As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm really enjoying Galatians. Paul gives us such a high view of Christ even though it this is probably one of the first New Testament books. Viewing Jesus as fully God and fully man is not something that developed over time. Instead, it has been the churches' understanding of Jesus' deity as equal to God because that is who Jesus said He is.
Galatians 3:10-14 is a great explanation of what Christ has done for us through His death. Paul explains that depending on our own works for salvation (living according to the Law) puts us under a curse. We are cursed because to depend on our own righteousness and works means we must keep all points of the Law to be successful. Of course, no one is able to keep all points of the Law because we are all born with a sin nature.
This is where Christ comes in. He died on the cross and "became a curse for us" for all who place their faith in Him. He took our punishment and placed it upon Himself. This calls to my mind when I would be punished by being sent to my room to think about what I had done, knowing that at the end of my thinking time was a spanking. I dreaded that spanking and can remember wishing I could somehow get out of my punishment. (By the way, I still got the spankings. Their was no reprieve from the governor.)
God does not cancel our punishment for our sin. God is so holy and just that He cannot ignore sin. To ignore sin would be to violate His character traits of holiness. Rather than cancel our debt, He pays it for us through Jesus. He did for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
The substitutionary atonement is scoffed at by a lot of people today. It is one of the major assaults on Christianity in post-Christian cultures of Western Europe and in the U.S. However, passages like Galatians 3 reminds us that Christ willingly became that curse for us. He died in our place so that we could have fellowship with God.
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