But this is not the Bible. The Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave His Son to us (John 3:16). God sent His Son to us because He loved us. This is why we were brought back to God after the Lord Jesus accomplished His work on the cross. If God had not loved us and had not sent us the Lord Jesus, the most that the Lord Jesus could have done would have been to bring people back to Himself; He could not have brought people back to God. Thank the Lord that the One who loved us is God. Thank Him that He Himself sent His Son to us. It was the Father who was moved with compassion. It was the Father who loved us. It was the Father who planned out salvation. It was the Father who had a will in eternity past. First, the Father purposed everything, and then the Son came. Hence, it is wrong for man to think that there are three parties. There are only two parties, God and man. The Lord Jesus is God's gift to man. However, this gift is something living and with a will, rather than lifeless and without a will. Thank God that salvation is something between God and man. The Lord Jesus is a gift. Today the One we have to face is God. We come to God through the Lord Jesus. This is the first thing we have to realize.

Second, if there were three parties, the Lord Jesus would not have been qualified to die for us. It is true that when the Lord Jesus died for us, God's righteousness was met and man's sins were forgiven. But is this righteous to the Lord Jesus? Suppose there are two brothers. One brother has committed a capital crime and has been sentenced to death. The other brother is very willing to die for him and is therefore executed on his behalf. He is innocent, and also a third party. He dies instead of the other. The Bible does not show us that the Lord Jesus died for us this way. It does not show us that God had a demand, that His law had to be satisfied, and that in order for man to meet the law's demand, the Lord Jesus came to fulfill God's law. There is no such thing. What position did the Lord Jesus take when He came to accomplish redemption? We have to consider this matter carefully and accurately from the Bible.

I would like you to be aware of one thing. The world thinks that there is only one way to deal with the problem of sin. Preachers who preach wrong teachings say that there are three ways to deal with sin. But for God, there are only two ways to deal with sin. Some explanation is needed here. Before one reads the Word of God, he may think that any of three ways can solve the problem: man can solve it, God can solve it, or a third party can also solve it by substitution. The unsaved ones who do not know God consider that there is only one solution, which is for man to solve it by himself. But God's righteousness shows us that there are only two ways to solve the problem. One is by God Himself and the other is by man himself. What do I mean by this? Let us first consider what man thinks. He thinks that he is a sinner and should therefore bear the judgment of sin and the wrath of God. He thinks that he should perish and go into perdition. The only way is for him to solve the problem by going to hell. He will take responsibility for what he has done. If one sins, he goes to hell and bears his own judgment of sin. This is one way to solve the problem. When one owes money, he sells all that he has. He may even have to sell his wife, children, house, and land, if that is what it takes to solve the problem. This is righteous. Then there is the other wrong concept. For those who have heard the gospel, they consider that the Lord Jesus is a third party coming to take our place and solve the problem of our sin. Man has sinned and has incurred the judgment of sin. Now all the judgment is laid on the Lord Jesus; He bears all the judgment. Such a teaching seems right. But you will see shortly that this is not accurate.