A Prayer about a Strange Trade-Off

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

1 Peter 3:18

Holy and Merciful God,

Thank you for these show-stopping words from 1 Peter. 

This reality that we focus on in Lent 

should widen our eyes and slacken our jaws:

Christ suffered for sins (our sins). 

He who was fully God and fully man 

died in the flesh; 

he was raised in the spirit.

And now, we who believe in him 

will never suffer punishment for our sins again. 

Why would he do such a thing?

For one reason only: 

So that he might bring us to God, 

for we could not come near God before—

the unrighteous cannot be near the righteous (Psalm 5:5). 

But when Christ became sin for us, 

we became the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Holy God, we admit, 

with our myopic human perspective, 

this great exchange makes no sense at all.

It only makes sense if you are an unfailingly loving God 

who would go to unimaginable extremes

to bring his beloved people to him. 

And that is what you are. 

How we praise you and thank you for this good news!

In Jesus’ substituting name. Amen.

Read 1 Peter 3:18; Psalm 5; 2 Corinthians 5:21.