A revolutionary perspective!

In my last post, I considered some contrasts between Nimrod and the Lord Jesus. The root distinction was between two perspectives in life, the first (Nimrod) put self at the centre of his world, the second (Christ) put God, and others, at the centre of His world.

The contrast can be seen clearly between what Nimrod valued, and what the Lord instructed His disciples to pray for in His well known guidance for prayer in Matt 6.9-13.

To Nimrod, his own reputation and renown was all important. His name was to be revered and respected.  He became famous and his desire was mirrored by those who built Babel "let us make us a name" (Gen 11.4). However, the Lord instructed His disciples to pray to the Father, "Hallowed be THY Name" (Matt 6.9).

Also, in the case of Nimrod, we are introduced to his kingdom. "And the beginning of His kingdom was Babel ..." (Gen 10.10). The picture is painted of a proud and successful king, having an extensive realm over which he had authority. However, the Lord instructed His disciples to pray "THY Kingdom come" (Matt 6.10).

Nimrod was a rebel at heart, his very name stressing the importance he placed on his own will. His will was followed in defiance of the will of God (see Gen 11.1-9). However, the Lord instructed His disciples to pray "THY will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6.10)

Finally, Nimrod was self-sufficient and independent, a "mighty hunter". However, the Lord instructed His disciples to maintain a dependent spirit "Give us this day our daily bread ..." (Matt 6.11).

How different we are expected to be! It is a good idea from time to time to ask ourselves the following questions:

1. Is my life lived for God's glory or my own?
2. Do I seek first God's Kingdom, or my own?
3. Do I follow God's will, or my own?
4. Am I trusting God, or am I trusting myself? Am I dependent or independent?

Nimrod's hearts desire could be summarised: "MINE is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever"! For us, as disciples of the Lord Jesus it should be very different! May our lives be witnesses to the fact that our prayer, our hearts desire, is "THINE is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen" (Matt 6.13).

Christ the contrast to Nimrod

The detail given in Genesis 10, shows that God's intention to repopulate the world by means of Noah and his sons was carried out (Gen 9.1).

Amongst the names listed, there is one that stands out. "Nimrod ... began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar" (Gen 10.8-10). 

An examination of Nimrod yields the following characteristics:

1. Nimrod had a Reputation. He was a "mighty one in the earth ... wherefore it is said 'Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD'."

2. Nimrod was a Rebel. His name means "rebel", and as the founder of "Babel", he must have been heavily involved in the rebellion of that place (see Ch 11.1-9). 

3. Nimrod was Ruthless. He was a "mighty hunter". 

4. Nimrod had a Realm. The "beginning of his kingdom was Babel ..." 

Nimrod was a man's man. Being rebellious, successful, famous, self-assertive, and authoritative, he gained renown and respect in the world. We do not have to look far to see the difference between Nimrod and God's Man - the Lord Jesus Christ! In fact, the distinct character of the Lord Jesus is seen clearly in one New Testament passage, Philippians 2.5-8. 

Rather than seeking a reputation, the Lord "made Himself of no reputation" (Phil 2.7). When He came, it was not to seek a name for Himself. He could say categorically " I seek not mine own glory" (John 8.50). The prominence, and pre-eminence, that was His in heaven, was certainly not His experience upon earth!

Rather than rebel, He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil 2.8). His was a path of obedience from the start. "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6.38). His path of obedience continued to the end, "even the death of the cross". He who was high, became humble. He who was rich became poor. 

Rather than being ruthless, we are instructed to "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2.5). What mindset marked Christ? That outlook which looked "not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Phil 2.4 ESV). It was His care for others, His concern for their welfare, that led Him to come from heaven. He is never described as a "hunter"! He is however described as a shepherd who went "after that which is lost until he find it" (Luke 15.4). 

Rather than having a physical realm, He "took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man He humbled himself" (Phil 2.7-8). Servant character and humility are not characteristics we associate with rulers over cities and nations in this world. The nature of Christ's rule presently is different however! He rules in the hearts of His people, and His rule is evident in the lives of those who manifest the same character as He did. 

Those who will, in the future, reign with Christ in the day of His manifest glory upon earth are characterised now by poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger for righteousness, purity of heart, a desire for peace, and are persecuted (see Matt 5.1-12). Hardly a list of characteristics we see in the rulers of this present world. 

What a glorious Lord we have! And, because of these delightful characteristics, God has "highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2.9-11). 

So, His Name will be remembered, and His Rule will be universal. What the Lord never sought after for His own glory, will all be His, "to the glory of God the Father". 

Christ as God's Image

In Genesis 9:6, a telling verse reveals that a new age had commenced and a new aspect of God's dealings with man had been inaugurated, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man".

In this verse we see man as resembling and representing God, for he is made in God's image. We also see him rebelling against God, for in shedding man's blood, in committing murder, he desecrates and destroys God's representative upon earth and thereby exhibits the deepest depravity of the human heart. Man also acts in righteous retribution for God, for in response to the deepest depravity, the most severe sentence is to be executed, "by man shall his blood be shed". Man acting as judge in taking the life of the murderer was not desecrating the image of God but upholding the value of that image in man by executing righteous retribution upon one who would commit such evil.

How does this speak of Christ? In the New Testament on two occasions the Greek word eikon is used of the Lord Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15). This word is rendered "image" and has a similar meaning to the Hebrew word used in Gen 9:6.

As the image of God, the Son of God represents the "invisible God". He also perfectly resembles God, being Himself God "manifest in flesh". He could say "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9) and it is recorded that "No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1:18).

If I want to know what God is like I examine the Son and I find a full revelation of God's person and character for, "There is no thought in the mind of God but Christ is it's expression; there is no glory in God but Christ is it's manifestation" (William Lincoln).

How solemn this makes the rejection and murder of the Son of God! In the parable told by the Lord, the guilty tenants of the vineyard said "This is the heir, come let us kill him" (Matt 21:38). The apostles preached (Acts 3:14-15) and prayed (Acts 4:24-28) as if the ultimate crime against God had been committed at Calvary - and it had!

Everything that Jesus did, and everything that He said, perfectly revealed God to man. No excuse therefore can be made that God was poorly represented or incorrectly resembled by the Son. How did man treat this perfect "Image"? He spat in the face of his Creator, and set about to kill the "author of life" (Acts 3:15)! He gave to Christ the cross, the cruelest form of execution known to men, thus revealing the deep well of his depravity by his attitude to the Creator.

Is it any wonder then that men will be punished eternally for this most heinous of crimes? Never let us forget that "He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him" (John 5:23). The Man whom they "slew and hanged on a tree" (Acts 5:30) has God's "authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:27). One day those who have stood in judgment upon the Saviour, and have rejected Him, will stand before Him and tremble as they recognise their Judge to be the One they despised and hated. They will receive righteous retribution for the ultimate crime, the damning sin of Christ-rejection. Their question then will not be "What shall I do with Jesus?" but "What will He do with me?"

"True Image of the Infinite
Whose essence is concealed,
Brightness of uncreated light
The heart of God revealed: 
Worthy O Lamb of God art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow!" 

Christ the Pleasing Aroma

When Noah left the Ark, he "builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour ..." (Gen 8:20-21).

The words "sweet savour" mean a "pleasant smell" or a "soothing aroma" (NKJV). It could be translated as "an aroma of rest". Thus, linked with the offering made by Noah there was to the LORD a pleasant, satisfying, restful, soothing aroma.

Christ ... a sweet smelling savour

This offering illustrates (as do the vast majority of OT offerings) the offering of the Lord Jesus. In Eph 5:2 we read "Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour". 

When the Saviour "through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" (Heb 9:14), He brought infinite pleasure, satisfaction, and rest to God's heart. Here was One upon earth who honoured God in everything, and who gave everything to God. This is more fully told out in the Burnt Offering of Leviticus 1.

We ... a sweet savour of Christ

A related truth is revealed by the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16. In v15 he notes "we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish ...".

Paul speaks in the context of his service for God. He likens the forward march of Christ to the triumphal procession made by Roman Conquerors. In the victory parade of a triumphant Roman general, captives were led along and incense was burned, producing a sweet smell. Paul sees in his own service a number of parallels.

First, he is in the train of Christ, conquered by the mighty victor, a willing captive to grace. We sometimes speak of "surrendering to Christ", and it is those who submit to His authority and own Him as their Lord and Saviour who are eternally blessed.

Second, he is an incense bearer. The victory parade was all for the glory of the triumphant conqueror, and the incense declared this. To some this aroma was associated with humiliating defeat and death, to others it was the smell of triumph, joy and celebration. So we are "to God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish". As we spread the Gospel, we are fragrant to God with the very aroma of Christ.

Paul further explains "To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life ..." (2 Cor 2:16). How solemn this is, and yet how encouraging too! It means that, as Christ is magnified, there are results in both the salvation and damnation of souls. In our preaching of the Gospel we often measure success by the salvation of souls. There is a sense in which this is true, but only a limited sense. Our ultimate goal should be the glory of Christ and the pleasure of God. Let us take encouragement that, while we strive for the salvation of sinners, and God desires the salvation of "all men" (1 Tim 2:4), yet when people refuse to bow their wills and trust the Lord, Christ is still glorified, and God still receives pleasure from our service and Gospel proclamation.

May God help us to rejoice in what He appreciates of the person of Christ. And may the Lord enable us to be involved in spreading the Gospel with the assurance that God "through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of [Christ] everywhere" (2 Cor 2:14, ESV). 

As He is, so are we!

Noah's Ark reminds me of a sublime truth which is often not enjoyed/understood by believers. It relates to our identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. God views Christ as our representative and, as such, what He has experienced is reckoned to be true of the people He represents. The Ark serves to illustrate this:

The Ark passed through the waters of judgment once, and emerged triumphant to rest eventually on Ararat. Never again must the Ark take that journey through the flood waters. Noah and his family likewise passed through the waters (inside the Ark), and when they made their exit from the Ark, the waters of judgment were forever behind them.

The apostle John records that "[Christians] may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4.17). The meaning is that with respect to judgment, God views each believer as being in the same position as the Son of God, "as He is, so are we". This gives great confidence for the "day of judgment".

As far as the Son of God is concerned, judgment is forever behind Him. It happened once when, under the hand of God, "He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities" (Is 53.5). At Calvary, the "LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Is 53.6), and the flood waters of divine wrath swept over Him. But He has emerged from those waters, and He will never enter them again. The Son of God, in a finite period of time, bore the infinite wrath of God against sin. It was a never-to-be-repeated event of history. He was "once offered to bear the sins of many", He "offered one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Heb 9.28, 10.12). We are sanctified "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb 10.10).

So, for the risen Son of God all judgment is past. But the wonder is that, "as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4.17)! In the reckoning of God our judgment is also past, and we stand now before God in all the acceptability of the risen Christ! Just as my judgment was borne by Christ, so my righteous status before God is "in Christ", for He is my representative. What boldness, what confidence this gives!

"Death and judgment are behind me,
Grace and glory are before;
All the billows rolled o'er Jesus,
There they spent their utmost power.

First-fruits of the resurrection,
He is risen from the tomb;
Now we stand in new creation,
Free, because beyond our doom."

(Mrs J A Trench 1843-1925)

"No condemnation O my soul
'Tis God that speaks the Word
Perfect in comeliness art thou
In Christ thy glorious Lord"

(R C Chapman 1803-1902)

Christ in the Ark

One of the most well known Old Testament pictures of the Lord Jesus is Noah's Ark. We will consider this briefly as follows:

The Ark was Salvation

The intent of God when he instructed Noah to build an Ark was to "keep ... alive" Noah, his family, and the animals (Gen 6.19). It was intended as the means of salvation from the coming "flood of water" which God had promised would "destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life" (6.17).

God provided the Ark in spite of the fact that no-one deserved His protection from the judgment for sin, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Gen 6.8).  In the Bible, the whole concept of "grace" is best described as God's kindness shown to those who are completely undeserving of it.

Now, while this was true in those days, it is most encouraging to see in the New Testament that "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" (Titus 2.11). This "grace of God" appeared in the incarnation, perfect life, atoning sacrifice, and triumphant resurrection of the Son of God. The "Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4.14), He did not send His Son into the world "to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3.17).

So just as the Ark was the salvation of Noah and his family, Christ is the salvation of every soul who trusts Him. A short time after His birth He was brought to the temple and, when Simeon saw Him, he said to God "mine eyes have seen Thy salvation" (Luke 2.30).

The Ark was Submerged

In order to provide the salvation that Noah needed, it was essential that the Ark be able to endure the storm of divine judgment. The "fountains of the great deep" would be "broken up, and the windows of heaven ... opened" (7.11). The flood-waters would "prevail" upon the earth (7.18, 19, 20, 24). The flood was the outpouring of divine justice upon a world that was filled with corruption, violence, immorality, and wickedness of every kind. The result of this devastating outpouring of God's righteous wrath is summed up "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died" (7.22). To be the means of safety, the Ark must be able to withstand, and endure, the divine judgment in it's entirety.

All of this beautifully pictures Calvary. There, He who was the perfect Saviour, became the holy Sufferer. He was surrounded in, and submerged under, the flood of divine justice. The storm of God's wrath against sin fell upon Him. Prophetically He said, "I sink in deep mire where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me" (Ps 69.2). "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Ps 42.7). "Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves" (Ps 88.7). 

"On Him almighty vengeance fell
That would have sunk a world to hell
He bore it for a ruined race
And thus becomes my Hiding-Place"

While the Ark was for a period surrounded by the flood, it emerged triumphant and eventually "rested ... upon the mountains of Ararat" (8.4). The very day it rested (being the seventeenth day of the seventh month) equates to the day of the resurrection of Christ*. So Christ who suffered for sins, and was submerged under divine judgment, has emerged triumphant from the tomb! He not only "died for our sins according to the Scriptures", He "was buried" and "rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15.3-4).

The Ark was Secure

The security of all those who entered the Ark is confirmed in two ways.

First: Once Noah and his family took the step of faith and entered through the door into the Ark, they no longer needed to worry about their safety for "the LORD shut him in" (Gen 7.16). And, if the Lord shuts a door we can be assured that no-one is capable of opening it (Comp. Job 12.14; Rev 3.7)!

Second: All those who entered through the door into the Ark were, according to the divine record, kept safe from judgment, and landed safely on the dry land. Notice how explicitly this is stated "And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons wives with him" (8.18, Comp 7.13), and of the animals, "Every beast, every creeping thing ... every fowl ... whatsoever creepeth ... went forth out of the ark" (8.19).

We cannot help but see in this an illustration of the eternal security of all those who enter into Christ by faith. When a sinner comes to the Saviour, trusting Him as the only means of Salvation, they entrust their eternal preservation to Him, and they can rest assured in His ability to keep that which is entrusted to Him (comp 2 Tim 1.12). In a future day, the saying of the Son of God will be gloriously true "Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none" (John 18.9). "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8.1).

Safe in Christ the weakest child 

Stands in all God's favour

All in Christ are reconciled

Through that only Saviour

Safe in Christ; safe in Christ! 

He's their glory ever;

None can pluck them from His hand,

They shall perish never.

Once their sins on every side, 

Seemed to tower over them

Christ has stemmed the angry tide;

Been through death before them.

In His death they've crossed the sea,

Passed through condemnation;

Well may they triumphant be;

Saved through God's salvation.

Now by faith the justified

Know that God is for them;

To the world they're crucified,

Glory is before them. 

(Anon)

* This is one possible reckoning of the date. Remembering that the 7th month was changed to the 1st month by the LORD at the institution of the Passover.   

Christ in Noah (4)

Concluding our consideration of Noah, we intend to look at the Responsibility he had.

Noah and Responsibility 

Noah was entrusted with an exceedingly important work for God. His family was dependent upon the proper completion of his work, as was the survival of the animal population. God saw fit to place this responsibility upon one man.

The plan originated in the heart of God, but it was down to Noah to move in obedience and to embrace his responsibility. We see that he did this perfectly, for a repeated refrain in the record of Noah is "Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (see Gen 6.22, 7.5, 7.9, 7.16).

The Lord Jesus was also entrusted with a work, the magnitude of which cannot be fathomed. It was too great a work to be placed into the hand of any mere mortal, and no angel or arch-angel was sufficient! However, there was One equal to the task, and God instructs us "Behold My Servant" (Isaiah 42.1; 52.13).

The work involved providing salvation for the world, for "God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3.17), and the Father had perfect confidence that the Son could, and would, complete the task.

Not only could and would the Son of God do it, at Calvary He did do it, and the words written of Noah here could be written over the Saviour "according to all that God commanded Him, so did He" (Gen 6.22).

Noah built an ark according to the divine plan, and the moment came when, with the ark completed, deliverance was available. The Son of God has provided salvation by His death according to the divine plan, and with that work finished, salvation is now available.

"Oh wondrous grace that found a plan,
To rescue guilty fallen man,
And ease him of his load;
And found a ransom in the Son,
To save the sinner, lost, undone,
And meet the claims of God"

The responsibility entrusted to the Saviour was to provide salvation - and He has done it. The responsibility now rests upon the sinner to enter into the salvation provided. Only those who enter into salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus are safe from coming judgment. Noah's family were called, "Come ... into the Ark" (Gen 7.1), and by taking a step of obedience they entered into safety. So every sinner is called by the Lord, "Come unto Me", and those who respond in obedient faith, enter into eternal salvation. May you live up to that responsibility today.

"Only a step to Jesus, 
Then why not take it now!"

Christ in Noah (3)

Closely linked with the Righteousness of Noah, which we considered in our previous post, was his Reputation. Let us examine this briefly:

Noah and Reputation

Noah was "perfect in his generations" (Gen 6.9), and the meaning of this is likely that he was blameless among his contemporaries.

No-one could point the finger at Noah. He was no hypocrite. He was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2.5), and, as we have seen, before he ever preached righteousness he practiced it! His life matched his lip; his walk and his words were in perfect harmony.

In this again we see the sinless Saviour. Luke, who wrote both the Gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles, draws our attention to "all that Jesus began both to do and to teach" (Acts 1.1). If there had been the hairs-breadth of a difference between His morals and His message, His enemies would have found it and exploited it to the full, but while they tried hard, they could not. It was in the certain consciousness of this that the Lord challenged His opponents "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8.46), and it was because of this "they sought false witness against Him" (Matt 26.59).

The life of Christ was lived out in the open, under the gaze of men, and there was none who could throw mud that would stick. The scrutiny was intense and unsympathetic. If the scribes or Pharisees caught the wiff of a possibility of double standards, they were onto it like a bloodhound (ignoring their own hypocrisy), but they could find nothing of the sort in Him. Pilate, that shrewd, calculating, experienced judge of men must acknowledge that "I, having examined Him ... have found no fault in this man ...".  No skeleton hidden in any dark corner or cupboard could be found, nor will it ever be, for as Peter notes "He did no sin" (1 Peter 2.22).

Sadly, down through the centuries the cause of Christ has been hindered by the hypocrisy of Christians. It was Mahatma Ghandi who said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ". Now, while Ghandi was far from an authority on the person of the Lord Jesus, and His understanding of Christ was fundamentally flawed, we can still apply the spirit of his criticism. Sadly as Christians we often are not as Christ-like as we should be. May the Lord help us to ensure that our lives have the same transparency and honesty as His did. 

"Give me a faithful heart, likeness to Thee.

That each departing day henceforth may see
Some work of love begun, some deed of kindness done,
Some wanderer sought and won, something for Thee"

(Saviour Thy Dying Love.  Sylvanus D Phelps)

Christ in Noah (2)

In our previous post we mentioned that Noah means "rest", and we considered the rest that can be found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this post we contemplate Noah and his Righteousness, and we see in this a faint preview of the perfect moral righteousness of Christ.

Noah and Righteousness

That Noah's life was in stark contrast with the world in which he lived is evident in a cursory reading of Genesis 6. Having stated that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (6.5), the description given of Noah is a welcome relief: "Noah was a just man" (6.9). 

The word "just" means righteous, honest, and upright. Of course, when applied to Noah, it is either used in a relative sense (that is in contrast to others upon earth), or it is used in a reckoning sense (that is, God has accounted him so on the basis of faith, see Gen 15.6), for the sad condition of the human race is that, in an absolute moral sense, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3.10). 

However, there can be found one exception to this rule. The Lord Jesus was not merely righteous in a relative sense, as compared with other men; nor was He merely righteous as being reckoned so by God - He was absolutely, inherently, perfectly, and personally righteous. 

Of the Lord it is said, by the very Centurion responsible to oversee His crucifixion, "Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23.47). Now the Lord had been crucified. He was hanging between thieves enduring the death-sentence of a criminal - yet the Centurion could not fail to see that He was "righteous". 

It is a marvellous truth to mull over. Upon earth there was a Man who was perfectly upright, honest, and sincere. His life was transparent. No matter how far back into His past a person may look, and no matter how deep down into His heart a person might probe - there was nothing shady to be discovered! He was trustworthy. No mis-step ever needed retraced, and no half-truth ever needed to be repented of. He always spoke the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As a boy growing up He did not cheat, and He did not lie to defend Himself. As a young man He was never dishonest - there was no dodgy dealing in that carpenter's shop! No pressure would cause Him to relax His principles, for He "loved righteousness and hated iniquity" (Heb 1.9) and every choice He ever made was for good. At every stage of His life, in every circumstance of life, He walked in perfect obedience to every moral duty enshrined in the Scriptures. In doing so, He pleased the Father.

It is well that this was so! Peter emphasised just how important when he declared, "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3.18). It was essential that He who would stand as a substitute for the sinner be perfectly sinless Himself.  Christ suffered as the righteous for the unrighteous, the holy for the unholy, the perfect for the imperfect, the sinless Son of God for sinful men. Thank God, He suffered for my sins.

"Wounded for me, wounded for me, 
There on the Cross He was wounded for me.
Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,
All because Jesus was wounded for me"