重要的福音信息：一個不曾在聖經出現的字詞
以賽亞書五十三章3至10節
3他被藐視，被人厭棄；多受痛苦，常經憂患。他被藐視，好像被人掩面不看的一樣；我們也不尊重他。
4他誠然擔當我們的憂患，背負我們的痛苦；我們卻以為他受責罰，被神擊打苦待了。
5哪知他為我們的過犯受害，為我們的罪孽壓傷。因他受的刑罰，我們得平安；因他受的鞭傷，我們得醫治。
6我們都如羊走迷；各人偏行己路；耶和華使我們眾人的罪孽都歸在他身上。
7他被欺壓，在受苦的時候卻不開口（或譯：他受欺壓，卻自卑不開口）；他像羊羔被牽到宰殺之地，又像羊在剪毛的人手下無聲，他也是這樣不開口。
8因受欺壓和審判，他被奪去，至於他同世的人，誰想他受鞭打、從活人之地被剪除，是因我百姓的罪過呢？
9他雖然未行強暴，口中也沒有詭詐，人還使他與惡人同埋；誰知死的時候與財主同葬。
10耶和華卻定意（或譯：喜悅）將他壓傷，使他受痛苦。耶和華以他為贖罪祭（或譯：他獻本身為贖罪祭）。他必看見後裔，並且延長年日。耶和華所喜悅的事必在他手中亨通。
信息分享
「代替」的意思，就是由某個人或某件物品，去取代另一個人或另一物件。我們從聖經中得知，無罪的救主代替了全部罪人，去承受罪的刑罰。聖潔的神便藉著耶穌基督，向罪人施憐憫，並拯救所有憑著信心來到祂面前，接受耶穌代贖的罪人。
由伊甸園至各各他山上，都貫串了這個「代替」的寶貴真理。當我們讀舊約的時候，往往發覺它的信息預示了將來會發生的某件事，那就是十字架的救贖。十字架的影像，就像一個在我們頭上飛行的輕型飛機，一直引帶我們往前方。
我們在創世記看到，人類的始祖亞當和夏娃，他們在犯罪之後，神便給他們披上無辜被殺的野獸身上的皮毛。那是甚麼意思？當無辜的野獸為著人類的罪而被殺，牠們的皮毛給人披上之後，人的罪便得以被遮蓋，於是神才能與罪人保持相交。
當聖經記載亞伯建造一座壇，獻上蒙神悅納的祭，祂實際上是在預表將來會在另一座祭壇上為我們獻祭──那就是神的羔羊在各各他山上獻上自己。如此，所有罪人都可以得蒙神的接納。
舊約出現許多類似的預表，包括神為亞伯拉罕預備了一隻羊羔，讓牠代替以撒作為祭牲獻上；以色列民在逾越節的晚上，宰殺羔羊來代替長子被殺；以及神為以色列人設立的獻祭制度，用無瑕疵的祭牲來代替人贖罪。它們全都是指向後來在各各他山上，基督為全人類流血犧牲，代替我們贖罪。
反思的經文：
「祂是愛我，為我捨己。」（加二20）
GREAT WORDS OF THE GOSPEL A WORD THAT'S NOT IN THE BIBLE
Isaiah 53:3-10
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
Message
Here is a word not found in our Bibles, but it stands for a great truth running from Genesis to Revelation. The word is 'substitution'.
To substitute is to put a person or object in place of another person or object. In the Bible, we have the story of a sinless Saviour taking the place of a whole race of sinners. He paid the penalty which was really ours. This made it possible for a Holy God to reach out in mercy and save all who would come to Him in faith in the substitute.
This precious truth of substitution is found in the Bible right from Eden to Calvary. As we read through the Old Testament we are constantly conscious of a shadow falling across its pages. It is the long shadow of the Cross. It is like the shadow of a light plane keeping up with us as we move along.
In the book of Genesis we read about the sinning pair, Adam and Eve. We find they were covered with the skins of innocent animals. What is it telling us? There is a covering for sin when the innocent dies for the guilty. God can then maintain fellowship with the guilty one.
When the Holy Spirit records how Abel built an altar and offered an acceptable sacrifice, He is really telling us about the other altar, Calvary. There the Lamb of God died so that even Abel himself might be accepted before God.
The same truth is foreshadowed in so many ways in the Old Testament - Abraham's lamb which replaced Isaac on Mt. Moriah, the Passover lamb in Egypt, the endless procession of innocent animals on the altar. They all pointed forward to Calvary, where Christ died in our place. That is substitution.
OUR VERSE FOR TODAY: 'The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me. '(Galatians 2:20)