188 – Jesus Our Substitute

Jesus’s work at the Cross was a work as our substitute for sin. The reason we do not need to suffer Eternity in the Lake of Fire is because Jesus took that pain and punishment upon himself.

No one compelled Jesus to do this. The Father “commanded” it and Jesus “obeyed”. But, in this relationship that Jesus, the Son of God, is one in the Father, Jesus “commanded” his own crucifixion as much as the Father did, and the Father “obeyed” the will of the Son as much as the Son obeyed the Father did. They were in complete agreement without negotiation or compromise. For the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for that matter, there simply was no other option.

God would stop at nothing to redeem the human race which He created in His Image. We are so valuable to Him, so precious and beloved, that the Cross was nothing compared to the great joy and happiness that God has merely in enjoying us living with Him forever.

Jesus’s pain at the Cross was foreseen. The question has been asked in human history, “If God is good and knew Adam would sin, why would He create humans in the first place, knowing that they would choose Eternal damnation?”

But, this question is in error. Adam’s sin and millions of humans rejecting Jesus as their Substitute for Eternal damnation were not the only events that God foresaw before Creation. God also foresaw His Son—the Word of God made flesh—suffering at the Cross, and the Word of God nonetheless chose to speak Earth and the rest of Creation into being anyway. The proper question is: Why would such a God with foresight create a world knowing He would suffer so? The answer is: unimaginable love.

God Almighty will let none boast above Him. The Infinite, Eternal Son, during those Infinite hours of flogging, beating, and crucifixion, experienced the full weight of God’s Eternal wrath upon Himself. He suffered more than all souls Eternally combined. For Jesus’s work, he is perfectly just and fair in condemning any soul to a lesser pain for rejecting such a free and accessible gift as our Substitute.

Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 8:17, Mark 10:45, John 3:16-21; 10:11; 15:13, Romans 5:6, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 2:20; 3:13,  Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:18, 1 John 4:10, Revelation 5