Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring a message
to you this morning from one verse of Scripture. It's going
to be in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21. And the title of this message
is He, Him, and Us. That's who is involved in this
one verse of scripture and in the message. He, Him, and Us. And this is what 2 Corinthians
5 verse 21 has to say about He, Him, and Us. It says, 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. Now that is the summary of this
whole book. That's the summary of the whole
book. If we would like to know what
the entire Word of God is about, it's about He making Him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Every Old Testament picture We
learn these stories as children, these stories in the Old Testament.
Every single one of them is about he making him to be sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Every one of them,
Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel. Noah and the Ark. And we could
just keep going with it, Jacob and Esau. Every story, the entire
law of God, all the laws that were written point us to he making
him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God, all the prophets. You have the law of Moses. All
the prophets point us to this. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Jonah, all of them. The story of Jonah, the Lord
said, no sign will be given, but the sign of Jonah being in
the belly of the whale for three days. All of them point to this. All of the apostles, they wrote
the new Testament. Every letter that they wrote,
the letter to this church and the letter to that church, all
of them declare this one message. All of them. The entire book
is about he making him to be sin for us. Now let's begin by
acknowledging something about he Him and us. Let's acknowledge something about
each one. He, we're going to start with He. He is the sovereign
God. That's who He is when it says
He. It's talking about the sovereign God. In this same chapter, up
a few verses in verse 18, it says, all things are of God. All things are of God. He is
God. God, the absolute, just, holy,
sovereign God. Turn with me if you would to
Psalm 115. And let's read verse three together.
Psalm 115 verse three, it says, but our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Our God is in the heavens and
he has done whatsoever he has pleased. He's God. He's God. He does not do what men let Him
do. He's God. He is the Almighty
God and He does whatever He pleases. That's the first thing we need
to understand about He. When we're talking about He,
He's God. He's God. He does whatever He
pleases. Look with me at Psalm 135. Psalm 135 verse six says whatsoever
the Lord pleased that did he in heaven and in earth in the
seas and all deep places whatever he pleased wherever he pleased
that's what he did he's God He's God. That's the first declaration
that every man and woman needs to hear. He's God and he's the
one who is in control doing as he pleases. Everything is in
his hands. Daniel 4 verse 35 says he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven. in the among
the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or
say unto him what doest thou none can stop what he's doing
he does whatever he pleases none can stop what he's doing or ask
him what are you doing none none he's god he's god he has done
And He will do whatever it has pleased Him to do. Whatever it
has pleased Him to do. When we think on Him, and when
we think on our standing before Him, that's the first thing we
must understand. He's God. He's the One doing
whatever it pleases Him to do. Now, what has it pleased Him
to do? If he does whatever it pleases
him to do, the question is, what has it pleased him to do? Turn
with me over to First Samuel, chapter 12, and we'll see something
that's amazing. Amazing, now he's God. He's seated
in the heavens doing whatever it pleases him to do. All right,
what has it pleased him to do? First Samuel 12 verse 20 says. And Samuel said unto the people,
fear not. You have done all this wickedness. You've you've rebelled, you've
sinned, you've done all this wickedness. Yet turn not aside
from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your
heart. And turn ye not aside For then should you go after
vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for their vain."
If you go after anything other than the Lord, you're going after
something that cannot save. Verse 22, for the Lord will not
forsake his people. Is that good news to you like
it is to me? The Lord will not forsake his
people for his great names sake, because it hath pleased the Lord
to make you his people. That's what it pleased him to
do. He is God. He is God. He does whatever it pleases Him
to do. And what did it please Him to
do? It pleased Him to make you His people. That's what He says
to every child of His. Every person that He chose to
put in Christ and deal with in Christ. God is a sovereign God,
a controlling and ruling God. But he's a loving God. He is a loving God. He is a God
of justice. He is a God of holiness. He's
a God of wrath. He's not a pushover. He's a God of justice. He's a
God of wrath, but he's a God of mercy. He's a gracious God. And it has pleased this loving,
merciful, gracious God to make you his people. That's what he
said. Now, how did he do that? How did he do that? Well, over
in Isaiah 53. If you look with me at Isaiah
chapter 53, this is a glorious chapter. And it says in Isaiah
53 verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord. To bruise him. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now he does whatsoever he pleases. And it pleased he. To bruise
him, that's what it says. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He made him sin. Who is him? We've now seen who
he is. Who is him? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the son
of God. the equal member of God, the
Trinity. And every time we mention the
son of God, let's remember who he really is. He's not just God's
son. God is three persons and he is
the equal member of God, the Trinity, the son. Of God. Equal to the father. Equal to
the spirit, what that means is. Christ is just as holy and just
as just and just as pure as God himself. And the reason is because
Christ is God himself. Christ is God himself. Christ is spotless, pure, righteous,
perfect. He's perfect. Never knew sin. This chapter right here, Isaiah
53, the end of verse six, it says the Lord. Jehovah, God,
Father, Son and Spirit, the Lord. He. Laid on him. He laid on him the individual
person of God, the son. God, the father laid on God,
the son, the iniquity of all of God's people, all of them,
everyone that it pleased him to make his people. It pleased
God to have a people. It pleased God to choose a people
and every single one of them. had their sin laid on God, the
son, God, the father took the sin off of every single one of
them and laid him on his son. Why would he do that? If we really
stop and think about that, why would God do that? Here's the
only answer. It pleased him to do so. That's
what it pleased him to do. He made him to be sin. the one who knew no sin. He made
him to be sin. Christ, the God man, never committed
one sin. Every split second of the 33
and a half years that he walked this earth, every second of it,
not one time, did he ever know sin? Not in his body, not in
his mind, not in his heart. He was the God man. He is the
God man, perfect, holy, spotless, the God-man, the only one who
ever earned the favor of God Almighty, God the Father, the
only man who God the Father was actually pleased with, the only
one who deserved to walk straight through the gates of heaven.
He's the only one. God the Father made him the only
one. God the Father made him to be
sin for us. Now, who is us? We've looked
at he, we've looked at him, who is us? I'll tell you something
about us. Us, we are the exact opposite
of he and him. Everything we've seen about he
in him If you look at the exact opposite of that You'll see us
We are so simple We are so simple we are in control of nothing
Nothing we are so unjust and so unholy and so unworthy that
So spotted, so unpure, so vile, so wretched. Every split second. Of the life that we have spent
so far on this earth. And however many more seconds
we have until our time on this earth is over every second of
it. is dripping, dripping with sin, dripping with sin. Every
second of it. Sin in the body, sin in the mind,
sin in the heart. Not one of us, not one of us,
has ever earned the favor of God. Not one of us. Not one of
us. Not one time has any of us ever
done anything that is well pleasing to Him. Not one time. We think we have. in our sinful
minds. We're very proud of ourselves,
very high on ourselves, very self-righteous, but God says
not one. He said, all your righteousnesses
are filthy rags in my eyes. He said, there's none good, no,
not one. Crown of our head, the sole of our foot. Not one of
us deserves to walk straight through the gates of glory. Not
one of us. But he said, this is what he
said, behold him. He said to us, behold him. God said, behold my servant,
behold mine elect, the one I choose. I have a job that must be done
and he's the only one who can do it. Behold the one I choose."
Pilate said, Behold your king. He brought the Lord before all
the people and he said, Behold your king. John cried, Behold
the lamb. He pointed right at him and said,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
He hath made him to be sin for us. He made him to be sin for
us. Now, what does that mean? What does that mean? Christ was
made to be sin. What does that mean? Look with
me, if you would, back in the text, which is 2nd Corinthians
5, verse 21. If you'll notice there, sometimes
our Bibles have italicized words, and that means those words were
added by the translators to make it more understandable. And they've
done a very good job. But sometimes we can also get
a more clear understanding of the verse if we read it the way
it was originally written. To be is in italics. It says, for he hath made him
sin. That's what it says. He hath
made, Christ was made sin. One man made this comment on
it. He said, when the water was made wine at the marriage feast,
that was our Lord's first miracle. He turned water into wine. He
said, when the water was made wine at the marriage feast, The
water was not made to look like wine. The water was not made
to taste like wine. The water was not treated as
though it were wine. And they did not put a post-it
note on the water pots saying wine. He said the water was made
wine. It was made wine. He said, and
when the son of God was made sin for us, he was not made to
look like sin. He was not treated as though
he were sin. And he did not merely have sin
pasted on him. He was made to be sin. That means an actual trading
of places. That means he didn't just take
the responsibility for sin. He took the sin. The actual sin,
he did not just make a payment for sin. He made the sin his
own, our great high priest, that's who Christ is called in the scripture,
our great high priest. Became us the one who made intercession
for sin. became the sin. He became us. Psalm 40 verse 7 says, Then said
I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. I come. to do thy will
in the volume of the book it is written of me. This is Christ.
And in verse 12, he said, for innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Mine iniquities, this is Christ
speaking, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me. So that I'm
not able to look up, they are more than the hairs of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. my heart faileth me he made him
sin that's amazing the only one who knew no sin the only perfect
man that god the father was well pleased with he took our sin
and laid it on him pressed it into him actual total substitution
Substitution. That's the gospel. The gospel
is not. Now, this is what you need to
do to fix all your problems. The gospel is total substitution
between a sinner and the God man. Total substitution. Well, what was the result of
that substitution? That's what it pleased the father
to do, and that's what he did and what was the result of it.
Well, if you look back in the text, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21
says, 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. Not made to look like the righteousness
of God in him. not treated as though we were
the righteousness of God in him. We did not merely have righteousness
pasted on to us. We were made the righteousness
of God. If it pleased the Lord to do
that for us, God chose a people. And if he included us in that
people, if he pleased to do this for us, then we were made to
be the spotlessness. the perfection, the worthiness,
the purity, the holiness, the justice, the goodness of Christ
himself. Absolute total substitution. I want to finish this message
by telling you a true story. This is a good illustration of
this. My wife's grandfather, met a man many years ago, and
the last name of that man was Horn. That was the man's last
name. And it was well known that this
man was born a Jew. Born into this, he was a Jewish
man. But my wife's grandfather asked this man, he said, you're
not a full-blooded Jew, are you? He said, Horn is not a Jewish
name. And the man said, oh, I am a full-blooded Jew. Here's what
happened. He said, my grandfather, his last name was Bernstein.
He was born in 1900 in Germany. And when he was 18 years old
in 1918, World War I was going strong. And he knew that he was
going to be drafted by the Germans to fight against the Americans.
And he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to do it. He thought
it was a death sentence. And he told his parents, I just
want to live. I want to live. I don't want
to fight for this cause. And so he said, I'm leaving.
And he got what food he could and what water he could. And
he set out in rural Germany, headed to Switzerland. And after
he ran out of food and water over a couple of days, three
or four days in, he became exhausted. Absolutely exhausted. He thought
he was going to die, but he came up on a small house out in rural
Germany. And when he saw that house, he
knew that's my only hope. So he thought in his mind, I'm
going to go tell them the truth. I'm going to tell them what I'm
doing and I'm going to cast myself on the mercy of the house. So
he knocked on the door. And a man and his wife opened
the door and they could see he was famished. They could see
that he was distraught, exhausted. And they brought him in, put
some food in front of him and gave him some water. And he started
telling them his story. He said, my name is Bernstein
and this is what I'm doing. And he said, I'm just trying
to live. I'm trying to save my life and I don't want to fight
for this cause. And that man and that woman had compassion
on that 18 year old boy. And he said to that young boy,
he said, our name is Horn. And he said, we just lost our
son. He's about your age. He said, you look in the backyard.
He said, do you see that tombstone? He said, that's my son. And he
said, this is what I'm going to do. You give me all of your
papers, you give me your passport, everything that says who you
are, everything you are. You give me all of your papers,
and I'm going to give you all of his papers, everything that
says who he is. And tomorrow, I'm going to go
to that tombstone, and I'm going to change the name from Horn
to Bernstein." And he said, if they ever come looking for you,
I'm going to tell them, Bernstein is dead. He's dead. Here's his papers. There's his
tombstone. And do you know they did come
looking for him? And that's exactly what he told them. Bernstein's
dead. Horn is alive. Bernstein's dead. That's substitution. And that's
what Christ did for his people. Bernstein died in Horn. Horn
lives in Bernstein. And we died in Christ and Christ
lives in us. That is the gospel. The gospel
is a trading of places. us getting everything he was
and him getting everything we were in the result of that transaction. That's the gospel. May God truly
include us in his substitution and teach us that gospel. Until
next week, may the Lord bless his word to our hearts. You have
been listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message, or to hear other messages of sovereign
grace, log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.