PRINCIPLE 10 |
The Apostle Peter said that
Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18)
Thus, Jesus was our substitute. We need to discuss the idea of substitution in general in order to appreciate the way in which Jesus qualified as our substitute.
What qualifications must any substitute have? We will call the substitute "X" and the thing for which it is substituting we will call "Y." If X is going to make a valid substitution for Y, then X must have these three qualifications:
Suppose we have a lamp in our living room, and the bulb is burned out. (It is a standard incandescent light bulb.) We need another light bulb to substitute for the one that has burned out, but it must meet the three qualifications listed above. First, it must be similar to the light bulb that burned out. A guitar, spoon, popsicle stick, or wastebasket will never do. Not even a catsup bottle is suitable, even though it is made of glass and has a thread on the end. In fact, not every light bulb will do. It can't be a fluorescent light bulb. Nor do we want a heat bulb. And a Christmas tree light would not fit in the socket. Obviously, it must be a light bulb that is similar to the one that burned out.
But it should not be identical. A light bulb that is identical would also be burned out, so it would fail to meet the second qualification. If it is going to be a valid substitute, it must have that crucial difference . In fact, whatever it is that makes a substitute needed in the first place, that is the way in which the substitute must be different. A substitute for a sick teacher must be well. A spare tire must not be flat. And a replacement bulb must not be burned out.
Third, there must be an actual exchange. The substitute must take the place of the original item. It may meet the first two qualifications and thus be a potential substitute, but it is not an actual substitute until it stands in the place of the original item.
Jesus not only qualifies as our substitute, he is our actual substitute. First, he was similar to us because he was fully human (Hebrews 2:10-18). Second, he was different from us at the crucial point because he was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21). This, of course, is the reason that a substitution is needed in the first place. If we had not sinned, we would not need a savior. But since we have sinned, we need a savior who is without sin to be our substitute. Third, he must take our place. Jesus took our place when he died for us. He identified with sinful man, was treated by the Father at his death as though he was a sinful man, and thus he suffered the consequences of sin for us – spiritual separation from the Father (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:4-6).
For a more complete discussion of the substitutionary nature of Jesus death, see the paper The Substitutionary Death of Christ.
Jesus died in our place, but which death of Jesus was the true substitution? Was it his physical death or his spiritual death? In order to answer this question we must look at the consequence of sin.
The consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but again there are two kinds of death. One kind is rather obvious, physical death, which is the separation of the inner person (soul/spirit) from the body (James 2:26). The other kind of death is spiritual death, which is the separation of the person from God.
Cause:Sin |
immediately brings about |
Direct Result:Spiritual death (separation from God) |
which leads to |
Indirect result:Sickness, disease, and eventually physical death |
For example, when Adam sinned he did not immediately die physically, but he did immediately die spiritually. God told Adam than when he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die (Genesis 2:17). And Adam did die when he ate of the tree, but it was a spiritual death. He had to hide from God (Genesis 3:8) and was banished from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:23). Thus, he was alienated, or separated, from God; but he was still alive physically. Adam did not die physically until hundreds of years later (Genesis 5:3-5). The spiritual death was the direct and immediate result of sin. The physical death came later as an indirect result of sin.
Since the primary or direct consequence of sin is spiritual death, we would expect that this would be the point at which Jesus would substitute for us by suffering our spiritual death for us. And this is exactly what happened. Jesus was separated from the Father when he cried,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)
At this point Jesus died spiritually. What exactly did this spiritual death accomplish for us? Jesus suffered spiritual separation from the Father so that we would not have to suffer it any longer. This is the heart of the gospel message. This is the message that Paul said was "of first importance: that Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3). Jesus' spiritual death on our behalf made it possible for us to be reunited with God.
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18)
And this reunion with God happens immediately, as soon as a person accepts Jesus Christ as his savior, as the Holy Spirit comes to reside in the individual (Acts 19:1-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:13).
Jesus did die physically, but his physical death was not substitutionary in itself. Certainly his physical death was for us in the sense that it was for our benefit. It was part of his identification with fallen man. But Jesus' physical death was not in our place, because Christians still suffer physical death.
This is what Jesus did for us, and it is referred to as the "work" of Jesus. But not only is the work of Jesus important (what he did), the person of Jesus is also important (who he was). While it is true that he had to be like us (human) to be a valid substitute, he was also different from us (divine) and thus he was sinless. But his divinity also qualified him to be the savior in another way. One individual could substitute for only one other individual, but Jesus substituted for many. This was possible only because Jesus was divine and therefore unlimited. This is one of the reasons why the resurrection of Jesus is so important and is part of the gospel message. Jesus' resurrection proves his deity (Romans 1:4; John 16:8-10). And Jesus' deity guarantees both his sinlessness and his ability to substitute for an unlimited number of persons.