Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
*******************************************************************
Every piece of Christ’s suffering was suffered for you, and every victory accomplished by that suffering was accomplished so that you can now live in victory, too.
Whatever inconvenience or temporary suffering we may endure during Lent, as we withhold things from ourselves in order to focus on the gravity of our sin and the glory of God’s redeeming plan, it is infinitesimal in comparison to what Jesus willingly endured as our substitute. Now, I know the term 'substitute' today sometimes implies inadequacy. But the substitutionary function of everything Christ did is one of the chief glories of his work on earth. We think of substitutes as being inadequate when
compared to the one they are standing in for, but the opposite is true in the case of the second Adam, Jesus. In this case, the substitute is marvelously greater. Let me explain.
1. Jesus was the substitute for Adam and Eve.
Because the first Adam failed, there was a crying need for a second Adam who would obey God in every way in every situation, location, and relationship, each and every time. The Messiah Jesus would be Adam’s substitute, doing, with complete perfection, what Adam failed to do. But he came to be not only Adam’s substitute, but yours and mine as well. Because of sin, everyone would fall short of God’s standard, so no one would be able to earn God’s acceptance based on his or her keeping of the law. God’s righteous requirement was fully satisfied in the perfectly righteous life of Jesus. Because of the complete righteousness of the second Adam (Jesus), who endured every kind of temptation, sinners like you and me can stand before a holy God and be received as righteous in his eyes.
Consider how the essential grace of the perfect substitute, Jesus, is captured in Romans 5:12-14, 17-21:
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. . . .
"For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience, the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
2. Jesus was the substitute for the animals of sacrifice.
The reason animal after animal had to be sacrificed day after day, in an endlessly bloody scene, was because they were not an adequate payment for the penalty of sin. The animal sacrifices were God’s gracious provision until the coming of the ultimate, final sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here also Jesus stood as a substitute, doing what no animal sacrifice was ever able to do: atone for sin. Jesus, the Lamb, had to be willing to be the perfect sacrifice to end all ineffective animal sacrifices. He had to be willing to suffer and die, and because he was willing, we will never have to fear God’s anger.
Hebrews 10:1–10 brilliantly explains this: "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.'
"Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. When he said above, 'You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings' (these are offered according to the law), then he added, 'Behold, I have come to do your will.' He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. '"
3. Jesus was the substitute for the Old Testament priests.
For all their dedicated and disciplined sacrificial and intercessory work, the priests were part of a system that was earthbound, temporary, and ultimately ineffective. Jesus came as the better priest. He was heaven-sent, his priestly work was effective and once-for-all. He was not only the perfect substitute for
all those Old Testament priests, he was the sacrifice, as well. As the perfect priest, he offered to God the perfect, acceptable sacrifice, himself, forever ending, by his self-sacrifice, any further need for a sacrifice for sin.
Read how this is celebrated in Hebrews 7:23–28:
"The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make
intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever."
If Jesus willingly endured what he endured and suffered all that he suffered to be the perfect substitute, doing for you what you could have never done for yourself, would you not be willing to make sacrifices for him? “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1). May God give you the grace to do just that. Do you find comfort attractive and sacrifice hard? Perhaps your first sacrifice this Lenten season should be a sacrifice of confession, admitting your struggle to let go of the world in order to hold more tightly to your Lord.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
1. Have you given something up for Lent? How is it going? What sacrifices are hardest for you to make, and why do you think those particular things are so hard for you to give up?
2. How does the fact that Jesus was the perfect second Adam impact your salvation and your daily life?
3. How does it impact your life that Jesus is your substitute sacrifice and your substitute high priest? How can you more intentionally celebrate these wonderful truths?
Read Isaiah 53:1–12, and meditate on the list of sacrifices Jesus bore for you.
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
No comments:
Post a Comment