The Sin-Bearer a Substitute?

A paradox is a statement that seemingly contradicts itself. It often goes against (accepted) popular opinion. It is nevertheless a true statement. One example of a paradox is he who never erred never tried. We live in an imperfect world where we all have made mistakes, if you have not made mistakes it is because you have not done anything. One paradox I lived with was the concept that comfortable shoes need replacing. See, as a child, I loved it when my shoes were old because that's when they felt the most comfortable. Yet I was told it was time to replace them. This never failed with me. It was at the time when my shoes were the most worn out, that it was time to discard them and replace them with new ones. Notice I said replace, not substitute. No one would think of substituting his or her shoes; replacing them yes, but substituting them, no. Although the words "replace" and "substitute" are synonyms, they carry different connotations. Substitution is about taking something or someone’s place. Implied in the concept of substitution is the idea of inferior quality, or second choice. To replace something is to put another item of equal value in its place. So, can a Sin-bearer be a substitute? When we refer to Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross as “substitutionary,” what are we really saying? Are we saying that Christ's sacrifice was of inferior quality? I doubt that. Are we implying that the Father really would have preferred us to die the second death, but because Christ interceded, He (the Father) was persuaded to accept His death instead of ours? Did the Father really need to be persuaded to love and save us? And furthermore, did Christ replace us on the cross?


From the time before Sin, there was a Sin-bearer, to bare the burden of our punishment-- the second-death-- in His own body on the tree (I Peter 2:24). As we know from scripture, the Godhead, having forseen Sin, entered into council to deliberate the salvation of mankind. In that council, Christ chose to be the lamb of sacrifice, slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). He chose to bear the Sin and suffer the consequence of eternal separation from His Father which of course is the second death. But, did He forfeit His life for ours? Are we living instead of Him? Did He replace us on the cross, and if He did, is He going to replace us in heaven too? Naturally we know that He was resurrected and has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us that we might live in our own mansions, and be with Him forever (John 20:15-18, 26 & John 14:1-3). Therefore it is likely that He did not truly replace us. Still the question lingers, was Christ our substitute, and by that we mean, did He die as punishment for our sins instead of us?

Well, one of the ways to look more deeply at this subject which is so complex, is to look at just what constitutes Sin. As we all know, the scriptures provide these definitions:

* Sin is the transgression of the law -- I John 3:4
in word, thought or action Eph. 4:22-32, I John 2:6,
Eph. 5:19-21, Matt.5:21, 22, 27& 28
* Whatever is not of faith is sin -- Rom. 14:23
* To know good, and do it no is sin -- James 4:17
* All unrighteousness is sin -- I John 5:17

But ultimately, Sin is outworking of the principle of self-love, in contrast to principle of Heaven, which is self-denying love. Christ came to earth not to show us how to live, nor even to demonstrate that we could keep the law as He did. His primary reason was to save the world, or in other words, to save all of humanity (John 3:16). Through the Holy Spirit, Christ's divinity (with it's nature of self-denying love) was united with the corporate nature of humanity (which operates on the principle of self-love), yet Christ remained sinless in Character (Heb.4:15).

The uniting of natures, qualified Christ to be the second Adam. Through the first Adam, Sin, or the principle of self-love entered the world, and death was the result. Thus death was bequeathed to all men through the first Adam--and through mankind's sins. Even though we (his off-spring) did not sin as he did (Rom. 5:12, 13), yet our sins have brought condemnation and death--for all have sinned. As the second Adam, Christ developed both an intimate personal knowledge of the Father's character /nature of self-denying love, and the principle of self-love, which is at war in humanity (I Cor.. 15:45; Is. 53:11). (Remember, our character is what we develop by the choices we make, and our nature is our essence). When Christ assumed our nature, all the pressures of the principle of self -love clamored for His attention. Yet, through suffering the constant denial of self, He learned to listen even more closely and attentively, with a willingness to do His Father's will (Hebrew definition of obedience; Heb. 5:8 & Luke 24:46). Thus Christ's character was blameless, and without the stain of words, thoughts / motives or deeds of sin-- "though tempted in all points as we are, yet He did not sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

How could Christ die instead of us, or as a substitute for us? This is a most perplexing question, for Ezekiel 18:4 & 20 says, "... the soul that sinneth, it shall die," and "... the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Furthermore, 2 Chronicles 25:4 states, "... the father shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin." These texts make the thought of Christ dying a substitutionary death on our behalf, questionable indeed. Instead, is it possible that as Adam was the progenitor of all humanity, that Christ was the spiritual progenitor (See I Cor. 15, 44-47), and that when He died, all died in Him?

You know, when an American wins an Olympic a gold medal, he or she is not the only person who celebrates. The person's family and friends celebrate, and so does America, for that gold medallist represents America. Therefore, when Christ died, He died as one of us (not vicariously). And, just as all humanity sinned in the 1st Adam, so all humanity died in Christ, the 2nd Adam. "For as by one man's obedience the many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall the many be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). "For We have been Planted Together in the likeness of His Death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:Knowing this, that our old man is Crucified With Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead With Christ, we believe that We shall also live with Him" (Romans 6:4-8).

So, just as Adam carried us in his loins as he chose to sin, Jesus carried all of humanity in Himself as He chose to remain obedient. This is how Christ can be our Sin Bearer. He bore our nature, not vicariously, but in actuality, yet without sin. Since, Christ bore us as He died on the cross, when He died, we died. So corporately, we were not truly spared from eternal death. Christ took us into Himself, and as He conquered death so did we; as He was resurrected, so were we.

Friends, a sin bearer cannot be a substitute or a replacement. Instead, as our Sin-bearer, Christ was one with us, one with humanity, and conquered. Let's thank God today for that.

--
Raul Diaz & Maria Greaves-Barnes

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