6605 Substitutionary atonement through Jesus Christ....

July 25, 1956: Book 71

Jesus Christ took your guilt upon Himself as a substitute, the man Jesus gave Himself in order to redeem the guilt of sin for you humans, although He Himself was the purest, most innocent being Who ever lived on this earth. He suffered and died for you.... But God would never have accepted this human sacrifice if it had not been made out of love. For God's justice demands that every being must atone for its own guilt in order to become free from it.... But Jesus, the man, countered this justice with His greater than great love which was meant for the weak, burdened brothers who alone could no longer muster the strength to take upon themselves and bear the suffering which would have been necessary in order to pay off the immense guilt which existed in the apostasy from God in free will.... He recognized the hardship in which humanity languished and knew that the sin of forsaking its love for God and rejecting God's strength of love could only be compensated for by a work of love which equalled this great guilt of sin, which therefore had to be superhuman in order to atone for that great sin.... He knew that no human being was capable of such a feat of love because they all lacked the strength which was required to accomplish it.... And He therefore also knew that people.... His once fallen brothers.... were irretrievably lost if help was not brought to them. The man Jesus was full of love for the wretched, and in this love He offered Himself to God for atonement.... And therefore God accepted His sacrifice, which He thus made on behalf of people.... God therefore valued the love of Jesus, the man, extremely highly, because Jesus withstood all temptations of the adversary which were intended to bring forth his self-love.... because Jesus, the man, was completely selfless and did not think of Himself, because He only ever kept the great hardship of His fellow human beings in mind and therefore wanted to help them. Love alone motivated Him to make the sacrifice, and this love alone motivated God to accept His sacrifice. Thus love brought about the compensation so that God's justice was not circumvented.... that the atonement was made, only not by people themselves but on their behalf by Jesus, Who stood on the same level due to His humanity but through His greater than great love built a bridge to God, Who is eternal love.... That God Himself could now embody Himself in this human being is now understandable, for Jesus was 'filled with love'.... or also.... the 'love Itself' was in the human being Jesus.... And thus God Himself made atonement for the sins of His creatures, God's love redeemed the guilt, God allowed Himself to be crucified in order to bring salvation to His creatures in deepest need.... The sin of the former rebellion against God was too great to be atoned for by human beings themselves, but God's love was even greater.... And in the man Jesus this love manifested itself in a work of mercy which was and can be unique on this earth. And therefore every person will be burdened by the guilt of sin as long as he does not make use of the work of love which was also accomplished for him..... For no human being is able to atone for the immense guilt himself, no matter how great and painful his suffering on earth may be.... Only love redeems, and this love has also brought redemption to you humans in Jesus Christ.... love alone has set you free, and thus God Himself was your redeemer from sin and death....

Amen

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