Some Special Words - Pt 4

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29-36 ESV).

Our fourth word is “substitutionary” as we speak of the atonement. “Substitute” is word we all know well and use often. We are all familiar with substitutes. Teachers substitute for others who are ill. Athletes substitute when others are injured or fatigued or just not playing well. A substitute is one who takes the place of another. We can never ignore the truth that there is a terrible death sentence hanging over the head of every human being. The phrase "substitutionary atonement" means that Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners as our substitute so that that death sentence could be nullified. Since all men are in sin (cf. Romans 3:23) and we deserve death because "the wages of sin is death" (cf. Romans 6:23), the only way we can escape is through “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is in his grace that God is making this substitute. We have seen this previously to some extent in the Old Testament. The Israelites could bring a bull, a goat, or a sheep and kill it, and God would accept its blood as a substitute death to pay for human sin. These animals were pictures of God’s ultimate substitute death, the death of his own Son. Thus, when John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” he was using a picture of the substitute sacrifice that God had created centuries before. Jesus is our atoning sacrifice, our substitute. There is another thought in this use of the word in our New Testament description of the work of Christ on the cross. Most substitutes are temporary. Soon the “starter” comes back and the substitute goes away. This is not the case with Jesus. His substitution was “once for all” (cf. 1 Peter 3:18). When Jesus cried out on the cross “It is finished!” he was talking about the work of atonement. It was done. We now have forgiveness, cleansing, and atonement for our sins. Hallelujah! What a Savior!