The concept of Jesus taking our place is shown throughout Scripture. The Apostle Paul tells us, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
From Paul’s words, we are told that Jesus took our place. Jesus died the death we deserved in order for us to have a new life in Him.
Jesus’ Sacrifice
Jesus took our place because He dearly loves us. He is the second member of the Trinity, which means He is God. John 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
In this verse of the Gospel of John, the Word is Jesus Christ. Since Jesus died on the cross for our sins, it means God Himself took our place.
We all deserved to die a painful death on the cross, yet Jesus took this upon Himself. Instead of allowing us to suffer this pain, agony, and suffering of the cross, He took our place.
When we speak of Jesus taking our place on the cross, it means He took upon all of our sins and willingly died the death we deserved in order for us to be forgiven of our sins, receive a repaired relationship with Him, and have the gift of eternal life.
No single man could take this upon Himself as only God in the flesh could take our place. In the beginning, God created the perfect world. There was no sin, illness, or death. It was not until the Fall of Man that sin entered the world.
Since Adam and Eve sin and disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, they had to leave Eden, and sin entered God’s perfect world. Ever since the Fall of Man, there had to be a way for mankind to have a repaired relationship with God.
Before the creation of the world, one could argue that God already knew Adam and Eve would disobey Him, yet He still created them for His glory and because he loved them.
In the same way, since God already knew Adam and Eve would sin, He already had a plan to redeem them from their sin — through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Due to our sin, we are separated from God (Isaiah 59:2). Only through placing faith in Christ by believing that He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again can one have a restored relationship with God (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 3:16-17).
Since Jesus took our place and sacrificed Himself, we now have a right relationship with Him. It was no easy task for the Lord to take our place as He was fully man and fully God at the same time.
Hebrews 2:17 records, “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
Jesus was able to experience the same pain we experience as humans, and He was also tempted in every way yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
In addition to being fully man, Jesus was also fully God. Paul declares to us the divinity of Christ in Philippians 2:5-11.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8).
As this passage tells us, the Lord remained fully divine throughout His life on earth. Within theology, the concept of Jesus being fully God and fully man is known as the hypostatic union.
The Significance of Taking Our Place
It is vital to understand the hypostatic union in the overall concept of Jesus taking our place. Without having a firm foundation of the hypostatic union, one may believe Jesus did not experience as much pain as us because He was God.
The hypostatic union demonstrates the truth to us that Jesus was fully man and fully God, which means He could experience all of the pain of being a human being.
Jesus felt pain, grew hungry, grew thirsty, grew tired, and was tempted just like us. The Lord was not spared from any of the agonies of mankind.
During Jesus’ death on the cross and the events leading up to the crucifixion, Jesus experienced unequaled emotional and physical pain. Jesus was in such pain while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane that he sweated blood (Luke 22:44).
This condition is now known as hematidrosis, which occurs when someone is under unbearable stress and anguish. Hematidrosis is an extremely rare condition, which is not commonly found.
It takes a huge amount of stress and anguish to cause hematidrosis to occur. This fact alone shows us how much pain Jesus experienced to take our place.
Leading up to the crucifixion for Jesus to take our place, Jesus was beaten, whipped, and mocked (Matthew 27:27-31).
The actual crucifixion was extremely agonizing for the Lord as crucifixion was only used for the “worse of the worse” criminals. Jesus was innocent, yet the Romans and Jews had condemned Him as guilty.
Crucifixion during the times of the Romans was horrific as nails would be driven through the individual’s hands or wrists as well as their feet.
The victims of crucifixion were hung on a cross until they would die. Despite the fact that the cross was used as a form of extreme torture during Roman times, early Christians and Christians today have adopted it as the symbol of Christianity.
All of these happened in order for Jesus to take our place. The Lord experienced the gruesome torture of crucifixion in order to take our place. We all deserve the death Jesus died — He did not.
Jesus took our place on the cross because He loves us. He experienced the pain in order for us not to experience it.
For all of us who accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, after death, we will never have to experience pain, agony, or death ever again. We all can be eternally grateful for Jesus taking our place on the cross and dying for our sins.
The Lord arose from the grave three days after His death and declared victory over the grave (2 Timothy 1:10). No mere man could do this as Jesus was God in the flesh. He took our place on the cross, suffered the pain we should have, and arose victorious over death, sin, and the devil.
What Does This Mean?
In our daily lives, we need to live out this great truth in our lives. We have been redeemed and set free because of Jesus taking our place.
Because of the Lord’s great sacrifice, we are given a chance for a new life in His Name (2 Corinthians 517). The Lord is worthy of all of our praise and worship as He died the death we deserved.
The Lord loves us, and He desires to have a relationship with each of us. Jesus took our place because He wants all people to come to know Him.
He not only took the place for a few, but rather He died for the sins of all mankind that we might know Him as our Savior and Lord (John 3:16-17).
As you take each breath today, remember that Jesus took your place because He loves you and desires to redeem every part of your life.
For further reading:
What Is the Significance of the Cross?
How Is Christ’s One Sacrifice Enough for All Time?
How Were People Saved Before Jesus Died for Our Sins?
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