What could be better than having your own personal pinch hitter – someone who would stand in for you at a moments notice?! The idea of a pinch hitter is fascinating actually! In short – a pinch hitter is a substitute player who comes to bat in place of another batter. They can literally change the momentum of any baseball game. A team coach may use one to replace a weak or injured hitter in the batting lineup – what a great concept! But – can it work in other arenas as well?
There’s a fascinating incident that took place during the war between Britain and France. (1803-1814) Men were drafted into the French army by a type of lottery system. When someone’s name was drawn – off to battle they went. But — there was one exception to this. A person could be exempt if another was willing to take his place. A pinch hitter if you will.
On one occasion the authorities came to a certain man and told him he was among those who had been drafted. He refused to go saying, “I was shot 2 years ago.” At first they questioned his sanity but he insisted that this indeed had happened. He claimed the military records would show that he had been drafted 2 years before and he had been killed in action.
He explained that when his name came up, a close friend said to him, “You have a large family but I’m not married and nobody is dependent on me. I’ll take your name and go in your place.” And that’s exactly what the record showed. The case was eventually referred to Napoleon himself, who decided that the country had no legal claim on the man. He was free! Another person had died in his place.
The principle of substitution is the heart and essence of the gospel. That another would be willing to exchange their life for ours is indeed mind-boggling, but Jesus willingly took our place, died in our stead, and paid the death penalty for our sins. Martin Luther famously put it this way: “All the prophets did foresee that Christ should become the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer thief, rebel, blasphemer, etc., that ever was or could be in all the world. For He, being made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world is not now an innocent person and without sins…but a sinner.”
Basically, Luther wrapped up John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.”
There are many advantages for a team coach to put in a pinch hitter but four things stand out from all others: he’s there to score runs – to play in defensive positions – he helps in gaining competitive advantages – and lastly and best of all, he is a match winner. He plays a significant role in winning THE GAME! In my humble spectator, sports-fan mind, it sure sounds like Jesus is a pinch hitter to me!
But here’s a stellar thought – there was only one pinch hitter qualified when it came to paying the costly price for our salvation. As one pastor put it – “God made a tremendous mistake in sending His Son to die if there is another way to Himself.”
As that great song attests, “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could
not pay, I needed someone…” Basically, Jesus came for two reasons: first – to live the life we couldn’t live and second, to die the death we should have died. He did for us what we couldn’t possibly do for ourselves. A pinch hitter at its finest I’d say!
I absolutely love this thought-provoking quote from John Stott. Please read it at least twice to get the full impact. “The concept of substitution lies at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.” Selah! Selah!!
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCItychurch.org
