The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

— John 1:29

God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

— Romans 3:25

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”

— 1 Peter 2:24

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

— Hebrews 10:10

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

— Hebrews 9:14

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Unless Jesus stands as our substitute before God, we carry the weight of God’s just wrath against our sin. There is nothing we can offer God that sufficiently meets the righteous standards He requires. Without Jesus’s death in our place, we face life without hope, eternally separated from God. Without Jesus as our substitute, we are not prepared to meet God. But meet Him we all will, in judgment and condemnation.

Thankfully, Jesus demonstrated His love by dying in the place of all who receive His gift of salvation. His perfect sacrifice as the unblemished Passover Lamb satisfied God’s righteous requirements. He took our sin so He could offer us His unblemished righteousness in its place. With Jesus as our substitute, when God looks at us, He sees only Christ’s perfection. Jesus took upon Himself the punishment He did not deserve to offer us righteousness we could not earn. Praise the Lord! Because Jesus Christ became our substitute, we sinners can look to Him for the eternal salvation.