Jesus Completed God’s Plan

When Adam sinned we all became sinners because that first human represented all who would descend from him. Jesus represented those who come to him trusting in his saving work on the cross.

1. Jesus suffered and died in place of those who woud sincerely trust in what he accomplished. The guilt of their sins was taken up by him according to God’s eternal plan. He was credited with the sinful thoughts, words, and behaviors of his people. We call this “imputation“. When he died, he completely paid the penalty for his people’s sins.

2. There is another imptation accomplished by our Savior. He represented his people in the life he lived perfectly. His own perfectly holy life is credited to them. Those who put their trust in what our Savior accomplished have the innocence and obedience of Jesus laid upon them. They are seen by God a righteous and innocent because of their representative’s innocence. They are credited with the truly good things he did during his life on earth.

God did not teach his people the whole lesson right away. He had his ancient people bring animals to sacrifice for their sins. The death of the animals did not take away their sins. When they sacrificed with a sincere trust in God’s promise that one day a sacrifice would be made by the promised Savior they were forgiven and counted as righteous. That sacrifice was the yet future death of Jesus Christ.

We don’t make sacrifices any more because Jesus has completed God’s plan. He was what the sacrifices were teaching about. God does not just ignore our sins. That would not be right. Sin requires death as its penalty. The only just way to forgive us for our sins was to pay for them by a special Redeemer. Jesus was the only one who could pay that penalty in our place.

Adam was our first representative. He brought sin upon all humans because of his one sin. Jesus was our other representative. He brought us forgiveness because he paid the penalty for the sins of his people.

Lesson 6: How do we become one of God’s people?
Index of our lessons on Bible Basics
(Bible verses are quoted from the New King James Version of the Bible)