Christ died a vicarious death on the cross, He died on our behalf; He is our Redeemer!

Praise the Lord for Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross! Usually when someone dies, nobody talks about it and no one wants to remember it, since death is such a terrible thing… But with the Lord Jesus, His death was an all-inclusive accomplishment, and we believers treasure it and love it!

To us His death on the cross, though humanly a terrible and not pleasant, is even sweet! We treasure His death! One particular aspect of Christ’s death on the cross that I enjoyed today is that His death is vicarious! Christ died a vicarious death, a death that was recognized and approved by God.

On the one hand, Christ died on our behalf – He died as a Substitute for us, the sinners. The first three hours He was on the cross, Christ was persecuted by man – man did everything he could to persecute Him, mock Him, torture Him, etc.

After the three hours, God came in to judge Christ – He put all our iniquities on Him (Isa. 53:6), making Him the Unique Sinner in His eyes. Because Christ became the Unique Sinner in God’s eyes, God left Him (economically – He took His Spirit of power from upon this “sinner”; but essentially, God was still with Him, since He was the essence of His being – Christ was conceived with the divine essence).

On the other hand, Christ died a vicarious death – His death was legal according to God’s law and was recognized by God. If someone should risk his life or even give his life to rescue or save someone else – this is not “vicarious”; it is merely an act of sacrifice.

But Christ’s death was approved by God and He was our legal substitute in the eyes of God – God judged Christ on our behalf, putting all our sins, tresspasses, iniquities, diseases, sorrows – on Him!

Christ’s death was more than a murder and more than a martyrdom – His death was a vicarious death in which God judged Christ on our behalf and approved His death according to His law! Some people “follow Christ’s pattern” outwardly, considering Him a great philosopher, very moral and ethical – yet they don’t believe in Christ’s redeeming death on the cross!

This is just as if the people of Israel would have “eaten the Passover lamb raw” – see Exo. 12:9, God wanted His people to eat the lamb roasted with fire! Christ was roasted with fire on the cross – He was judged by God, and now we eat Him as such a One!

Other people regard Christ’s death as a martyrdom, He died as martyr, having sacrificed Himself for His good teachings and His philosophy… This is wrong! This is as if you would eat the lamb “boiled” – yes, suffering was there, but there was no judgement from the holy fire!

We need to come to the Word of God and believe that Christ died a vicarious death on the cross – He was judged by God according to His righteous law, and He suffered under God’s wrath as the Substitute for us the sinners!

Christ was “roasted” on the cross under God’s judgement – He is now qualified to be our Redeemer, having paid the highest price and having fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory! When we now believe in Him, the redemption He accomplished on the cross is being applied to us!

[sharing inspired from the life-study of Exodus msg. 23 and the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah(2)] [Read this portion also in Spanish / Puede leer esta porción también en español, La muerte de Cristo en la cruz fue vicaria, Él murió en nuestro lugar; ¡Él es nuestro redentor!]

Thank You Lord Jesus for Your all-inclusive death on the cross! Thank You for dying on our behalf! You didn’t die just as a martyr, nor were You merely murdered by men! You became our Substitute on the cross – taking all our sins upon You! How we love You, Lord! Thank You so much for Your sacrifice on the cross! Thank You for being judged on our behalf – You who had no sin, You were made sin for us! Lord, we really love You! Thank You for Your vicarious death on the cross!