Christ Died For Our Sins

Christ died for our sins so that you and I might live. Seven hundred years before Jesus actually came in human flesh; a prophet called Isaiah described what Jesus would do.

He said, "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:3-5

When Jesus was beaten, and a crown of thorns was placed on His head, people did not realize that He was suffering for the sins of the world.

They thought He was being "smitten by God," that He had done something evil, and that God was now punishing Him.

Of course, Jesus had done no evil. No, "He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities."

Jesus became our substitute. It was our sins that nailed Him to the cross. According to God's justice, because we had all sinned we deserved the cross and its punishment. But Jesus took our place.

This is the gospel, the foundation of salvation. Our good works, our good behavior, or our attempts at doing good religious deeds are totally insufficient.

We cannot save ourselves by good works. Jesus established a reliable and complete foundation for eternal life. By dying on the cross He took the wages of sin, which is death, and then rose again in victory.

Praise God! Today Jesus is alive. Paul summarized the gospel this way: "Christ died for our sins ... was buried and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. '' I Corinthians 15:3-4

Receiving and Following Christ