The Guilt and Penalty of our Sin

In the previous post, we made reference to Charles Dickens' book A Tale of Two Cities. In it, Sydney Carton went to Charles Darnay's prison cell with the intention of exchanging places with him. In so doing, he, Sydney Carton, a free and uncondemned man, was accepting the guilt of Darnay's family and the sentence of death that had been given Darnay. Indeed, Carton was guillotined so that Darnay might be restored to his life and wife.

When Jesus came to this earth, he came with the intention of exchanging places with we who were sinners and lawbreakers on death row. In doing so, he, a sinless and uncondemned man, also accepted the guilt of our sin. The Scripture says,

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-- 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

Not only did he accept our guilt, he also accepted the penalty for our sin. Again, the Scriptures say,

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
-- 1 Peter 3:18

Jesus accepted our guilty and the penalty of our sin so that he might bring us to God and restore us to life.