Sermon Illustrations

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ His righteousness or perfection becomes yours. Let me give you an example of how this works in every day life. The super bowl was just played last Sunday. The Patriots played the Giants. Many of the fans went to the game wearing shirts and hats that had the logo of their team printed on them. If you were to watch these fans during the game you would notice that when the Patriots did something great on the field their fans would get all excited - cheering and screaming - and the Giants fans would be very quiet and somber. In the same way if the Giants did something great their fans would go crazy and the Patriots fans would be quiet and somber. When the game was over the Patriots had lost. I am certain many Patriots fans were sad and depressed. They had put their faith in the team and the team had let them down. When they went to work the next day, many were still down in the dumps. I know because I have been there! So what is the principle at work here? The principle is that when you put your faith in a team and so identify with them by putting on one of their shirts and becoming a fan…it means that when the quarterback on the field throws a touchdown it is as if you threw the touchdown! Whatever your team does on the field it is as if you did it. When they loose, it is as if you lost. This is exactly how it works when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. When you identify with Jesus by putting your faith in Him, the perfect life He lived becomes your perfect life. The life that you could never live. When He was crucified on the cross in payment for the sins of the world, it is as if you were crucified there as well and when he paid for the sins of the world, your sins were paid for as well. When He rose from the dead it meant that you will rise from the dead one day as well. Everything He did is as though you did it yourself. It works the same way it did for the sports fan that identified with his team. You identify with Jesus Christ the same way, by faith.