The Substitute

Songs of the Church Devotion for March 3, 2020

?“Savior When in Dust to Thee” stanza 2

?“By Thy helpless infant years, By Thy life of want and tears, By Thy days of deep distress In the savage wilderness, By the dread, mysterious hour Of the_insulting tempter’s pow’r, Turn, O turn a fav’ring eye; Hear our penitential cry!”

?You will often hear people say that we are saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.?While that is absolutely true, it’s not the whole story.?The whole truth is that we are saved by the LIFE, death and resurrection.?Jesus not only died in our place.?He lived in our place.?He lived the life we fail to live.?He is everything God has commanded us to be but failed to be.

??The theologians give this distinction names – passive and active obedience.?In His passive obedience Jesus laid down his life, surrendered to His enemies, allowed them to take his life, did nothing but hand on a cross and die.?In his active obedience, Jesus obeyed God’s commands, went out to face he devil and resisted temptation, healed the sick, cared for those in need, loved all people.?He actively obeyed God in thought, word and deed.

?This stanza describes our Lord’s active obedience.?“By Thy helpless infant years, By Thy life of want and tears, By Thy days of deep distress In the savage wilderness, By the dread, mysterious hour Of the insulting tempter’s pow’r, Turn, O turn a fav’ring eye; Hear our penitential cry!?

?The writer of Hebrews describes the importance of our Lord’s active obedience this way – “Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.?For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”?

?There is such good news in our Lord’s active obedience.?First He has lived our life.?He has experienced firsthand our struggles, pains, joys and sorrows.??When we pray to Jesus, we pray to the God who is one of us, who understands our prayers and sympathizes with our weaknesses. That’s why He can turn “fav’ring eye” to “hear our penitential cry.”???Second, He experienced our lives in in every way except one- He was without sin.?That my friend is the reason He could offer His life in passive obedience on the cross to save us.?Therefore, returning to Hebrews “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”