Main Idea: When Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment we deserve.
Key Verses: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith” (Romans 3:23-25 NKJV).
Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness…” (1 Peter 2:24).
Illustration: A Russian general gave a command that anyone stealing food would be beaten with fifty lashes. Later, his men caught an old woman stealing food. The general said, “I gave the command, she must be beaten.” When they brought her out into the plaza, he gasped because it was his own mother. Because of his great love for her, he did not want her to suffer, but because of his sense of justice, he knew she must be punished. But, he also knew the punishment would kill her. So, he went down to his mother and released her from her bonds and brought her to his seat of authority and sat her down. Then he went and placed his hands in the bonds and commanded that he be punished in her place. Jesus put us in his place of authority and took our punishment on our behalf.