I invite your attention to 2nd
Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse
21 That's my text this morning Title of my message is a little
long. It's nine words, but it expresses
what is In this text, this message is titled, Made to be Sin and
Made to be Righteousness. Let me first say that this is
a blessed day for me in that I am blessed to preach with my
son, rather, rare experience. I was blessed to preach with
my father many years ago. He was a faithful preacher of
the gospel. And I spoke one time with Paul
Mahan. He was blessed to preach with
his father. And I suppose that Marvin and
Gabe Stallnicker have preached together. If they have not, someone
should arrange it. But, you know, to preach with
my son, it's a very sweet experience and a very blessed experience.
And I pray that the Lord bless both messages this day. 2 Corinthians
chapter five, verse 21. Let me introduce my text by saying
that Peter the apostle says, our beloved brother Paul, According
to the wisdom given to him has written to you some things hard
to understand. Things hard to understand. Well, here are two of them. Here are two statements that
are hard to understand. They are for me. First is the
statement that God made Christ to be sin. And the second statement
is that God made his people to be God's own righteousness in
Jesus Christ. I do not understand it. I believe
it, but that's what Paul here has written. Notice our text. For he, that would be God the
Father, made him Jesus Christ, who is the only man who knew
no sin, made him to be sin for us, his people. Why? That we might become the righteousness
of God in Christ. God made Christ to be sin. That is one of the most dreadful
statements you will find in all the scripture. God made Christ
to be sin. But here's one of the most glorious
statements in scripture. God made his people to be his
own righteousness in Christ. That's glorious. We want to look
today at this subject. Some things hard to understand,
those two statements. Let me say that we should take
each statement at face value. Paul said what he meant. Paul meant what he said. This scripture does not say God
made Christ to be a sinner. Nor does this scripture say God
made us to be righteous. Some may say so, this scripture
does not. This scripture does not say God
infused sin into Christ, nor that God infused righteousness
into us. Some may say so, this scripture
does not. This scripture does not say God
imparted sin to Christ, nor that God imparted righteousness to
us. Some may say so, this scripture
does not. This scripture does not say God
imputed sin to Christ, nor that God imputed righteousness to
us. Some may say so, this scripture
does not. Rather, Paul, writing what he
meant and meant what he said, wrote, God made Christ to be
sin in order that we might be made to be God's own righteousness
in Jesus Christ. And neither of those can be done. by infusion, impartation, nor
by imputation. Infusion puts something into
you, but it does not change you into what was put into you. A
physician may infuse a medicine into a patient, but when he does,
the patient is not changed into the medicine. Impartation gives
something to you, but it does not change you into what was
given to you. Paul told the Thessalonians,
I imparted the gospel to you. But when he did so, they were
not changed into the gospel. Imputation charges something
to your account, but it does not change you into what was
imputed to you. God imputes righteousness to
believers, but when he does so, they are not changed into righteousness,
but merely charged with it. And let me add this also, for
the record, Holy Scriptures nowhere say God imputed sin to Christ. For the record, we are not told
how God made sin to be Christ, nor are we told how God made us to be righteousness.
We're not told hows, and I cannot tell you how. I believe that
is beyond my pay grade, but it is the truth. Both things have
happened. God made Christ to be sin, and
God makes us to be his own righteousness in Christ. But I will tell you
this. Paul here used the word translated made. He used the
same word that was used by John when he said that Jesus made
the water wine. Jesus made the water wine in
the same way that God made Christ to be righteous or to be sin. A miracle was involved. Miracles cannot be explained.
We believe it happened. I cannot explain to you how Jesus
made water wine. And I cannot explain to you how
God made Christ to be sin, nor can I explain to you how God
makes us to be his own righteousness in Christ. But we believe it. And I can show you this. I can
show to you from scripture the results of God making Christ
to be sin, and I can show to you the results of God making
believers to be his own righteousness in Christ. Let's consider these
two points. First, what resulted from God
making the sinless Christ to be sin for us? Three things. First, Christ became what he
was not before. Paul here says he knew no sin. Scriptures amplify this elsewhere. Peter says he committed no sin. John says in him there is no
sin. The writer to the Hebrew says
he is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and without
sin, without sin. But he was made to be what he
was not before. Jesus asked his foes, which of
you convicts me of sin? Well, they had watched him. They
knew him quite well. They were finding fault if they
could with everything he did and everything he said. But they
could not answer his question, which of you convicts me of sin? He who never misrepresented the
truth declared that the ruler of this world has nothing in
me. That would be Satan. Satan knows
Christ. better than anyone who ever lived. Satan has been watching Christ
for millennia, but Satan can find not one single fault, not
one single sin in Jesus Christ. Judas Iscariot, among men, knew
Jesus Christ as well as any man who ever lived, walked with him
for perhaps three and a half years or so, And then in the
end said, I have sinned. I betrayed innocent blood. This is the sinless Christ. He
never sinned in deed. He never sinned in word. He never
sinned in thought. Nothing he ever did was sin. And yet God made him to be sin,
what he was not before. Second sub point is that Christ
became sin, but nevertheless was sinless. Because sin never
touched his divine nature. Never touched it. God made him
to be sin, but sin never touched his divine nature. We would stress
to you here that Jesus Christ has two natures. One is his inherent nature, the
divine nature. He is divine. He is God. He has the divine nature. But
in his incarnation, he took upon himself our human nature. The word became flesh as God
manifested in the flesh. And when that occurred, Jesus
Christ walked on this earth as the God man, having both natures,
the divine nature from all eternity, the human nature from his incarnation. When God made Christ to be seen,
This sin did not touch his divine nature. It could not touch the
divine nature. The divine nature can never be
corruptible. Sin never touched him in his
divine nature. Therefore, he is a fit offering
for sin. In the prophecy of Isaiah, we
read that Jehovah shall make his soul an offering for sin. And an offering for sin he was.
What is an offering for sin? It had to be perfect. It had
to be sinless. That lamb in Old Testament days
that was brought to be an offering had to be in the prime of life.
It had to be perfect. It had to be without spot. It
had to be without blemish. It had to be without any kind
of imperfection. And Jesus Christ is the lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is sinless in
his divine nature. His nature was never touched
with this sin that God had made him to be. The third thing that happened
to Christ is this, God treated Christ as he treats sin. God treated Christ as he treats
sin. This was such a dreadful prospect
to Jesus Christ that just a few hours before this happened to
him, he prayed unto his father and he says, father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Let this, take this cup away
from me, if it be possible. He was not so much dreading death,
as terrible a death as it was, as painful a death as it was.
That which was most dreadful to Jesus Christ is the fact that
he was about to be made to be sin and that God would treat
him as God treats sin. That may not be such a dreadful
thought to us. It most certainly is not a dreadful
thought to people around us. But all to Jesus Christ, who
in the garden prays, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me. But nevertheless, your will be
done. I will be made sin by you. Therefore, God forsook his son
as God forsakes sin. Jesus, in agony, there on Calvary,
cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was
forsaken by God. Why was he forsaken by God? Because God is of purer eyes
than to behold iniquity, the scripture says. God cannot look
upon sin. And as God looked upon Calvary,
upon that cross there on Calvary, what did God see? He saw sin
itself. God made him to be sin. God looked upon Calvary, saw
sin on Calvary, and God turned his back and would not look.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because he is sin
and God forsakes sin. Furthermore, God punished Christ as he punishes
sin. Christ was therefore stricken,
smitten by God and afflicted. wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, because God treated Christ as God treats
sin. God punishes Christ. He punished Christ as God punishes
sin for three hours there on Calvary from high noon until
3 p.m. He was stricken and smitten of
God and afflicted and wounded for our transgressions, not for
sins he had done himself. He had done no sin. God must
God cannot punish sin, for as he's unjust. God cannot overlook
sin. God cannot merely excuse it. Sin must be punished, and there
on Calvary, God looks upon that cross and God sees sin itself,
and God punished Christ. Were it not for Christ's sinless
divine nature, God's wrath would have consumed him, but it did
not. He was a suitable offering for
sin. He therefore could shout in glorious
victory, it is finished. It is finished! His dying words. God made him to be sin. God treated him as God treats
sin. God punished Christ as he punishes
sin until sin was done. It is finished. Christ, through
his sacrificial and substitutionary death on Calvary Street, made
an end of sins, Daniel 9, 24. Made an end of them, they're
gone. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself, Hebrews 9, verse 26. Those are the results of God
making Christ to be sin. Something else resulted from
it. My second main point. What resulted from God making
us unrighteous sinners to be his own righteousness in Christ?
Notice, God made him to be sin that we might be God's righteousness
in Christ. not merely a righteousness, God's
righteousness in Christ. What resulted? Well, first, there
are five of these. First, we became what we were
not before. God made us to be righteousness. Now notice the text does not
say he made us to be righteous. God made us to be righteousness. and we had none before. We were
unrighteous in every deed we ever performed. We were unrighteous
in every word we ever uttered. We were unrighteous in every
thought we ever imagined. We were unrighteous from our
first breath until our last breath. Nothing but unrighteousness in
us. But now, We are what we were
not before. Now, this is evidenced in our
passage. You have your Bible open in 2
Corinthians 5, 21. Look in verse number 17. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have
passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Now observe carefully the qualification. In Christ, a new creation. In Christ, God's righteousness. There's a correlation between
verse number 17. And in verse number 21, in Christ,
we now are a new creation. In Christ, we are God's righteousness. All things have passed away and
we have become what we were not before. Second thing that happened
is this. We became righteousness, but
nevertheless have unrighteousness. We became righteousness, but
nevertheless have unrighteousness. As Jesus Christ has two natures,
so do we. So do we. We believers do. He was born with a nature, and
then assumed another. We were born with a nature and
then we're given another. In his incarnation, he who was
of the divine nature assumed our human nature. In our regeneration,
we who were born with the old nature, the Adamic nature, the
human nature, we were given a new nature. Peter calls it the divine
nature. We have become partakers of the
divine nature. There are now two natures within
us, and we know the conflict that goes on between us, that
old nature that can do nothing good. Paul speaks of it as the
sin that dwells in me, Romans 7, 17. We confess with Paul that
in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. We still have that
unrighteousness. When Paul wrote those words,
oh, wretched man that I am, he was a believer. He was saved. We understand something about
this internal strife between these two natures, that old Adamic
nature that can do nothing but sin, and this new divine nature
that can do nothing but righteousness. We're gonna have them both until
the day we die our physical deaths and we can finally be done with
these things of this earth, that old sinful nature. It will be
gone, but until then, Even though we are God's righteousness in
Christ, we still have this old unrighteousness that we were
born with. Third result of being made to
be God's righteousness in Christ is we practice righteousness. John the Apostle writes in 1
John 3 verse 7, he who practices righteousness is righteous, just
as Christ is righteous. Pardon me. I'll read it again. He who practices righteousness,
it's his practice. He is righteous, just as Christ
is righteousness. Righteousness is our practice. There's a man, he's a lawyer. Ask him, what's your practice?
I practice the law. There's a man, he's a doctor. Ask him, what's your practice?
I practice medicine. You can ask any man of any profession,
what's your practice? His practice is what he does. Ask a believer, what's your practice? My practice is righteousness.
Why? That's what I am. That's what
we are. In Jesus Christ, we practice
what we are. He who practices righteousness
is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. We are in Christ. We are righteousness in Christ,
and we practice what we are. Paul tells us in Romans 6, 18,
that we are slaves of righteousness. What does a slave do? Whatever
he's told. What do righteous people do?
Whatever their righteousness tells them to do. We're slaves
of righteousness. We must do it. We are obedient
to whom we belong. We're slaves of righteousness.
Righteousness says, do righteousness. That's our practice. We are filled
with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, Philippians
1, verse 11. We live for righteousness, 1
Peter 2, verse 24. We live for it. We yearn for it. We desire it. Sin is a grievous thing to us. We detest it. We abominate it. We practice righteousness. We
must do it. This is how you spot the people
of God from the people of the world. We practice righteousness. the fourth result of being made
to be God's righteousness in Christ is this, as Christ is,
so are we in this world. 1 John 4, verse 17. That's an awesome statement. As Christ is in heaven, so are
we in this world. Jesus Christ is our righteousness
in heaven. We are his righteousness here
on this earth. As Christ is, so are we. in this world. One more point and we'll close.
The fifth result of being made to be God's righteousness in
Christ. Now notice what they are. We
became what we were not before. We became righteousness, but
nevertheless have unrighteousness. We practice righteousness as
Christ is, so are we in this world. And now fifth, our name
now is Jehovah our righteousness. That's our name. Our very name
is Jehovah our righteousness. I have not had you to look up
many references in this message, but I will have you to look at
two now. I want you to see this point.
In your Bible, Jeremiah chapter 23 verse six. Jeremiah chapter
23 and verse number six. Here is a prophecy of Jesus Christ
coming into this world. A word given by Jehovah himself. I will read to you from verse
number five, Jeremiah 23, verse five. Behold, the days are coming,
says Jehovah, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. A king shall reign and prosper
and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In his days, Judah
will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is his
name by which he will be called Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord, our
righteousness. That's his name. That's his name. Jehovah is saying that when he
comes to this earth, When he walks across this world, you
may point to him and say, his name is Jehovah Zedekiah, the
Lord, our righteousness. That's his name. His name is
our righteousness, our divine righteousness. That's his name. That also was
our name. Ten chapters later, Jeremiah
chapter 33. Jeremiah's prophecy, 33rd chapter,
located. Observe number 15, Jeremiah 33
verse 15. The prophecy here is repeated
with a very Subtle change. You do not see
it until you get to the end, but notice, in those days, Jeremiah
33 verse 15, in those days and at that time, I will cause to
grow up to David a branch of righteousness. He shall execute
judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days, Judah
will be saved And Israel will dwell safely. And this is the
name by which, what's that next word? What is it? Talk to me. What's the next word? This is the name by which she
will be called. That is not a misprint. This
is the name by which she will be called. What is her name?
Jehovah. Jehovah, our righteousness. Jehovah, our righteousness. We look to Jesus Christ and we
say, that's his name. Jehovah, our righteousness. And
he points to us and he says, and that is your name. Jehovah,
our righteousness. That is the name by which she
will be called Jehovah, our righteousness. And the only way that can be
is because God made us to be Jehovah's righteousness in Jesus
Christ. Okay, brother Paul. You have
written some things hard to be understood. And I do not claim to understand
them. I do not claim to be able to
tell you how these things happened. I can only tell you the results
of it being so. God has done two miracles in
our text. God made the sinless Christ to
be sin. And second, God made unrighteous
sinners to be Jehovah's righteousness in Jesus Christ. I delight in that. And I will
say to you, that if you believe this gospel that I preach to
you, you are God's righteousness in Christ. But if you disbelieve
this gospel that we preach to you, you have no righteousness,
none at all. You may have some in your own
eyes, but God does not recognize it. But God assures his people
that in Jesus Christ, they are God's own righteousness in him.