“Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.”
1 Peter 3:18 NLT
This verse has to be one of the most important and profound verses in the Bible. It is just tucked away in the middle of Peter’s first letter, and added almost as an afterthought. “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time”. We of course know well the verse John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life“. But we should note what this verse doesn’t say. It does not imply that Jesus repeatedly came to Planet Earth. He came but once. And Peter very clearly said that His coming and suffering was for all time, implying past, present and future, and all for the forgiveness of our sins. God’s timing was impeccable. We read in Romans 5:6,8, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. … But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“.
In some inexplicable way, God has ordained that His Son’s sacrifice was sufficient to cover all of mankind’s sins, past, present and future. His grace is so extensive that it utterly blows our minds! We just cannot fully understand what that means. Just for one person, forgiving all the sins he or she has ever committed is an act of love and grace not usually expected. Paul, in Romans 5:7, made that clear, “Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good“. Perhaps we can get a glimpse of what this means by the story of Barabbus. He was a Jewish revolutionary, some would label him a terrorist, intent on trying to oust the hated Roman occupiers in Palestine. His capture and trial decreed that he would be put to death, most probably by crucifixion. But imagine how he felt when the crowd demanded that he was released and Jesus crucified in his place. That is how we sinners must feel. We knew that because of our sins we were facing into the certainty of an eternity spent in hell. The only option we might have felt justified in doing was to follow the Jewish law as closely as possible, in the hope that it would be enough to get us into Heaven. But even that would not have been good enough. Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). The sobering reality is that God sets the bar too high for human beings to reach it.
God’s gracious plan was to send Someone else, His very own Son, to die instead of us, taking on Himself the punishment for our sins. A universal and sufficient sacrifice once for all time. But the offer of forgiveness of sins and Jesus’ righteousness will not be on the table forever. There are two critical dates, neither of which we know anything about. The first is the date of our death, because after this repentance and forgiveness for our sins will not be possible. The second date is when God brings this age to an end and brings about the Revelation 20 events. But in the meantime all who are still alive and breathing have the opportunity to grasp the most profound and important event we are ever likely to experience. We pilgrims have grasped it with both hands. In the meantime, we have an opportunity to plead with those we know to grasp it too. Jesus never sinned and yet He was put to death so that our sins would be dealt with. And because of that single act of grace and sacrifice, He gave us His righteousness. The Divine Exchange. There is none better.
Dear Father God. Jesus came once and for all to deal with our sins. We are really grateful. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 