First, Jesus lived the life we should live but do not. We rebel; he submitted. We sin; he obeyed. We live for self; he lived for the Father. We falter; he succeeded. He had no hint of sin, no darkness, no shadow. As one has put it, “He remained free, uncontaminated, uncompromised.”15 Jesus never failed, obeying even to the death. This no one has ever done. There was no one like him. Second, Jesus made a trade. He took his perfect life and he traded it for our rotten lives. He gets our badness—and the judgment and punishment that go with it. We get his goodness. We take his place, and he takes
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