In 2 Corinthians and chapter
5, Paul sets before us the vital ministry of reconciliation, the
need of reconciliation, the need as sinners to be reconciled before
a holy God. For as he declares in verse 10
of 2 Corinthians 5, there comes a day, there comes a time, When
all men, when all of us, must appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he have done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, Paul says, we persuade men. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade man. You see, sin, which remains,
will bring upon it a terrible end. Should we pass from this world
into eternity without being reconciled unto our Maker, We'll sin upon
our hands. The end is terrible. Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We shall all
stand before God. We shall all stand before Christ. We shall all give an account
for what we have done and what we are. Good or bad. and we shall all be judged accordingly,
fairly, and righteously. And if you and I are honest,
we all to a man would have to admit that we have not done good,
that we are bad, that we are sinners, that we have fallen
short of the glory of God. and that his wrath and his judgment
must surely burn against us. We must be reconciled. We must
be reconciled unto our God. Peace must be made. Something
must be done about our sins and our sin. if we are to be spared
the judgment of God in eternity to come. And in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul
not only sets before us the fact of reconciliation and the fruit
of reconciliation that those in Christ who are reconciled
unto God are new creatures. All things are passed away. All
things have become new. Not only does he set before us
the fact of reconciliation and the fruit of reconciliation,
but he sets before us the ground of reconciliation. How can men
and women like you and me, sinners, born of Adam, of the dust of
the earth, rebels before God, how can those full of sin be
reconciled unto a God who is righteous and holy in thought
and deed, who is pure throughout. How can we possibly be reconciled? Only through such a ministry
as Paul declares here. This passage in many respects
is parallel with another passage in Romans, in Romans and chapter
five, where Paul also deals with reconciliation and the grounds
of reconciliation. For the reconciliation of a sinner
unto God comes through the work and the person of another. It
comes through someone standing in their place, to take their
sin, to take the judgment of God against that sin, to take
it away, that they might be spared such a judgment, that they might
be delivered from their sins and from their sin, and that
they before a holy God might be declared just and righteous. There must be a substitute There
must be one who can stand in their place and take the judgment
in their place. For we deserve judgment and we
cannot pay the price. were God to pour out his judgment
upon us for our sins then we would suffer for eternity and
never pay the price. We cannot wash ourselves clean,
we cannot make ourselves better, we cannot through doing our best,
through trying to live as righteously as we can, we cannot undo all
of our past sins. We may once awaken to the truth
of God and to the truth of his holiness and righteousness and
to the fact of judgment to come we may seek to live differently
from how we have previously lived. We may seek to turn from our
wicked ways and our sinful habits, we may seek to live as righteously
as we can But however good a job we may make of it we can do nothing
about the sins which we've previously committed. And we can do nothing
about those sins which we continue to commit because we find as
we seek to live this way that we're unable to prevent ourselves
from sinning. Because sin dwells in us. as Paul discovered and as he
wrote about in Romans chapter 7. Even though there came a time
in his life when he was brought to know God truly. Even though
there came a time when his heart's desire was changed. Even though
there came a time when now he sought to live righteously before
God and he hated his sin and he didn't want to live in sin
any longer. He found the dreadful fact, the
dreadful truth, that that which he did, he allowed not, he didn't
want to do it. And what he would do, that do
I not, he says, but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that
which I would not, I consent unto the law, which he sought
to keep, that it is good. Now then, he says, it is no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me
there is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that,
I would not. It is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. You see, not only are
we born in sin, not only do we go astray from the womb, but
even should the day come when God by His Spirit awakens us
to our lost condition, and puts a different spirit in our heart,
a different desire in our heart as he did with Paul. We would
discover with Paul the terrible truth that though we would do
good, we cannot. And the evil that we don't want
to do, that we do. And we find that in our flesh
there's no good. But sin dwelleth in us. Sin dwelleth in us. It's in us. However hard we try to live right
before a holy God, however much we might seek to perform good
works before him to commend ourselves to him, they're all tainted by
sin. For sin dwelleth in us. Then how can those who have not
only committed sins, who've not only gone far away from God,
who've not only gone astray and rebelled against Him and His
Word. How can those who are not only
rebels, but those in whom sin dwells? A power, a force that
prevents them from living right. A power, a force that causes
them to stumble and fall every day. How can those in whom sin
dwells possibly be reconciled unto a holy God? What can they
do about it? They can seek to live righteously
with all their might, but if sin dwells in their flesh, what
can they do? They're lost before they've started. They're black from head to toe.
They need this sin to be taken away. They need to be delivered
from sin. Not only do they need their sins
to be washed away, all those deeds that they've committed,
But they need to be delivered from the cause of those sins. They need to be delivered from
that force that causes them to sin. They need to be delivered
from that which entered into man in the garden, right in the
beginning of time, when their great forefather Adam, the first
man, rebelled against the word of God disobeyed his maker and
in so doing sin entered into the heart of man and death by
sin and death passed upon all men to this very day and sin
by natural generation passed upon all men as we're taught
in Romans 5. They need to be delivered from
this sin and without such a deliverance there can be no salvation and
no reconciliation unto God. Well it's this problem, this
problem of indwelling sin, not just our sins that we've done,
not just our guilt of the crimes we've committed before God, but
the very cause is this problem of indwelling sin that Paul deals
with here in this passage. in the Ministry of Reconciliation. Now he describes this ministry
as the Ministry of Reconciliation and the Word of Reconciliation. And he says, be ye reconciled
unto God. He declares our great need of
reconciliation. But in the Greek, the word translated
reconciliation there actually has more to do with the cause
of reconciliation. than the effect, which is reconciliation. It's the ministry which he preaches,
it's the cardinal truth of the gospel in terms of what Christ
did upon the cross, which is that which delivers a sinner
from his sin, and which is that which reconciles him unto God.
Paul could have easily written or it could be translated that
this is the ministry of substitution or the ministry of exchange.
For what brings about the reconciliation of a sinner unto God is the death
of another in his stead, is the death of another who took his
sin upon himself. and who suffered under the outpouring
of the judgment and wrath of God against that sin, that the
sinner might be delivered both from the judgment of God and
from the power of indwelling sin. The ministry of substitution,
the word of reconciliation, is that which Paul declares in verse
21 of chapter five, where he states of Christ, the Son of
God, and of the Father in his dealings with the Son, that He,
the Father, have made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 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 this is the heart of the
gospel. This is the ministry of substitution. This is that ministry which brings
reconciliation and nothing else. We preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ and him crucified,
the substitute, the one who stood in the sinner's place, the one
who took his sins and bore them in his own body on the tree,
and the one who was made sin for them that they might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Now this is a tremendous verse,
a tremendous summary of the gospel. In but a few words Paul brings
the essence of the gospel and the Father and the Son's work
in the gospel before us, in the fewest of words which bring in
the greatest and the deepest and the most mysterious of truths. Here is the ground of faith. Here is the hope of salvation. Here is the great mystery of
God made known. Here is the manifestation of
his righteousness and his love and his mercy to his people.
Here is the great declaration of what God did in love for his
own. Here is the wondrous, wonderful
ministry of reconciliation. He hath made Him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Wonderful verse with wonderful
truth. But something which it is so
easy to stumble at. For the natural man receive if
not the things of the Spirit of God, And all these truths
as in all the scriptures are spiritually known and spiritually
revealed. Naturally we cannot comprehend
such a thing. We cannot comprehend that God
should be made man. We cannot comprehend that God
should die. We cannot comprehend that God
should die in the place of man. We cannot comprehend that Christ
as God, as man, should be made sin, that he should die in the
place of man. It's beyond telling, beyond understanding,
and yet it's the gospel which is the power of God under salvation,
for therein is revealed the righteousness of God. For it is because Christ was
made sin for us who are His, that we who believe on His name
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Oh, how we need
to know this, how we need to see this, and how we need the
Spirit of God to reveal it unto us, as He reveals His Son unto
us and in us. as our Savior, as Him who knew
no sin, as Him who has made sin for us, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Well, let us consider this verse
briefly this morning. Let us ask about this verse five
simple questions, five questions we may ask about many things
to discover the truth. Let us ask first, who? Then what? When? And where? And finally, why? Who, what,
when, where and why? Firstly, who? Who was made sin
here? Who made him sin? Who was made sin? is vital to the salvation of
sinners. It could not just be anyone.
Not anyone could have come and done this. Only one person could. Only one person was qualified
to deliver a people from sin. Only one person could take the
sin of his people away. whoever was made sin for them
as their substitute, whoever died in their place, whoever
suffered the wrath of God in their place, must himself be
one who knew no sin, must himself be one who was without sin, must
himself be one who was righteous and perfect and pure, No one
else could suffer and deliver a people from sin. For if anyone
else should die in the place of a sinner and himself be a
sinner too, then he would simply be dying under the wrath of God
against his own sins. Yet here is one who has made
sin, who himself knew no sin. Here is one who was impeccably
suited to be a sacrifice for sin because he was without sin,
because he himself was perfect. Here is one, the only one, who
could be made sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ. son of God. Only he could be
made sin in order to deliver his people from sin. Only he
could bring in the righteousness of God for that people. Only
he could pay the price in their stead. For only he as God, as
the Son of God, as God made man, only he could die as one who himself
had no sin. He was the only man that ever
lived who was born pure and perfect, who was perfect all his days. The only man who was without
sin, for he was God who took upon himself human flesh in the
likeness of sin and yet without sin as we read in Romans 8. God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned
sin in the flesh. He came, he came a man, but a
man without sin. one who could stand in the stead,
one who was innocent, one whom the Father could look upon and
take the sin of his people and lay it upon this perfect sacrifice
and judge that sin in him, that in exchanging places with them,
he, once perfect, might be made sin in their place, and they,
once sinful, might be made perfect and righteous in him. He exchanged places, he substituted,
he stood in their stead, there was an exchange, an exchange
of states, an exchange of places. The one who was righteous stood
in the sinner's place that the sinner might be made to stand. as him who is righteous before
a holy God. Yes, God made Christ His only
begotten Son, the Son of His love, His only Son. He gave Him as a gift. He gave
Him as a sacrifice for His people. He took His own Son and offered
Him up in love for His own. Yes, He took His own Son and
He slew His Son. for them, for us, who are in
Christ. The him is Christ, the he is
his father. He, the father, made him, Christ,
his son, to be sin for us. He who knew no sin. He who was
spotless. He in whose mouth there was no
guile. He who never thought or said
an evil word or an evil thought. As 1 Peter chapter 2 tells us,
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye
should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should
live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. He did
no sin, he knew no sin, he never even dreamt or fought a sinful
thought in his lifetime. He was pure, he was perfect. And yet the father took his son,
His perfect Son, the perfect Lamb of God, and He took Him
up, up the hill to the place of sacrifice. Abraham took Isaac
up the hill, up the mount. God the Father took His Son up
the mount and had Him nailed to the tree, nailed to the cross,
upon which He slew Him. He had Him killed, He slew Him. He poured out His wrath and His
anger and His hatred of sin against His own Son. Out of love for
His own, He made Him to be sin for us. He who knew no sin was
slain for us. Well that's the who. The Father
God did this to His Son. for us. The final who in the
equation? The father, the son and the us. Who are the us? They are all
those for whom Christ died, all those who the Father gave him
from before the foundations of the earth, all those whom the
Father chose, elected, chosen in Christ before the foundation
of this earth, chosen out of that race born of Adam. All the offspring of Christ,
all those for whom Christ died, all those who one day by the
work of the Spirit will have their eyes opened and their ears
opened to hear this Gospel and to look unto the Son who suffered
in their place. All those for whom He was made
sin. For us. He did this for us. Did He do it for you? Were you
among the us? Well what did He do? He have
made Him to be sin for us. The Father made Christ sin for
His people, for us. Now the translators have put
a couple of words in there to make this more easy to be understood. Literally it reads, He have made
Him sin for us. But should that be misread or
misconstrued, they've put the word to be in. For the emphasis
is on the noun. The noun sin, not the verb. He have made him sin for us.
He didn't make him sin or commit a sin for us. It's not the verb. So to be clear about it, they've
put the word to be in, it's the noun. He have made him, the noun,
sin for us. You've made him to be it. He was made sin. Made sin. Now notice also that this word
is in the singular, sin. He have made him to be sin for
us. It is sin which is spoken of
in this passage as it is righteousness on the other side of it. It is
not sins and it is not righteousnesses. many will speak of Christ bearing
our sins and many when they come to this passage speak of his
bearing of sins and whilst Christ certainly did bear our sins as
we read in 1 Peter 2 and 24 that he his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree those deeds which his people have committed
those wicked deeds he bore our sins plural our actions our deeds
that is nevertheless not what 2 corinthians 5 21 is speaking
of this passage is talking of sin singular and righteousness
singular not sins plural and righteousness is plural sins
are what we do are sinful deeds. Righteousnesses are the good
deeds that we seek to do, of which God has to say elsewhere
that even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Now Christ
bore the sins of his people in his own body on the tree. He
bore the guilt and the condemnation against those deeds and he washed
them away through his blood which was shed at the end of his death
when the spear was thrust into his side and blood came forth
with water as a testimony that he had paid the price of those
sins. He had paid the judgment price
against those sins and he had washed that people clean his
blood he bore away their sins but this is more than that this
is about sin singular this is the condition in man the condition
in fallen man which brings forth sins this is that which entered
into man when Adam felled as we noted from Romans 5 which
as I say is a parallel passage to this one in Corinthians which
also deals with reconciliation. In Romans 5 and verse 12 we read
that wherefore as by one man sin singular entered into the
world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for
that all have sinned. It's the condition of sin, the
state of sin, as it were the disease of sin, the sinful nature
in man, that sinful heart, that black fallen heart, that sinful
nature which causes us to sin, that fountainhead from which
sin flows forth. That is what Christ was made
to be when God made him to be sin for us. And as a result,
in Christ, his people are made to be the righteousness of God
in him. Not the righteousnesses, not
the deeds of God, but the very righteous nature. The condition
of righteousness, there's an exchange which is spoken of here. An exchange, a substitution. And the substitution is sin for
righteousness, and righteousness for sin. Christ was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Our sins are washed away by his blood that we might be forgiven
of our sins. But you cannot forgive sin. You cannot forgive the nature
of sin. Sin cannot be just washed away
or a price paid for it. It's a conditioning man which
entered into man when he fell in the garden, which is passed
upon all men by natural generation, from which we need to be delivered. If we're ever to enter into eternal
glory, when we die and pass from this world into eternity, if
we're to enter into the presence of God, we need to be changed. It's one thing to have had our
sins washed away, it's one thing for God to look at our account
and no longer impute our trespasses unto us as it says in verse 19
of 2 Corinthians 5. It's one thing to have our account
of our sins wiped clean. But we can't enter into glory
in the same state in which we live in this world. We can't
enter into glory with the flesh, with the corrupt bodies which
we have. We cannot enter into glory with
a sinful nature. Can we? That must be at some
point, somewhere, somehow taken away. It must be destroyed. It must be blotted out. It must
be purged. It is not simply a past deed
for which a reconciliation or a price can be paid. It's not
something, a crime for which a fine may be paid or for which
time may be served. It's a condition, a state that
we need to be delivered from, as it were a disease from which
we must be cleansed. And in order to cleanse us from
it, We read that God, the Father, have made Christ to be sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. This is an exchange of states. And all the exchange occurred
in Christ, not in us. He was made sin. God took the
sin of his people and made Christ to be it. that they might be
made the righteousness of God but note the exchange note the
wording at the end it's not that he over there was made sin and
we over here are as a consequence made righteousness but we are
made the righteousness of God in him all occurs in him it is
because his people are united with him in his death that they
can be made the righteousness of God in him and it is because
they were united to him with him in his death that he was
made to be their sin. It is because they were crucified
with him that he as it were became what they are that that might
be judged and destroyed that in the end they might be in him
what he is, the righteousness of God. As Paul says I am crucified with
Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me. he was made one with Christ at
the cross and as one Christ was made his sin and God judged that
sin in his son that in the end Paul might rise from the dead
in Christ without sin. Romans 8 verses 1 to 4 teach
this same truth they echo what is here in 2 Corinthians 5 This
is not isolated to one or two places in Scripture, it's throughout
the Gospel, in many places. And in the Doctrine of Places,
especially in Romans and Corinthians, Paul deals with this. He deals
with the body of sin in chapter 6. We read in chapter 6 verse
6, knowing this, that our old man, our old man, is crucified
with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. The old man what we were in Adam
was destroyed in Christ. Likewise in chapter 8 we read
that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh that the righteousness of the Lord might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirits.
Now God condemned sin in the flesh. Now which flesh did he
condemn it in? He condemned it in the flesh
of his son who was made in the likeness of sinful flesh but
he was made without sin But at the cross, in this exchange,
when Paul and all his people were united with Christ, when
they were crucified with Christ, when the old man was crucified
with him, at that point, God condemned sin in the flesh, in
Christ, as he made him to be sin for us. that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. There's an exchange,
but the exchange is entirely in the Son, as His people are
united with Him in His death, as He was plunged by His Father
in the rivers of death under the outpouring of the torment
and the anger of His wrath against their sins and against their
sin. When? We've considered who, we've
considered what, well when did this happen? It happened in the
fullness of time, in that hour of which Christ spake, when he
would be offered up as sacrifice for sin, in that time when he
came into this world, as it were in the meeting point of time
and eternity. that time in history, that fundamental
time in the midst of history upon which all history folds
as two pages of a book meet in the center, all history leading
up to the coming of Christ and his death and all history subsequently
meets at this center point of time when Christ was once offered
up to bear the sins of many. When he died, when he was nailed
to the tree, when he hung upon that tree for three hours in
the light and then there came a point when the light of the
sun was taken away. And when darkness was over the
earth for the space of three hours, as a testimony to what
was happening in that darkness, spiritually unseen, unperceived
by the natural sight of man. What happened in those hours
of darkness is that God made Christ to be sin for us who knew
no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. There in that darkness. at that time, at that hour, in
the space of three hours, Christ was made sin. And in the space
of three hours, Christ suffered the wrath of God, the eternal
wrath of God, an eternity of God's wrath, contracted to a
span, contracted to three hours, was poured out upon the suffering
Saviour in the darkness, in three hours in which he drank the cup
of his father's wrath against sin and he drank it to the dregs
and at the end of the space of three hours at the end he cried
out it is finished it is complete it is accomplished All is done. All the sins have been borne
away. All the sin has been destroyed. At the beginning of those three
hours Christ, perfect, pure, spotless, the Lamb of God, was
offered up as a sacrifice. God took the sin of his people
and made him to be it in a mysterious transaction on their behalf for
them. And God, looking upon what he
had made his son to be in such a transaction, poured out the
vaults of heaven against him, poured out his anger, and in
the space of three hours he burnt up with the fires of heaven sin
for them. And at the end, when Christ cried
out, it is finished. That sin, that condition, that
nature, that heart, that rebellion, which all men had been born in,
which all his people had been born with, was gone. And they in him, when he cried
out it is finished, when he was laid in the grave, when he rose
again on the third day, they in him were spotless. They had no sins upon their hands,
they had no sin for he had borne it away. This point is as it
were when time reaches its conclusion. Though it happened 2,000 years
ago, in the councils of God it is where time meets eternity. It is the fulfillment of time.
It is where all men pass through from this world into the next.
They go as it were through the cross. and they were either cleansed
by Christ at the cross, their sin was either taken away there
that they might through him, through his body, through his
flesh enter into glory, or they might passed by him as those
who passed by and reviled and mocked and scorned and as those
for whom he did not die they enter into eternity with their
sins with their sin with no reconciliation into eternal judgment. Yes this
is the meeting point of eternity and time and where you stand
in relation to this event determines where you will be forevermore. Where? That's where, now where? Like I said this happened when
Christ was nailed to the cross, outside the camp of Jerusalem,
outside the camp of man's religion, outside, outside the city, in
a place known as the skull. Go, go for the place of a skull. a horrible, a despicable place
where criminals were hung to die. Christ, the perfect, the
innocent, the just one, the son of God, was nailed on a tree
with criminals, with transgressors to die. Why? Well because in this hour he
was made to be sinned. He stood as a substitute. He
stood in the place of sinners. He stood as a transgressor. Not
that he had ever sinned, either before, during, or after this
event. He never committed one sin. He never committed a sin that
would make him worthy of this judgment. He never committed
a sin after he rose again. And he never thought or did one
evil deed whilst he hung upon that cross. His faith was intact,
he trusted his father, he looked up in love towards his father
as the perfect son of God. He was always God, pure and perfect
as he hung here. But in his humanity God made
him to be sin and united to his divinity in this free hours.
He had as it were that which was foreign to him, that which
he had never known, that which he recoiled from, that which
when in the garden of Gethsemane brought such great sorrow and
foreboding unto him. He had to bear in those hours
flesh which was made sin. He was made sin. at the cross,
outside the camp. Now this is pictorial to that
which happened in the Old Testament, when the sacrifice would be slain,
when a lamb or when a goat would be slain, when the blood would
be shed, poured out upon the mercy seat, but then the carcass
would be taken outside the camp, for the carcass was reckoned
to be corrupt, and the carcass was taken outside the camp, far
off, and burnt until there was nothing left. And this is what
happened to Christ here, as we read at the end of Hebrews 13. He suffered without the camp. He was taken as it were as the
carcass, the corrupt carcass. He had borne away the sins of
his people. The blood was shed as it were,
but this is as it were a picture of the carcass, that which was
made sin being taken outside the camp. For the bodies of those
beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high
priest for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the gate. Let us go forth therefore under
him without the camp bearing his reproach. He was outside
for sin cannot be forgiven as we've noted in Romans 8. He was
sent in the likeness of sinful flesh that God might condemn
sin in the flesh. It must be destroyed, it must
be burnt up and at the cross outside the camp in that place
God burnt up sin. Not only was it physically in
that location though, it was also personally in Christ. He have made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. This is where it happened in
Christ that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. All is in him. he was made sin
that sin might be taken away that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Finally to conclude why did this
happen? Well we've touched on it. Why?
Because we must be reconciled unto God. We must be righteous. We cannot enter into glory with
our sin. We may have our sins purged through
the blood of Christ but what about our nature? We need that
dealt with too. It must be taken away. And every
child of God, everyone who looks by faith unto Christ, everyone
who walks by faith, as Paul says in verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 5,
and who looks by faith, not by sight. Everyone who, unlike those
at the cross, who in the hours of darkness saw nothing and perceived
nothing, All those who were given faith to look beyond the darkness,
to look with faith into the mysteries of God, to understand and perceive
what happened at that hour, at that place, in the darkness when
Christ was made sin. All those who look unto this
Lamb who shed his blood for them and to this Savior and to this
sacrifice all those who look under him will not enter into
glory with sin, they will not, they will enter in having the
righteousness of God in Christ. How so? Because Christ took their
sin away, he took it away You may answer and say well no I
know I will enter glory righteous and without sin. I know that
Christ died to deliver me from sins, to save me. I know I will enter glory righteous
but I don't quite understand how he could have been actually
made sin for me. Surely that was just reckoned
to his account, surely it was only imputed. Surely he just
suffered the death that it demanded. How could he be made sin, he
who is perfect, he who is God, he who is pure. That can't really
have happened. That can't be what this passage
is really talking about. Surely it's simply imputation.
Well our sins were imputed to him, they were accounted to him
but firstly this is not speaking of sins, like I said, this is
speaking of sin and sin is not something which can be imputed
as such, sin is a nature and if it was simply reckoned to
be Christ and he simply was reckoned to have died for sin and reckoned
to have taken it away, well it would still in reality remain.
and you would still have a sinful nature and you would still as
it were be seeking to enter glory in that state. Well if you're
to enter glory righteous you must be delivered from your sin
then how are you going to be delivered from it? Are you so? Well when I die then my flesh
will be laid in the grave and then I will enter glory without
it. Yes, that is true. But how is
your flesh laid in the grave and how is the sin in your flesh
kept in the grave? What removed it from you? What destroyed it? What blotted it out? I tell you
with a certainty, God did in Christ when he reconciled his
people under himself. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. The sin of his people was destroyed
in Christ, in the darkness, under the fires of God. That is what
removes the believer's sin. Christ did. He did not just pay
the price for your sins, believer, though he did pay the price for
your sins. He did not just take your guilt
away, though he did take your guilt away, but he also took
your sin, sin itself, away and destroyed it and judged it. Our sins were imputed to him,
laid to his charge, he paid the price, he blotted them out, he
shed his blood, they will never be brought into remembrance of
God again. But he also, wonderful truth,
wonderful deliverance, he also reconciled us unto God by delivering
us from sin. The result of which, astounding
truth, is that in him we might be made, we are made in him the
righteousness of God, the righteousness of God. Paul was crucified with
Christ. Believer if you are Christ you
were crucified with Christ. that you might live in Him, that
you might be righteous in Him. It must be so, there's salvation
no other way. Sin must be taken away, where
would it be left otherwise? You can't pass into eternity
except your sin's taken away. Many die, some go into eternal
judgment, for they still have sin. Some are delivered because
Christ for them was made sin that they might be made the righteousness
of God. Oh what a deliverance, oh what
a salvation, oh what a sacrifice, oh what a death. Can you see
this? Can you see Him? Can you see
your Savior suffering for you? Is He yours? Did He suffer for
you? Were you crucified with Him? Can you say with Paul, with a
certainty, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. Be ye reconciled unto God. Amen.