Christ's Body Given for Us unto God as Our Substitute

We often hear the words of the Savior, "This is my body which is given for you."

How often we fail to grasp the astounding truth contained in that short statement - for Christ was stating the great doctrine of vicarious atonement by substitution, upon which all our eternal hope lies!

We know He meant it as a sacrifice, because in the next sentence He declares His Blood to be shed for the remission of our sins.

Many foolish men who call themselves Christians try to reason out the method of atonement, rather than believe God's Word on the matter.

One of the most well-known is C. S. Lewis, who did not believe in the substitutionary atonement. In his book "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", Lewis portrays a theory of atonement in which Aslan gives himself to the White Witch in exchange for Edmund. In this heretical view, the Savior is our ransom to the Devil who owns us.

In his other writings, Lewis embraces works salvation apart from faith in the Lord Jesus, and describes his view that we cannot understand the atonement, so we should believe whatever theory suits us!

But the Scriptures speak expressly: Christ was fulfilling the type of the Passover, when God's people were spared, not from Satan's wrath, but God's wrath, when He saw the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

Indeed, the whole Old Testament sacrificial system was directed toward the appeasement of God's righteous judgment, not the Devil's.

The Lamb God provided for Isaac was to rescue him from a death which God had decreed.

Isaiah makes it clear: Christ was bruised by God for our sins. His body was delivered up to God's wrath in our place, that we might be set free!