Holy Week series: Part 2 of 3

Upon my commencement of writing on the passion of our glorious Christ, feelings of inadequacy, inability, and incompetence fill my heart. The event that occurred at the fullness of time floods the redeemed soul with paradoxical feelings of both unearthly joy and terrible sadness.

“Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?” says the hymn of old.

The epicenter of the Bible is the gospel and the center of the gospel is Christ and His work. The work of Christ is His redemptive accomplishment in His substitutionary life, death, and resurrection. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we have an accurate understanding of this all-important work of Jesus.

While time does not permit me to write exhaustively on the salvific benefits of the life nor the resurrection of Christ in detail, let me briefly explain the benefits of each. Due to the nature of Christ’s work as a substitute for elect sinners, everything He did applies to us. Every true follower of Christ, upon repenting of sin and trusting in Him as Lord and Savior, is united to Christ, is immersed into Christ, and therefore is a beneficiary of the salvation accomplished by Christ. Hence the Scripture uses the phrase “in Him” or “in Christ” frequently in explaining our relationship to Christ.

This means that the thirty-three years of perfect Law-keeping that Jesus accrued is credited to the believing sinner (what theologians call “imputed righteousness”). It also means that because Jesus rose from the dead, we will also be raised from the dead. Thirdly, it means that Christ’s death on the cross applies to sinners. It is to this aspect of redemption that we will now turn.

The nature of what Jesus did on the cross is described by theologians as “penal substitution.” Again, time sadly does not permit me to perform an exhaustive study on this subject. Suffice it to say that both church history and (more importantly) Scripture loudly affirm this concept. From the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12 to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) in Leviticus 16, and from the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 to the many statements of Christ and the apostles in the New Testament, it is clear that penal substitution is in view.

So what is penal substitution? This biblical (and glorious!) doctrine says this: The nature of the work that Christ accomplished in His death on the cross was one of standing in the place of all elect sinners as if He had sinned each and all of their sins. He bore their sins and the subsequent penalty for their sins as a substitute, and thus took on Himself the full wrath of God in the place of the elect in all ages.

Our Lord not only suffered physically (being stripped naked, beaten, hung upon a cross of wood), but He also took upon Himself our sin and (more terrifying and painful) God’s wrath against that sin. For hour after hour on the cross, Jesus absorbed wave after wave of infinite, blazing, holy wrath. Only God Almighty in human flesh could have taken upon Himself the full wrath of God and satisfy it totally—and that’s exactly what Jesus did. Having thus done so, he cried out with a loud voice, “Tetelasti!” meaning, “It is finished!” or, “paid in full!”. Our sin is a debt—one we cannot repay. Ever. Jesus, God-incarnate, paid the debt and then, when every last cent of debt was paid at Calvary, He shouted that wonderful and powerful word, “Tetelasti!”.

Let us, who are in Christ, ponder anew this morning, afternoon, and evening what glorious things Christ has done in His death, as our substitute. Oh, how wonderful He is! Let our eyes like those of the prophet Jeremiah overflow with tears, and let our lips lift up a song springing from the heart as we think about what Jesus has done for us. Let us take the walking staff of God’s Word and climb the Everest of the gospel, going higher and higher, grasping the rocks of greater understanding concerning the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself up from us.

As these lines from two beloved hymns say:

“Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood. Sealed my pardon with His blood, hallelujah, what a Savior!”

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

It is the precious blood of Christ that saves the repentant sinner from eternal hell and the power of their sins. How can we keep from rejoicing before our Great Redeemer on this Good Friday?