I remember one time as a kid, I had done something really bad, and my daddy took his belt off and was fixing to wear me out, and rightly so. But out of nowhere came my little brother, and he immediately started begging my daddy, “Dad, Dad, I know he deserves it, but whip me instead! Give his whoopin’ to me, Daddy. Please don’t whip Ben!”

And so my daddy said to my brother, Matt, “Alright, Matt. Have it your way.” And he turned and whipped the fire out of my brother, who had done nothing wrong, for what I had done. And I never got a single lash.

That’s a pretty unbelievable story, isn’t it? In fact, you shouldn’t believe it at all because it’s not true. Are you kidding me? My brother would have never done that for me. In fact, he would have probably egged my daddy on, “Whip him harder, Daddy! Give him another lash, Daddy! He hasn’t learned his lesson yet, Daddy!” And I sure wouldn’t have taken a whoopin’ for him. Would you have taken a whoopin’ for your brother or sister?

Now, some of you very well may have, but let’s up the ante. Would have died for your brother or sister? Some of you are saying, “Yes, they’re my brother. They’re my sister.” Let’s go even further then. Let’s say that your brother or sister grew up and committed a really wicked crime deserving the death penalty. Would you die in their place then?

But let’s move away from family. What about a stranger on death row? Would you ever walk in and offer to die in that person’s place so that they could go free? I’m guessing the answer is no, no, and no.

Yet, here’s the amazing thing:  that’s what Jesus did for us. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:6–8, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Beloved, we did that awful thing. We deserved death. Yet, Christ came and died in our place. That’s amazing love! Beloved, receive that love by turning from your sins and trusting in Christ, and thank Him for dying in your place.

Change begins in you!