Penalty

God so loved the world that He sent His Son. Jesus, fully-God and fully-man, died on the cross as the penalty for our sin. When we trust in the Son, the Father accredits Christ’s righteousness to us and declares us “not guilty.” God the Spirit takes up residence in us and enables us to live a life that pleases God.

The penalty of sin is death, a penalty that Jesus took on himself. “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b). Because of Jesus, eternal death passes over us, and we pass over from physical death to eternal life.

Just as poison at the beginning of a stream contaminates the entire stream, so sin at the beginning of the human race contaminates us all. “All have sinned,” and that sin separates us from God. Actually God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He sent his Son to pay sin’s penalty by his death on the cross.

Mission accomplished? Only the Father and His willing Son saw beyond what looked like a miserable ending. That day Jesus took on His most important work. On the cross, He took our sins and paid our penalty. Then He cried out one word, “Tetelestai,” which means “paid in full,” and died. Mission accomplished!

Jesus’ question to the Father was a deep cry of His unfathomable love for us.  Even when He felt forsaken by the Father, even when He didn’t know how much longer He could hold on, even when the pain was unimaginable, Jesus never gave up. He never gave in. Jesus paid for sin in its deepest and fullest penalty for you and me.

The Almighty took on flesh and made His dwelling among us. His existence was for this painful purpose. Sin had separated man from God. Death was sin’s penalty. Jesus, fully God and fully man, took on death for us. The Sinless One died for sinful man. The penalty of sin was paid for in full at the cross. He sacrificed Himself for you.

Jesus was not a victim. He did not find Himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was not a casualty at the hands of the religious leaders or Roman authorities. Jesus went to the cross on His own accord and for a purpose. The penalty of sin is death. Jesus took this punishment on our behalf. He bore our sins in His body on the cross. He died so we could live.