Substitutionary Love
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Let's just say that you are one of the cool kids, and you are in middle or high school. Here is a girl that nobody likes, and she's dorky. She is isolated and alienated, so you try to love and reach out to her. The next thing that you know the other cool girls are coming to you and saying, "What are you doing with her?" What is happening is that some of that dorky-ness is rubbing off on you, and you aren't so cool anymore if you hang out with her. There is no way for you to diminish her isolation and alienation without you entering into it and some of it falling down onto you.
The only way that you love a broken person or messed up person and really love them to change them is that you have to do it substitutionarily. Jesus took our penalty upon himself and got what we deserved, and our sins and guilt and brokenness fell upon Him. He took it himself so that we could be forgiven. He loved us substitutionarily.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
Posts
