In My Place?

Understanding Christianity and the Love of Jesus Christ

There is a crucial difference between the understanding that Jesus Christ died in my place and the Biblical statement that I was crucified with Christ.  The difference? "In my place" only my sin was transferred to Him so that He could deal with the punishment for sin in my place. In "I was crucified with Him"  me, a sinner and my sin, was united to Him by Himself on the cross, so that He could deal with ME, a sinner, AND my sin on the cross.  Sin is the symptom of a serious problem in the heart of man.  Not only the symptom but the heart of the problem must be treated.  It is a significant difference that must be considered  seriously  to really appreciate the width, depth and height of His love for mankind.

One last question.  Why was it necessary for Almighty God, Jesus Christ the Son of Man, to die? God is just.  All mankind is estranged from God as a result of sin (disobedience).  God did not leave it at that.  Mankind is the apple of His eye and therefor His plan of reconciliation includes all mankind (See annexure: ELECTION).  But He could have just spoken to all mankind and their sins would be forgiven and  they would receive eternal life and a new heart.  After all, He is God.  So why the cross?  Because mankind needed to be "repaired, made new and presentable ", mankind needed to lose their sinful nature and receive a new nature acceptable to God i.e. an obedient nature, we needed to be born again by Him.  Mankind needed to be resurrected from death to life, remembering that a dead person cannot help himself.  He had to wrest us from the grip of sin and Satan i.e. death.  And that is what happened on the cross by Jesus for all mankind and for you and me:  IN CHRIST ALL MANKIND IS JUSTLY BROUGHT BACK TO ETERNAL LIFE, AND RECONCILED TO GOD, BUT ONLY THOSE WHO SOMEWHERE IN POINT OF TIME BELIEVE IN HIM AND REPENT with the help of the Holy Spirit, receive their personal reconciliation: forgiveness, eternal life, and their new heart, obtained for us on the cross, from Jesus Christ.  Those who refuse to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and choose to keep their sinful natures, do not receive this reconciliation BECAUSE  FAITH IN HIM AND REPENTANCE BY A SINNER, IS A PRECONDITION TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD.   Thus God's grace is for all mankind but there could be no universal pardon  God did not make mankind robots.  He gave mankind, right from the beginning until now, a choice - so the choice now is still yours.  (Adam and Eve had a choice: obey God or the serpent -  and made a fatal choice.  God in His grace here and now, gives us a second chance to make the right decision and if we do, bless us beyond our wildest expectations!)