Made to Be Sin For Us
In this first pre-Easter post we're going to start a two-part discussion about Jesus dying for us. We're going to be talking about what it means when we say that Jesus was made to be sin.
This is a phrase from 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Jesus, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” This is a big concept that's critical to our salvation.
Every evil thought, every cruel word, every vile action throughout human history was placed upon Him as if they were His, as if He personally committed every sin in human history. Jesus, who had existed in perfect communion with the Father for all eternity and having no association with sin, the pure light of heaven, pure goodness, was now facing the Holy God as if full of sin.
We see in the Gospels that Jesus was already experiencing this burden in the Garden of Gethsemane. Exactly. The thought of this was so overwhelming that before His crucifixion, it was crushing Him, bursting His capillaries and mixing His blood with His sweat as recorded in Luke 22:43.
One question that might follow is, “Did the sinless Jesus become a sinner?” No, Jesus was never a sinner and this is really important. He has always and always will be sinless. If Jesus became a sinner, He would cease to be God. Rather, our sin was imputed to Him.
God made Him to be sin for us means that Jesus, even though sinless, was treated as if He was not. He was regarded as guilty. Through this imputation, He became our substitute.
But did this really need to happen? Well, yes and no. No, in that we don’t deserve mercy. God owes us nothing. But yes, this was necessary if God was going to display His supreme attribute, love. So this was the perfect way for God to be God, to show Himself and His love for the sinner.
Here's 1 John 4:10, “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.” This is the gospel; Jesus took the sin of the world upon Himself.
Another question that comes up is, “if Jesus successfully took the sins of the world upon Himself, so we could be seen as sinless. Isn't the work done? Why is faith the thing that connects us to Jesus' work? Why is faith even a thing if Jesus' death accomplished its purpose?
Well, here's my understanding. If the loving, self-sacrificing act of Jesus on the cross is to be maximized, those who benefit must feel it so they can praise Him. Otherwise, it would all be in the background. God is looking for a relationship with His children and faith happens when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the personal connection of Jesus' work. Faith or belief or trust happens when I see Jesus and His love for me.
Christ being made sin should impact our daily lives. If we can begin to see what Jesus did and why He did it, pretty much everything should change. This should produce in us a profound gratitude that shapes our response to temptation, our worship, and our willingness to forgive others. It should make me hate sin more deeply and love Christ more dearly. It should remind us daily that our hope is totally anchored in Jesus and His love for us.
Jesus, you deserve every ounce of praise we can muster. I'm sorry for not being able to grasp the extent of my sin and your beauty. Thank you for caring for me anyway. Please cause me to see you more clearly and trust you more fully.
Song: Behold Our God