Jesus alone, the perfect Son of God, paid the debt so that whoever trusts in Him will not perish under God’s punishment, but have life with Him fully and forever.
The story is told of a king who, having discovered a theft in the royal treasury, decrees that the criminal be publicly flogged for this affront to the crown. When soldiers haul the thief before the king as he sits in his judgment seat, there in chains stands the frail form of the king’s own mother.
Without flinching, he orders the old woman to be bound to the whipping post in front of him. When she is secured, he stands up, lays down his imperial scepter, sets aside his jeweled crown, removes his royal robes, and enfolds the tiny old woman with his own body. Baring his back to the whip, he orders that the punishment commence. Every blow meant for the criminal lands with full force upon the bare back of the king until the last lash falls.
In like manner, in those dark hours while Jesus hung on the cross the Father wrapped us in His Son who shields us, taking the justice we deserve. This is not an accident. It was planned. The prophet Isaiah described it 700 years earlier:
Surely our griefs He Himself bore…He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
No other man did this. No other man could. Jesus alone, the perfect Son of God, paid the debt so that whoever trusts in Him will not perish under God’s punishment, but have life with Him fully and forever. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Without Him the world could not be saved from its overwhelming debt.
This is why Jesus is the only way for salvation He paid our debt. He solved our problem. No other man did this. Only Jesus did.