In Our Place

 

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

—2 Corinthians 5:21

Have you ever watched someone you love dearly suffer, perhaps from a terrible debilitating disease, and silently wished you could take that one’s place so he or she would be freed from his or her suffering? That kind of response happens often when parents observe the suffering of their children. It also happens when a spouse watches his or her mate go through intense pain.

Imagine now a God who loves the people He has created so much that, even though they have continually sinned against His divine and perfect will, He purposes to substitute Himself to pay the penalty for their sin. This seeming absurdity is the entire basis of the salvation story.

The Apostle Paul so very aptly describes this mystery in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three unique essences, yet one divine being—is simply beyond our comprehension. Yet the very God whose holiness condemns our sin is the same God whose compassion, love, mercy, and grace compelled Him to send Jesus to die in our place. This miracle should knock us right to our knees.

As we move out into this new day, let’s never forget that we are loved so much that we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). Through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, we have been made righteous. That, dear ones, is a reason to celebrate this day and every day.

 

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