Substitute. What do you think of when you hear this word? I think of the word ‘inferior’. Something that is not as good as the original. Like when I order something from a store and they no longer have the product I wanted. So they send me a substitute instead. A product that’s reasonably close to the one I wanted but one that also leaves something to be desired. Something I ‘settle’ for.
The same can be said about substitutes in food. The past couple decades has seen a huge array of substitutes hit the market. Substitutes for eggs, milk, sugar, butter, as well as for certain snacks & desserts. The idea of these substitutes is to lower the content of some ingredient - salt, sugar, sodium, fat, etc. This is good. And the reason why people purchase these products. But at the same time they usually doesn’t taste as good. Why? They’re a substitute. A substitute for the original. One that it can’t quite match.
Then there is the world of sports. When a regular player gets injured or is unable to play a substitute (or ‘sub’) comes in. Hopefully they can play reasonably well. But no one expects them to be as good as the player they subbed for. (Otherwise they would be starting!) And when a game gets out of hand and becomes unwinnable it is not uncommon for a coach to make mass changes by bringing in all the subs. The game is already lost. The subs certainly can’t do much harm.
One area where the ‘inferior’ tag does not apply to substitutes is Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus is our Substitute. Because of our sins we incurred God’s righteous wrath. We deserved to be punished for these sins. We deserved to die for them. We deserved to spend eternity in Hell. Forever separated from God. And that is exactly what was going to happen to us. That is...until a Substitute was found. Not an inferior Substitute but a superior one. A Substitute who was without defect. Sinless. Perfect. In I Peter 2:24 we are told that “He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Another chapter over, in I Peter 3:18 we read, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.” In the greatest example of substitution in the entire history of the universe, Jesus became our Substitute. Yours. And mine. He suffered in our place. And He died in our place.
How humbling. How amazing. That the almighty Son of God would come to earth to be my Substitute is beyond my capacity to fully understand or appreciate. But I accept it. Gladly. And the only way I can pay Him back is by living my life for Him.
Lord, how can I ever thank you enough for Jesus? My Substitute. The One who took my place on the cross. The One who suffered for my sins. The One who died for me. What love. What amazing, unconditional love. I am overwhelmed by it. May I never forget my Substitute. I commit myself to living so that His sacrifice will not be in vain. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The same can be said about substitutes in food. The past couple decades has seen a huge array of substitutes hit the market. Substitutes for eggs, milk, sugar, butter, as well as for certain snacks & desserts. The idea of these substitutes is to lower the content of some ingredient - salt, sugar, sodium, fat, etc. This is good. And the reason why people purchase these products. But at the same time they usually doesn’t taste as good. Why? They’re a substitute. A substitute for the original. One that it can’t quite match.
Then there is the world of sports. When a regular player gets injured or is unable to play a substitute (or ‘sub’) comes in. Hopefully they can play reasonably well. But no one expects them to be as good as the player they subbed for. (Otherwise they would be starting!) And when a game gets out of hand and becomes unwinnable it is not uncommon for a coach to make mass changes by bringing in all the subs. The game is already lost. The subs certainly can’t do much harm.
One area where the ‘inferior’ tag does not apply to substitutes is Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus is our Substitute. Because of our sins we incurred God’s righteous wrath. We deserved to be punished for these sins. We deserved to die for them. We deserved to spend eternity in Hell. Forever separated from God. And that is exactly what was going to happen to us. That is...until a Substitute was found. Not an inferior Substitute but a superior one. A Substitute who was without defect. Sinless. Perfect. In I Peter 2:24 we are told that “He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Another chapter over, in I Peter 3:18 we read, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.” In the greatest example of substitution in the entire history of the universe, Jesus became our Substitute. Yours. And mine. He suffered in our place. And He died in our place.
How humbling. How amazing. That the almighty Son of God would come to earth to be my Substitute is beyond my capacity to fully understand or appreciate. But I accept it. Gladly. And the only way I can pay Him back is by living my life for Him.
Lord, how can I ever thank you enough for Jesus? My Substitute. The One who took my place on the cross. The One who suffered for my sins. The One who died for me. What love. What amazing, unconditional love. I am overwhelmed by it. May I never forget my Substitute. I commit myself to living so that His sacrifice will not be in vain. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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