Jesus the Substitute (Galatians 2:20)

We are all familiar with the idea of a substitute whether it is a player being replaced in a football match or in a member of the Cabinet standing in for the Prime Minister when he is away. Such are only utilised when the original choice cannot fulfil the role, and their contribution is temporary. Often, no one remembers what they did or said. Jesus is not a substitute in that sense. He took our place indeed, but he was not inferior to us, merely helping us in a small way, because we had become tired or because we were given a temporary role. There are other words that can be used instead of substitute. We can use the words agent or representative if we wish.

When did he become our substitute?

It is no doubt the case that a footballer can be informed when he is going to be introduced as a substitute and a member of the Cabinet will be told beforehand when he will be on duty. With regard to Jesus as our substitute, the first indication of his role is given in Genesis 3 with the announcement made after Adam’s fall that a champion would come and deliver sinners from the state of condemnation that they were now in. Yet that announcement was not a spur of the moment response made by God to an unexpected development.

 

Rather the occasion when it was agreed that Jesus should become the substitute happened long before Adam fell, indeed long before the creation appeared. The occasion of this agreement was in what we call the eternal counsels of the Trinity, and it is important to note the adjective ‘eternal’. He has always been the selected substitute, and we can assume that this selection was a full expression of divine wisdom. He was not one choice among many. Rather he was the only possible substitute.

 

Why did he become our substitute?

Connected to the when he became our substitute is why he became our substitute. Paul gives one reason when he says in our verse that ‘the Son of God loved me’. We notice the past tense in that statement, but where in the past is his love to be located? The answer is in the same understanding of the term ‘eternal’, which means that the Son of God has always loved his people. This love to sinners was not limited to the Son, but it was equally found in the Father and in the Holy Spirit. God is love, and each of the divine persons love the same objects.

 

Jesus did not only love us as persons, but he also loved us because his Father loved him for being willing to show his love for us. In John 10:17, we are told this about the attitude of the Father and the Son: ‘For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.’ That statement is made in the context of Jesus as the Good Shepherd dying for his sheep. The willingness of Jesus to show the infiniteness of his love was loved infinitely by God the Father. That is why they always loved those for whom Jesus was the substitute.

 

How did he become our substitute?

The answer to this question is that he became a human in the womb of Mary. He became one of us without being affected by the sin of Adam. His conception was brought about by the Holy Spirit. This is a great mystery how God and man can be united in one person without either nature becoming more or less that each should be. This means that Jesus did not lose any of his attributes as God nor did his humanity become capable of actions that humans cannot do. His humanity was produced by the Holy Spirit and he grew as a human constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. He is a unique person, both God and man, and is so forever.

 

What did he do as our substitute?

There are different ways of looking at what he did in our place. He dealt with our personal need in that he lived a perfect life and died an atoning death. Those were what we would have to provide in order to be forgiven by God and accepted by him. We cannot have an experience of glory without those needs being met. Heaven is only for those who have kept the law perfectly, and we could not do that, but our substitute could and did. He lived a perfect life in thought, word and deed.

 

Jesus also suffered on the cross to pay the penalty of sin. He offered himself on behalf of his people and paid all that was required of them. It was a costly price as he was punished in our place. The distress that he experienced was not surprising given the task that he was engaged in. We don’t really have any idea of what it involved except we can say he was no longer aware of God’s comfortable presence. He, while on the cross during the three hours of darkness, bore the penalty and I suppose we can say that every second seemed like a lifetime, even an eternity. Yet on went the experience of wrath, which he bore fully.

 

Jesus did other things for us as well when he acted as our substitute. For example, he made it possible for us to become members of the family of God. We were estranged from God by our sins and outside his family. Now that Jesus has dealt with our sins we are welcomed into the family because of him. Along with family membership, we also have the family inheritance because of Jesus. We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ and our inheritance is the new heavens and new earth.

 

What do we say to our substitute?

Although our substitute died for our sins, he did not remain in that condition. On the third day, he rose again, and when he did so he still represented his people because they are united to him. Not only is he alive, he is also highly exalted in heaven where he reigns over all things. Because he is alive, we can speak to him and state what we think. Even as the Bridegroom in the Song of Solomon said to his beloved, ‘O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely’ (Song 2:14).

 

We can call him by his titles revealed in the Bible and there are many of them. Even as Mary Magdalene used Rabboni (my dear Master). We can commend him for his amazing work of substitution and mention its perfection. We can state the depths of our affections for him, and we can express our dependence on him.