HE MADE HIM TO BE SIN . . . FOR YOU!

HE MADE HIM TO BE SIN . . . FOR YOU!

"For He made Him who knew NO sin to be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

As we prepare to remember the events of the last days of our Savior
leading up to his death, burial and resurrection, I want to share with
you some thoughts about the Cross during the next several days.

Henry Blackaby, the author of EXPERIENCING GOD, writes that "this verse
from 2 Corinthians, should startle us and cause us to tremble. It is not
a verse to be read quickly and passed over. As Christians we are
grateful to be forgiven of our sins. We are thankful we have been
adopted as God's children. Yet we will never comprehend the awesome
price that Jesus paid to cleanse us of our sin and to give us HIS
righteousness. How abhorrent was it for the sinless Son of God to have
EVERY sin of humanity placed upon Him? What love was required for the
Father to watch His only Son bear the excruciating pain of our sin upon
the Cross?

The prophet Isaiah summarized his human condition: 'We are all like an
unclean thing, and all OUR righteousness's are like filthy rags' (Isaiah
64:6). Even the high priest, Joshua, in his exalted position among God's
people, was clothed in filthy rags before God (Zechariah 3:3). T

The Apostle Paul, who labored arduously to be righteous before God,
realized that his most strenuous efforts to please God were no more
valuable than rubbish (Philippians 3:4-10). The plight of humanity is
that nothing we could ever do could satisfy God's desire for
righteousness. But the miracle of God's mercy is that God exchanges our
'filthy rags' for 'rich robes' of righteousness (Zechariah 3:4).

In this awesome exchange, God placed the sin of humanity upon His
righteous Son. Jesus became so identified with our sin that the
Scriptures says God MADE Him to be sin on our behalf. The holy Son of
God could not possibly do more for us than this! Experiencing the
Father's wrath upon the sin He carried would have been more painful to
endure than any human rejection or physical suffering.

NEVER take the righteousness God has given you for granted. NEVER take
the forgiveness of your sin lightly. IT COST GOD A TERRIBLE PRICE IN
ORDER TO FORGIVE YOU AND MAKE YOU RIGHTEOUS. Walk in a manner worthy of
the righteousness He has given you." from EXPERIENCING GOD DAY-BY-DAY
-- published by our good friends at Broadman Holman.

Good verse to meditate on throughout the day.