Seeking once again the Lord's
gracious help to grant me the words to speak to you this morning
I'd like you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter
5 and the text you'll find in verse 21 For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Reading from verse 18, it says,
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, all that is, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you
in Christ's stead be reconciled to God, for he hath made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. And we know that this day is
the day called Good Friday in which we remember the crucifixion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's this time of year that the
Jews celebrate the Passover. And as they remember their deliverance
from the land of Egypt by the death of the lamb and the blood
being placed upon the lintels and on the doorposts and the
angel flying over and those words when I see the blood that I would
pass over you. And so this was the time of year
when the Jews remembered that occasion. And this was the time
of year that the Lord Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem and took the
Passover meal with his disciples and then became the Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world. He became that perfect
lamb, that substitute for sinners and we read from John 19 which
gives us the account of the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified
and it tells us there of the external things that were taking
place on that day, the way in which the Lord Jesus was betrayed
the way he was taken to the court, the way that they found no fault
in him yet through pressure he was delivered to be crucified
and then we see how the The prophecies were fulfilled regarding the
Lord Jesus Christ and how externally we see all of these things happening
to him, how he was delivered, how he was crucified, how he
gave up his life, how he was had the spear put into his side,
how he was taken down and placed into the grave and all of those
things that people could see that were taking place and that
John was able to give an account of. But we know that it was not
external things, just external things that were going on. There
was a spiritual warfare that was being accomplished. There
was a spiritual debt that was being paid. There was the anger
of God that was being poured out upon his son for the sins
of his people. And so the Apostle Paul tells
us in Corinthians something of a greater detail of what was
going on unseen. what was taking place beyond
the view of natural men and women. There was Christ being made sin
for his people. He who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. What I wanted us to notice really
to start was that it was God. It is for he hath made him and
that is God. It is God's work of salvation. It is God stepping down to man
to bring about reconciliation. Naturally you would think that
it would be the other way round. It would be God keeping himself
at a distance and men and women wanting to come to God seeking
to say sorry to him but it's not that way. The scripture tells
us that none seek after God. There is no one in their natural
condition that seeks after God and so no one would ever want
to be reconciled to God because such is the hatred to God within
our hearts that we would never seek after him. And so the work
of salvation is God stepping down to man, God stretching out
his hand of mercy to man. Normally in our own lives if
we offend somebody it is for us to go to them and ask for
an apology. The offended party don't normally
come seeking for that reconciliation. It's normally the other way round
but with the gospel It is God, the injured party, the one who
has been sinned against, the one who has been offended by
our sin, it is Him who steps forward. It is Him who brings
about that way of reconciliation and not us. You remember with
Adam and Eve, after they sinned against God. They did not seek
God out to say sorry. They did not say to each other,
oh dear, we've sinned, we must go and find God and apologise
to bring about a reconciliation. No. They went and they hid themselves. Genesis 3. And the eyes of them
were both opened, verse 7, and they knew they were naked and
they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And
they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the call of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the
garden. And then it's God. God calls
out to Adam. And the Lord God called unto
Adam and said unto him, where art thou? And he said, I hid
myself. And that is how we are. It is
God stretching forward, God reaching forward. Adam, where are you?
Where are you today? as we hide ourselves from the
holy presence of God. We don't run to him, we run away
from him. It is him who stretches out the
hand of mercy. In Romans 3 it says, none that
seek after God. There is none that seek after
God. It is God who sought Adam. It is God who brought about the
way of salvation. It is God in John 3.16. God so loved the world. And so it begins with God. Salvation
begins with God acting in a merciful way to the human race. John 3.16,
for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world but that the world through him
might be saved. And so it is God. It begins with
God looking down in favour, looking down in mercy upon a sinful human
race that deserves to be cast away from his presence. Adam
and Eve rebelled against God. They disobeyed God. They turned
their back on God and then they hid from God and God sought them
out and he found them. It was God who chased them from
the garden but first of all it was him who gave them coats and
provided them with a proper covering. It was God who did that. which
shows us the type of God that we worship, the type of God that
we have come to worship today, who is a loving God. Yes, He
is a just God, but a loving God and a merciful God who gave His
only begotten Son. It is Him who took the first
step of reconciliation, not us. In 1 John, chapter four, from verse 9 or verse 8 says
he that love is not knows not God for God is love in this was
manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his
only begotten son into the world that we might live through him
herein is love or in this is love not that we love God but
that God loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for
our sins Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to also love one
another. In this is love, not that we
love God. but that God loved us. He is the starter, as it were,
the one who first stepped forward. And even in his own people who
he calls to himself, he first has to make them alive, implanting
his spirit within them so that they may see Christ and see their
own sin. And so it is God who is the author
of salvation. It is him who gave his son, God,
He, for he hath made him to be sin
for us. God made Christ to be sin for
us. This is quite hard for us to
grasp. The Lord Jesus Christ we know
is the spotless Lamb of God. In him there is no guile, he
is sinless. For we read, for he made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin. And so there was never a
unclean thought that crossed the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was never a time when the Lord Jesus Christ stepped over
the line in disobedience to his father. His life was perfect. and upright, fully fulfilled
the whole law of God and lived in perfect obedience unto the
Father and there was no sin to be found in him whatsoever. And on the cross it was not Christ
doing the sins of his people. The actual sins that you and
I committed were not written down, that Christ had done them. Christ remained sinless but he
was made the Lamb of God for his people. The debt of sin was
imputed to the account of the Lord Jesus Christ or credited
to his account. On the cross he was not himself
a sinner but he was paying the price the sins of his people. He experienced the wrath of God
for the sins of his people yet he himself remained sinless. In Leviticus on the day of atonement
it gives us a picture of what was taking place. Leviticus 16 from verse 20. In fact, quite
often through the book of Leviticus we read, and the book of Exodus,
how that the priests and the Levites were to lay their hands
upon the head of the animal that they were about to slaughter.
And in doing so, it was symbolizing that the sin is being imputed
into that or transferred over to that animal and that that
animal was then slaughtered in the stead of that person. Death would come to that animal. In verse 20 it says, and when
he has made an end of reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle
of the congregation and the altar he shall bring the live goat.
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live
goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their trespasses, and all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all the iniquities unto the land not inhabited, and he shall
let go the goat into the wilderness. And so the Day of Atonement,
this goat would, as it were, carry away the sins of the people
into the wilderness and be left alone to see what would come
of it. It would never to be seen again,
symbolizing that the sins all laid upon Christ would be sent
away and dealt with, never to be remembered and cast behind
the back of God into the depths of the sea and remembered no
more. And upon the cross, it's as it were, the people of God
laying their hand upon Christ and Christ being charged for
their sins. In Peter it says he bore their
sin, he carried their sin, yet he himself remained sinless. If you remember the penalty for
sin, Adam and Eve were told if you eat of the tree you will
die. And we know that is physical
death and spiritual death under the eternal wrath of God. And
so Christ was to pay what they owed to God which is physical
and spiritual or eternal death. I tried to think of it in a way
that would be easy for us to understand and I don't think the illustration isn't perfect
but it may help. If we were to all go out for
a meal and we were to all eat and at the end of the meal we're
all in debt, we've all eaten and we incur a bill to the restaurant One person could stand up and
say, I'll pay. And all of that debt that was
incurred by all of those other people is now transferred to
that person. He has not eaten the food everybody
else has eaten, but he is going to pay the debt. And so Christ
is also able to remain sinless, yet he's able to pay the debt
of his people. They have sinned, he has not
sinned. He has the ability to pay the
debt which they do not have. And so he has made sin for us. He paid. He had the ability to
pay, being God manifested in the flesh. He is able to absorb
the full wrath of Almighty God upon the cross, being God himself,
yet still remain sinless. He knew no sin. He was the Lamb
of God. If you remember the Passover
lamb, it was to be without spot and without blemish. If Christ
is going to be the perfect substitute for a sinner, he himself must
be sinless. He must be perfect and without
spot, yet a man. He was sinless, yet he was in
a sinful world. He walked this sinful world,
yet remained separate from sinners. He walked this sinful world,
yet remained undefiled. We know that by his birth born
into this world through the Virgin Mary that sin which is carried
on from Adam was not imputed unto him for he is the son of
God and therefore he was able to remain sinless. In Colossians it tells us In Colossians chapter 4, from
verses 4 and 5, sorry Galatians. Galatians 4, from 4 and 5. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. When the fullness of time came,
God sent forth his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, having to be born
of a woman so that he would come into this world under the authority
of his own law. The sovereign God became a subject
to the very law that he created. As a man, as the God-man, he
lived under that law, living in complete obedience to it. so that he would become the perfect
substitute, that he would be enabled to give a righteousness
to his people that they would never be able to do. We know
that by our nature, we are lawbreakers. We can never love God with all
of our heart, soul, and mind. We can never love our neighbour
as ourself. We can never fulfil the whole
of the Ten Commandments. In act, we break them. In thought, we break them. the
Lord Jesus Christ was able to live a perfect and a righteous
life fulfilling all of the law of God. If you think about it that there
was to be an exam and to pass this exam you needed to get a
hundred percent. If you got one little line wrong
you lost a mark. And if you failed that exam,
you wouldn't be able to go into the next school. 100% is what God requires for heaven. And no one, no man is able to
fulfill that criteria. It's totally impossible. We can
never work a righteousness of ourselves that will be acceptable
in the sight of a holy God. We will always fall short of
his standard, which is why Christ had to be born underneath his
own law so that he could complete the test himself and get 100%
and be a surety or be a representative for his people. We read, we sung,
didn't we? For Jesus said he'd bear the
punishment instead. And so what drew Christ to earth
was love, to bring about the salvation of his people. And
he was going to be the sinless lamb of God that was going to
be made sin for his people. Even Pilate had to confess in
our reading, I don't find any fault in him. In John 18 verse 38, And Pilate said unto him, What
is truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews and said unto them, I find in
him no fault at all. As he stood before an earthly
judge, the earthly judge said, there's nothing in him, he's
perfect. is righteous, there's no fault in him. As God looked
at him from above as his son, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased, there was no fault in him whatsoever. He is this sinless, unspotted
lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, yet he was
made sin for his people. He paid the punishment for their
sin. And so he was on the cross counted
and punished as a sinner yet the sinless Lamb of God. In John 19 which we read together verse from verse 4, but Pilate
therefore went forth again and saith unto them, Behold, I bring
him forth to you that ye may know that I find no fault in
him. Then came Jesus forth wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate said unto them,
Behold the man. And when the chief priests therefore
and officers saw it, they cried out saying, Crucify him, crucify
him. Pilate saith unto them, take
ye him and crucify him for I find no fault in him. You see, Pilate couldn't find
any fault in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was jealousy that the Pharisees
and the Jews offered him up to be crucified. They said, we will not have this
man to reign over us. We will have no king except Caesar. There is no fault in him. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. The Lord Jesus doesn't just forgive
sin, doesn't just bear the punishment
for his people in cleansing them from all of their sins, but he
credits to them a righteousness which they put on by faith as
he fulfilled the whole of the law of God. and he then is punished
for their sin he gives them a righteousness. If you think of it like this
you have a debt of a million pounds someone comes and they
pay that debt off for you and that brings you to zero but then they add to you another
million that brings you into a positive number in your account
And Christ does the same. His forgiveness of sin brings
you to zero but his positive righteousness brings you into
an acceptable place in the sight of a holy God. Not only are you
without sin but he grants you his full obedience to the law,
perfect righteousness in which he lived. as Christ was the sinless who
was made sin and so he makes the sinful righteous. In Romans chapter 5 it tells us there that
through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ there is justification
for therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ through his work of being the Lamb of God as God
pours out his wrath, he wipes out the sins of his people and
as he rises from the grave those are now justified in the sight
of a holy God. Their account in the courts of
heaven has been wiped clean, not because of anything that
they themselves have done, but because of the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's beloved Son. In Romans 6. Sorry, Romans 8. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Because they have
been justified, their account has been wiped clear, the positive
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ has been credited to the
account of his people. There is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus, because Christ himself has paid the penalty
in full. He was condemned. The wrath of
God was poured out upon him. He paid the debt. Therefore his
people are unable to walk free. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. It's not our righteousness. It's not a righteousness that
we have done or are able to do, but it is a righteousness that
God himself has worked out for his people. God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses
to them. For he made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him, that is in Christ Jesus. And so it is the work
of God now to work in our hearts to enable us to view this sacrifice
by faith, to see our need of this sacrifice and to lay hold
of this sacrifice. as the woman who pressed through
the crowd had her issue of blood. We have our issue of sin which
separates us from a holy God. And it's a great blessing if
we are able to see our sin and our need of Christ that enables
us to push through the crowd and to lay hold of the garments
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as it were, lay hold of his
head and confess our sins upon his head that he may be our lamb. And so this transaction that
took place on Calvary physically and spiritually is credited to
the accounts of his people by faith. That perfect work of Christ
can only be brought across to your and my account by faith. Outside of Christ we stand condemned
in the sight of a holy God. But in Christ Jesus we are justified,
there is no condemnation for we stand as righteous, as sinless
in the sight of a holy God through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so it's faith that lays hold of Christ that enables that work
to be credited to our account that we may go free. Coming to
the cross and laying hold of the Lord Jesus
and saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And so salvation
is the work of God and God alone. It is him. It was his idea to
bring about reconciliation between him and his people. It was God
so loved the world that he gave his son. It was God. God took
the first step to bring about that reconciliation. God gave
his son. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself, not imputing their sin to them, but imputing
it to Christ, to the account of Christ. that he might be the
sinless Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. So
may we as individuals come to know not just the physical things
that took place, not just to learn and to read about the Lord
Jesus upon the cross at Calvary, but to know for ourselves that
spiritual transaction that took place and may it be known in
our hearts that we are part of that, that our sins, which are
many, are all forgiven, that we stand justified in the sight
of a holy God, that we stand righteous in the sight of a holy
God through the finished work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our closing hymn is hymn number
83 from Hymns of Worship. When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died, My riches gain I count
but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Hymn number 83
from Hymns of Worship to the tune 398. ? The rich to praise the glory
died ? ? The riches gained by countless hearts ? ? And all
contented hearts ? O give me hope that I shall boast,
Saving the life of Christ my God. I sacrifice them to his blood. Sorrow and love flood me all
the time. It is the shock and sorrow of
all the time. ? It's always falling on the trees
? ? And am I getting to all the good and the bad ? ? Is dead to me ? ? Evermore ?
? A manger mine ? ? And for a present ? ? Now to thee ? Love so amazing, so divine, demands
my soul, my life, my all. Almighty God, we do thank Thee
for the gift of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee
for the wonder of salvation, and we pray that we may be granted
eyes of faith to lay hold of thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that our sins, which are so many, might be enabled to be forgiven. We pray that thou bless the food
that we are about to partake, to bless the conversation, to
enable us to fellowship one with another, and we ask that thou
Dismiss us later with thy blessing. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, do rest and abide with
us each, now and for evermore. Amen.