Take Me Instead

2 Corinthians 5:21 says this, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
I read a story today that really just grabbed my attention. It was a story about a mom and her boy Stephen. This story really portrayed to me a great spiritual truth. In the 1990's Stephen and his mom took a horseback-riding trip in the mountains of Canada. As they were riding along, a cougar came out of nowhere and attacked Stephen. Stephens's mom did what any mom would have done. She got off of her horse and started jumping up and down, screaming and waving her arms, trying to draw the cat's attention off her son onto her. It worked. The cougar left Stephen and attacked his mom. Stephen managed to crawl for help. By the time he returned, it was too late. Stephen's mother was killed by the vicious cat. She gave her life so that Stephen might live.
Like a deadly predator, sin was viciously attacking, biting, clawing, and destroying our lives and souls. Jesus spread out his arms on the cross and cried out, "Take me instead!" What does that mean? It means Jesus took on sin and death that was meant for you and me, with all its destruction and hell, so that through faith in him, you and I might live the life we're meant for--abudant life--now and forevermore.