Dying for the Sake of Another The Doctrine of Substitution

This week we studied Ezra 3, where Exiles are ordered to rebuild the temple. With their return to the promised land, the first order of business was to reestablish the worship and sacrifices God had ordained for His people through the law of Moses. Their spiritual renewal came before rebuilding the decimated city. With the place of sacrifice rebuilt amid Jerusalem’s rubble, the people rejoiced at this progress but also grieved their losses. Even though the temple had not yet been rebuilt, the altar represented the central component needed for the Israelites to offer sacrifices and worship God as He had commanded. With the altar rebuilt, they began again to celebrate the prescribed feasts of the seventh month of the year (Numbers 29). They celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles and offered many appointed sacrifices. By sacrificing animals, they acknowledged their sin and sought God’s atonement and forgiveness, as He had commanded.

The Israelites restored the temple and reestablished worship. They built the altar and sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord. They also celebrated sacred festivals, including Passover. Israel’s sacrificial system atoned for the people’s sin through animal sacrifices, which pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God. Our doctrine is Substitution, the notes define this as Dying for the Sake of Another. 

• A substitute takes the place of another.
• Israel’s sacrificial system revealed the gravity of human sin. The people confessed their sin and spilled the blood of animals that took their place, paying the just penalty their sin deserved.
• Jesus Christ died as the ultimate, perfect sacrifice for humanity’s sin. All the Old Testament sacrifices point to Him.
• God’s own Son died as a substitute for all who place their faith in His atoning sacrifice.
• With Jesus as their substitute, believers stand before God not covered in sin but fully clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
• Unless Jesus stands as your substitute before God, you carry the weight of God’s just wrath against your sin. 
• Jesus took upon Himself the punishment He did not deserve to offer us righteousness we could not earn. 
• When I believe Jesus died and rose again as my substitute, I truly live—set free from the penalty of my sin and enabled to live a transformed life. With my sin debt fully paid, I can gladly surrender and serve the Savior who gave Himself for me.

 What helps you regularly recognize all Jesus did for you? How does Jesus’s sacrifice on your behalf move you to fresh wonder and worship?