Christ, our suffering Substitute is Worthy to be King!
By Jay Wegter
The Most Blessed Exchange
He was condemned, that we might be acquitted. He was spared not, that we might be spared. He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He left heaven, that we might gain heaven. He became a citizen of earth so that we might become citizens of the Father’s Kingdom. He became poor, that by His poverty, we might become rich. He died, that we might never die. He became the object of God’s wrath, that we might be saved from God’s wrath and become the objects of God’s eternal favor. He became a bondservant obedient unto death, that we might be delivered from the bondage of sin and death. He obeyed as a perfect Son, that we might be adopted as sons and made perfect in Him. He fulfilled all of the requirements of a conditional covenant, in order that we might be brought into an unconditional covenant of grace.
With our sin upon Him, He became alienated from the Father, that we might be forever reconciled to the Father. He became a curse for us, that we might we might be redeemed from the curse of the Law. He was born under the Law so that we might be delivered from the condemnation of the Law. He was glorified in our nature, that our nature might be glorified in Him. He had our sin imputed to Himself, that we might have His righteousness imputed to us.
He was foreknown and consecrated by God as Savior, that we might be foreknown and predestined in Him for salvation (1 Pet 1:20-21). He was made lower than angels for a little while, that we might be raised above angels forever. He bore our guilt so that we might be pardoned of our guilt. He received stripes and wounds, that we might be healed of our deadly wounds of sin. He submitted to humiliation, that we might be honored and spared eternal shame. He suffered for the truth, that we might come to know the truth, love the truth, be set free by the truth, and be sanctified by the truth. He partook of our natural condition, that He might deliver us from our moral condition.
He became a man of sorrows, that we might have His joy. He accepted our lot, that we might gain His glory. He emptied Himself, that we might be filled. He became thirsty, that we might never thirst. He was made like us, that we might be made like Him. He partook of our flesh so that we might partake of His Spirit. He joined Himself to our race, that we might be joined to Him and made one spirit with Him. His soul was distressed unto death, that our souls might have perfect rest in Him. He suffered all sorts of temptation, that He might come to our aid and deliver us from temptation.
He made all of our soul’s enemies His enemies that we might be delivered from them and become His friends forever. He entered the crushing “cog-works” of God’s justice, that He might reap the penalty of what we had sown. He took our place that we might reap the benefit of what He had sown in righteousness. He left glory to occupy a body of dust so that we might go from dust to glory. He became so poor as to have no place to lay His head, that we might have an eternal home in His Father’s house. He took the sting out of death so that we might be delivered from the second death. He was raised from the dead as “first fruits,” that we might be raised with Him unto eternal life. He left His Father’s throne so that we might sit upon His throne with Him.