“Our Substitute” is part of the “Paying Ransoms and Making Deals” sermon series, focusing on the central theme of Jesus Christ as the ultimate substitute for humanity’s sins. Drawing from Isaiah 53 and other key scriptures, the sermon emphasizes that no religion, human effort, or sacrifice can replace the perfect substitution of Jesus on the cross. Through His willing sacrifice, Jesus bore the punishment for sin that we deserved, offering salvation to all who believe. The message explores how Christ fulfilled the role of substitute in both prophetic and sacrificial symbolism, making Him the only one who could redeem mankind.
Sermon Audio
Sermon Video
Sermon Notes
Isaiah 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we
esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes
we are healed.
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.
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”),
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for
the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God,
might taste death for everyone.
I should have been crucified, I should have suffered and died
I should have hung on the cross in disgrace, but Jesus God’s Son took my place
Romans 8:31 “… If God is for us, who can be against us?
I. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SUBSTITUTE.
Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they may be saved.
Romans 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge.
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness
of God.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
who believes.
Religion is no substitute for the Substitute.
John 16:2 ” … Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers
God service.
Mark 10:18 “… No one is good but One, that is, God.
Human effort is no subsitute for the Substitute.
Galatians 2:21 “… if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
The worst form of badness is human goodness when that human goodness
becomes a substitute for the new birth .
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like
filthy rags;
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God,
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Acts 2:23 Him, …you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
II. THE SINNER MUST HAVE A SUBSTITUTE.
Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and
clothed them.
The ram substituting for Abraham’s son Issac symbolized Jesus.
Genesis 22:11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and
said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
Genesis 22:12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything
to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son,
your only son, from Me.”
Genesis 22:13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him
was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram,
and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
The animal sacrifices symbolized the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus.
Leviticus 1:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of
you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—
of the herd and of the flock.
Leviticus 1:3 ‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male
without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle
of meeting before the Lord.
Leviticus 1:4 Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it
will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
The Scapegoat was a symbol of the Substitute Jesus.
Leviticus 16:20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and
the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Leviticus 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat,
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their
transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall
send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Leviticus 16:22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not
inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
W.D. Davies in his book “Paul and Rabbinic Judaism,” says that in the Temple
at Jerusalem, every year there were sacrificed 1,093 lambs, 113 bulls, 37 rams,
and 32 goats.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take
away sins.
III. JESUS IS THE SINNER’S ONLY SUBSTITUTE.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold!
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for
the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God,
might taste death for everyone.
1 John 1:7 “… and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
Bruce Springsteen (quote)
“As I grew older, sometimes I wondered who went in my place. Somebody did.
What was his fate? Did he live? I’ll never know. Maybe it was another dose of
my survivor’s guilt … over those who went and fought in my place.”
IV. JESUS WAS THE WILLING SUBSTITUTE.
John 10:17 “… I lay down My life that I may take it again.
John 10:18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it again.This command I have received from My Father.”
Scripture References:
- Isaiah 53:4-5
- 1 Peter 2:24
- Galatians 3:13
- Hebrews 2:9
- Romans 10:1-4
- John 16:2
- Mark 10:18
- Galatians 2:21
- Isaiah 64:6
- Ephesians 2:8-9
- Acts 2:23
- Genesis 3:21
- Genesis 22:11-13
- Leviticus 1:2-4
- Leviticus 16:20-22
- Hebrews 10:4
- John 1:29
- 1 John 1:7
- John 15:13
- John 10:17-18
