CHRIST DIED FOR SINNERS

Christ the Savior did not come to try to save every son of Adam. He told us whom He came to save: sinners. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Christ the Savior did not die for people who are good enough to be saved. “Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6) The Savior gave us an example of His death for sinners, when as He was dying on the cross, He saved a vile thief who never did anything to deserve God’s favor.

Salvation in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ makes salvation impossible for those who try to be good enough to be saved. But salvation in, by, and through Christ alone opens the door of salvation wide for everyone who is a helpless, dead sinner. May the Lord be pleased to make us see our sin that we may be objects of His grace.

I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of; now I am going to see Him. I have seen the print of His shoe on the earth; now I am going to sit at His feet. I have read His Word; now I am going to hear His voice. I have beheld His world; now I am going to dwell in His heaven where sin can never enter.

John Bunyan

ABSOLUTE EXCHANGE

“For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5: 19)

It was by the sin of Adam that sin and death passed upon us, we not only had his sin imputed to us, but we also inherited his sinful nature. We then are sinners by birth and sinners by practice. “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20.)

But blessed be the name of the Lord the same way we became sinners we become righteous. We did nothing to become sinners; we do nothing to become righteous. There is an absolute exchange made, when our dear Savior went to the cross and died under the judgment and wrath of His Holy Father. He suffered not for himself but for those whom he represented. He was suffering the wrath of God because he was bearing his people’s sin upon his body on that tree. What was the absolute exchange? He became what I am, that I might become what He is; He took my sin, that I would have His righteousness; he took my disobedience, I get his obedience; he suffered my death, (my separation from God), that I would receive his life; He was made a curse, that I might be blessed; He was separated from God, that I might be brought nigh to God. (Gal. 3:13, 1 Pet. 3:18.)

Just as we also inherited Adams sinful nature, we also become partakers of Christ's nature. His holy nature is given to us in the new birth and it makes us love things we once hated and hate things we once loved. Our sinful natures loved sin, hated righteousness; now we love righteousness and hate sin. Once, listening to preaching and reading the bible would be the last things we would have done, now it is our delight.

“God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6.) Thank God not only was Christ for us at the cross, and accomplished our complete salvation, but, He is also in us “Christ in you, the hope of glory” Col. 1:27. By his Spirit in us, He continually works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure, and we are kept in the enjoyment of what He did for us by His sacrificial death on the cross. It is not only an absolute exchange; it is also an eternal exchange.