The Substitute
February 10, 2008
Psalm 107:2- “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has
redeemed from the hand of the enemy,”
Galatians 3:13-“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having
become a curse for us for it is written, ‘Cursed is
everyone who hangs on a tree’”
According to these scriptures, Jesus Christ is our substitute. Everything
that He did, He did it for us. He didn’t have to come down, be beaten, and
die but He chose to, for our sake.
Deut. 28 lists different blessings and curses for those who are obedient and
disobedient respectively. When Christ was on the cross, He dealt with
everything that was written contrary or against us. He became a curse for us
so that we won’t be bound by the curse of the law. By doing that He:
1)
Redeemed us from poverty. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet
for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become
rich.”
2)
Redeemed us from spiritual death (separation from God). Because of what
Jesus did, we are now connected to God once again. There are people that
eat, drink, move, walk but are dead, according to God. God calls
separation from Him, death. So by becoming out substitute, Jesus revived us
from death and brought us back to God.
3)
Redeemed us from sickness. He gave us the right to live a healthy life.
By becoming our substitute, Christ bought us back and brought us back.
Romans 6:23- “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hebrews 9:22- “And according to the law almost all things are purified with
blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
The only possible way for us to escape death is through Jesus. That’s why He
shed His blood for us, in order to purify us from our sins and save us from
eternal death. All that He did was for us, and all that we have now is due
to that fact. When we realize that all we have now was given to us by Him,
it won’t be so hard for us to lay down who we are to Him. When we lay down
who we are, we’re not laying down what Christ didn’t already lay down for
us.
People believe that Christ died for their sins, which is completely true.
However, although they believe that He substituted for their sins, they
don’t believe that he also gave us victory over everything.
Jesus has substituted in every way.
He took everything to the cross, and it didn’t end at the cross. He still
substitutes for us in every aspect of life. We need to look beyond the
cross, meaning, don’t just stop at salvation. Know the fullness of what
Jesus did for us and what He is still able to do for us!
The reality of substitution is that it isn’t just something spiritual that’s
unable to be grasped, as many perceive it to be. It is as real to us as the
things we see and touch.
Romans 6:3-5- “Or
do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,
certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection.” A lot of times people go to the extent of the likeness of His
death but don’t go further or beyond that. However, the scripture clearly
says that we are also like Him in His resurrection.
February 24, 2008
1 John 3:1-2
1 John 3:7-10
2 Peter 1:4
Christianity is hard when you try to do it all by yourself, without the
Substitute. When you decide the same thing that Paul decided in Galatians
2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me,” Christianity becomes easy because it
will be the Substitute living through you.
Jesus already cleared out the path for us so our walk will be smooth. John
the Baptist cleared out the path for Jesus and similarly, Jesus has become
our John the Baptist. He cleared the way for us so we could walk with
purpose and with authority because He has already conquered everything.
Jesus did everything for us (now our walk is like a rerun). No matter what
comes up in the way, we are supposed to relax because we already know the
ending; we already know that Jesus is victorious no matter what. When people
don’t understand the substitution, they try to do what’s already done and
struggle to win what has already been won. God doesn’t want us to start from
struggle, but rather He wants us to start from rest. Jesus came and said, “I
know you are limited in your natural so I’ll give you my super.” He added
super to our natural so we could operate in the supernatural. To confirm
this, He said, “I am the way…,” meaning, “I have made a way for you and that
way is ME!”
The reality of substitution is that, the ability of Jesus has become
our ability. When you understand
that reality, you’ll be sure and walk in the confidence that there is
nothing too high, nothing too low, nothing too hard etc. because you have
the strength of Jesus in you since He Himself, is your strength and there is
nothing that He didn’t already overcome. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit
will come and will direct you so if you listen to Him, you’ll be rest
assured that He will lead you to victory.
March 2, 2008
The reality of substitution is that we, through Christ, are seated in the
heavenly places. Yes, our physical self is here but our spiritual self is
seated with Him in the heavenly places. Since we are up there, the devil is
always under out feet so there is absolutely no reason to be scared of the
devil.
The reality of substitution is that we are made partakers of His divine
nature according to 2 Peter 1:4.
As a result, everything that God is we could be also. 1 John 4:17
tells us, “As He is, so are we in this world.” Therefore, as God is in
heaven, so are we here in this world.
When God said for us to imitate Him, He didn’t just say it without giving us
the ability to do so. To imitate is simply to act. An actor imitates
according to his/her script and according to what the director or producer
tells him/her. In our case, our script is the Word and our director and
producer is the Holy Spirit. He is here to guide us and reveal the Word to
us as well as to show us how we should live by the Word.
This world isn’t our home, we are just passing through. While we’re passing
through however, God wants us to enjoy it. He doesn’t want us to be broke
and in want all the time, but to live life to the fullest.
“The kingdom of God is
righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Through the reality of
substitution, there is nothing that God hasn’t done for us. It is our
responsibility however, to step in and be partakers of it all. The life that
God has called us isn’t just to lust upon the land beyond the Jordan, but to
cross over and enjoy the land where milk and honey flows.
March 16, 2008
Luke 9:1, 10:17
Mark 16:15
Matthew 28:18
These scripture tell us that God has given us authority.
1) Through the substitution, God gave us authority over demons:
Matthew 16:16- “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God.’”
2 Timothy 1:9- “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and
of love and of a sound mind.”
None of us, as Christians should be scared of the devil. Because of
what Jesus did, we have been given power over the devil so we should not be
scared of the devil in any way. Jesus said, “I have been all power and
authority…” and He didn’t keep all that power and authority to Himself, He
gave it to us!
Isn’t the devil afraid of Jesus? We see the devil being frightened and
asking Jesus, “‘what do you want with us, Son of God?’… ‘Have you come here
to torture us before the appointed time?’” in Matthew 8:29. Now when the
devil looks at you, he sees that he has been defeated because Christ lives
in you. However, when he finds out that you don’t have this knowledge, that
you don’t know the victory you have through Jesus Christ, when he sees that
there is no faith, he will play with you. God said in Hosea 4:6, “My people
are destroyed because of lack of knowledge.” When you don’t have knowledge,
you’re in darkness, and when you’re in darkness, the devil can easily defeat
you.
1 Peter 2:24- “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
Matthew 9:35- “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”
Acts 10:38- “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
This all means that today, a believer could rebuke sickness in the name of Jesus and the sickness will leave. Mark 16:17-18 says, “And these signs will follow those who believe: … they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” A believer can also lay hands and the sickness will leave, according to the scripture.
3) Jesus has authority over hunger and thirst:
Matthew 6:25-31
Isaiah 26:3- “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”
2 Corinthians 10:5- “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”
Because of what Jesus did, He wants us to live in prosperity. You shall not want anything because He supplies all your needs according to his riches in glory.
March 23, 2008
Even though Jesus was equal to God, He didn’t try to be, He lowered and humbled (emptied) himself. When the Father sent Him down, Jesus didn’t say, “No, I want to stay here, in the glory.” Instead, He obeyed and came down to the earth. When He came down, he became limited in a body because he was “born” and had flesh. He was obedient even to the point of death on the cross for which reason God exalted Him and gave Him a name that is above any other name.
5) John 3:17-21- “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ‘He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.’”
When Jesus says “carry my cross and follow me,” it means to carry the victory that was won over on the cross. When we carry His cross, we remember and rejoice in what He did for us.
Preached by: Pastor Teddy
Written by: Rebka Tekeste