The Cross, Part 6: Substitutionary

"Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death" [Matt 27:20]

So I'm going to attempt to make somewhat of an analogy here for explaining why it was necessary for Christ to actually die for us, and sorry if I take my usual long & round about way of getting to the point :)

If we begin with the premise that God is holy; completely pure in thought and deed [1 Sam 2:2, 1 John 1:5], which also causes him to be completely set apart from sin [Is 59:2], it becomes clear that it is impossible for Him to do wrong [Ps 145:17]. Because of this, He is the only one qualified to judge between right and wrong since He Himself is not a doer of the things he judges [Job 8:3]. God is also the only one who is even capable of creating any laws for governing the universe since He alone has ultimate rule over all the things He's created. If then the lawgiver Himself is Holy and just, then its implied that "the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good." [Rom 7:12] God, being both lawgiver and judge of the universe, also has the final say on what the penalty will be for anyone who transgresses his law. So when He says, "the wages of sin is death" [Rom 6:23] then there should be some real concern of having to stand before Him to be judged by every deed "as recorded in the books." [Rev 20:12] No doubt, I'd be in a more than a lot of trouble if God had done nothing to bail me out of such a desperate situation.

It is here that Barabbas provides a great illustration of our spiritual condition. We were all considered to be "a notorious prisoner" against whom countless acts of breaking the law may be rightfully charged. And again, God is Just (much more than the Roman government) and he must uphold His justice because He is holy and not willing to allow sin to go unpunished.

So what does he do??? How is it possible for Holy God to forgive sinful Man???

The Father showed His great love and compassion for our desperate situation by ordering "Barabbas(us) to be released and for Jesus to be put to death." [Matt 27:20] The death of Christ on the cross provided a way for God to carry out His just punishment of sin by sending His one and only Son to recieve the condemnation which we deserved! Chirst's death was substitutionary! It was also much much more, though this alone provides much hope to us who had noooo way of getting to God based on any good works. A sacrifice had to be made.