For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then we’re all dead. (2 Corinthians 5:14)
Jesus was not a martyr; He was a substitute, one man who died for every man.
Mark Hankins
Jesus took our place. He took our curse and died our death. He took our condition so that we could have His condition. He was identified with us. We were there in His death and resurrection, because He died for us, we died with Him. Because He was raised for us, we were raised with Him. Everything Jesus did, He did for us and it is credited to our account as if we did it. Substitution progresses to identification and union with Christ.
In the four Gospels, a disproportionate amount of space is given to the actual events of the death and resurrection of Christ. Every sermon in the book of Acts and all of Paul’s epistles center on what happened in the death and resurrection of Christ. You can get anything you need from this event. Healing, prosperity, joy, victory — whatever you need — you can get from the fact that, “I was crucified with Christ. He took my place because He was my substitute. He took my condition.”
Confession: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)