“It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it — I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it — I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come into me, then I could live a life like that. This is the secret of Christian sanctity. It is not that we should strive to live like Jesus, but that he by his Spirit should come and live in us. To have him as our example is not enough; we need him as our Saviour” (John R. W. Stott).

I’m so thankful that Jesus didn’t die as just another martyr or as a great example to follow.If so, I’m just as bad off as I was before. I’m still lost in my sins and as good as dead.

But Jesus was more than a martyr and more than an example. He was Messiah. He is my Savior. He offered the great exchange — taking my sin on Himself and giving me His own perfect sinless righteousness. That’s how I live. That’s how I am no longer dead but alive, no longer lost but found, no longer bound by sin but set free.