made in Him,
the righteousness of God. Now, my friend, that's substitution.
And the next word is satisfaction. What Christ came to do, He did.
What He came to accomplish, He accomplished. That's what He
prayed in John 17 when He was praying that high priestly prayer.
He said, Father, I finished the work You gave me to do. I finished
it. You gave me a work to do and
I finished it. What work did He give Him to
do? to make us the righteousness of God in Him, to be an effectual
substitute. I finished what you gave me to
do. Now glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. You
see, Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1, of Him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus by His grace, by His mercy, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Christ has made all those things to us. Now, here's my last point.
The joy of that substitution. Have you got that place in Scripture
open? 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Well, look back just above
that in verse 18. 2 Corinthians 5, 18. And all things are of God. Everything
is of God. God worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us." Us? There's the us. You remember
the three persons? He made Him, Christ, to be sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. All right. All
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself. Reconciled? We were enemies. But He's reconciled us. We were
strangers and foreigners and aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, but God hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ. That's how he did it. By Christ's
effectual work, by Christ's obedience, by Christ's blood, God has reconciled
us unto himself. And he hath given to us this
ministry. That's what I'm talking about.
The ministry. That's what I'm in. The ministry.
That's what I'm doing. Ministry. And this is a ministry
of reconciliation. Now look at the next verse. To
wit. See those two little words, to
wit, there in your Bible? That means namely. Namely. That God was in Christ. That
God was in Christ. That that man, Jesus Christ,
is God in human flesh. God was in Christ. reconciling
this sinful world unto himself, not charging our sins unto us,
not imputing our sins unto us, but charging them to Christ.
See that? He made him who knew no sin to
be sin. He charged our sins to Christ.
He imputed them to Christ. He laid them on Christ. He put
them on Christ. Christ bore our sins. You see
that? Oh, that's good news. That's
the joy of reconciliation. Namely, this is our message.
This is our ministry. To tell people that God was in
Christ. Christ is no mere reformer. He's
not just a religious reformer. He's the Messiah. He's the Christ. He's the anointed one of God.
And God was in Him, reconciling the world unto Himself. Not charging
our sins unto us, but laying them on Christ. Now look at verse
20. Now then, now then, we, Paul
said, all preachers of the gospel, true men sent of God to proclaim
the Word of God. Now we are ambassadors of God,
ambassadors of God. As though God did beseech you
by us, as though God did speak to you by us, be ye reconciled
to God. bow to Him, receive Him, believe
Him, lay hold of this gospel, look into it, cry for His mercy. You see that? Oh, that's the
joy of this thing. All things are of God who hath
reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and have given to us,
us, these earthen vessels, mere mortals, has given to us this
glorious ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself, charging our sins to him. Now
then, I'm an ambassador of Christ and I cry, be ye reconciled to
God. Now here's our text. For, I got
good news, he made him to be sin for us. He knew no sin in
order that we might be made the righteousness of God. Now, I have this message on a
cassette tape. It's called Substitution. Substitution. And I'll bring a message next
week on Pentecostal Preaching. And you can get both of these
messages, Substitution and Pentecostal Preaching, on the same tape.
Send $2. We'll mail it to you. Here's
the address. Until next week, may God bless
you, everyone.

Substitution

What does the Bible say about substitution in the gospel?

How do we know substitutionary atonement is true?

Why is substitution important for Christians?

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Substitution

What does the Bible say about substitution in the gospel?

How do we know substitutionary atonement is true?

Why is substitution important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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