Jesus: Made SIN

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Those astounding New Testament words are found 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NRSV). Taking a somewhat wider look there we read: God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.
What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace. We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God. Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God (2 Cor 5:18-21, CEV).

Why did peace need to be made? How did Christ do what God planned? People having peace with God. The writer is clear that it was by Jesus being accounted by God a sinner, in fact, the sinner, despite him being actually sinless.

Sinless? Sin-remover? Note also from 1 John: You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin (3:5, ESV). He (Jesus the sinless) dealt conclusively with sin, as per the intention. True: It is easy to see sin still exists in the world; it may not be so easy to admit our own culpability.

Another author says: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (Titus 2:11, CSB).

Paul (Apostle of Jesus) puts it thus: For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,[a] he condemned sin in the flesh, (Romans 8:3, ESV). He (Paul) had himself been a "welded-on" part of the Law system of getting right with God. He tried very sincerely to diligently keep the rules and to use his energies in God's holy work. He discovered it was as useful as refuse.

Elsewhere the same Paul said: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”[a] (Galatians 3:13, NIV). On our account the Christ came under the Law's curse.

Taking yet another aspect, a writer evoked the ancient Scripture to describe what Jesus did:

He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.

(I Peter 2:24, NLT). The version sets the text out as poetry, pointing me back to the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah.

I am writing this on "Good Friday". That title is retained, though the significance may escape. When I relocated south I found here that the worthy "Good Friday Appeal" was well established and successful. Perhaps there is a faint connection to suffering; certainly good work comes out of it for children and families. "Good Friday" - "Good for us, Friday"; good for all who will have it, for ever.

Is this a fair representation of what Jesus did by coming? Why is it not prominent and clear in Jesus' own words, in his claims for the Christ, ie, himself?

The best answer is found by careful reading of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the other NT writings. (See previous post for a logical reading plan.)

In brief, I note what Jesus said: So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45, NRSV). Surely it is clear Jesus was speaking about himself and them. (There are repeated indications that the followers are needing to change.) The statement is exceptional (apart from Matthew 20:28) and somewhere that final sentence has been called "the Johanine thunderbolt". Nevertheless, it is there; Jesus said it.

Not long before his execution and world-changing resurrection, Jesus said: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come (John 16:13, CSB). It is clear they (the followers) needed to understand better. Up until that time their ideas had been constricted by their religion and culture. They struggled!

Why did they persist, knowing their officials were opposed and many folk were against Jesus? We are told more than once and we know Jesus said to them: “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father (John 14:6, CEV).

They, like so many, sincerely wanted to be one with, in tune with, the Father. How that could be for frail and failing humans soon after became clear.

Jesus (alone) was spotless. There were accusations, but not of sin. Everything I have told you is true, and you still refuse to have faith in me. Can any of you accuse me of sin? If you cannot, why won’t you have faith in me? After all, I am telling you the truth. Anyone who belongs to God will listen to his message. But you refuse to listen, because you don’t belong to God (John 8:45-47, CEV). Jesus himself was the guarantor that the message was true. Religious they were; God's they were not.

Look again, in another translation, at those words from the opening of this post: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ (2 Cor 5:21, NLT). A (stand alone) translation gives its answer to the question, how could/did God make Jesus = sin? For our sake, Jesus became our sin offering. Our disobedience was laid on him. (The notion of sacrifice to resolve judgement for sin may have resonated even more strongly with those hearers who came from Judaism.)

"Made right with God" - automatically and universally? No. Not automatically; see Jesus' words above and following. Universal? Yes, in that all need and all can have salvation. Anyone!

Jesus says: Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24, NRSV). "Anyone" means anyone. It is possible to skip judgement.

I connect with the "Lamb of God". Did Jesus know what it meant for him to be God's Lamb? More to come on that. He (Jesus) is our sacrifice. Unlike the involuntary sacrificial system he deliberately offered himself by allowing the powers to do their worst.

Paul says: Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets[a] tell how we become acceptable, and it isn’t by obeying the Law of Moses. God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve,[b] and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life’s blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21-26, CEV). Acceptance with God, who is patient, is definitely open. The cost? Jesus' life's blood was the cost. Was there any other way? Jesus was willing to bear it for the sake of those who become and are his people.

 In God's plan the unjust arrest and disposal of the Nazareth carpenter had far greater significance than anyone knew. Incredible significance. But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Romans 4:23-25, ESV). Those who know they trespass God's requirements can also know those requirements were fully met on their behalf by Jesus; the debt cancelled. His being raised from the dead is the proof the problem we had is solved. It is true now, as it was way back then.

 

Returning to the (to us) confronting words for slaves in 1 Peter: For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin,
    and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,[a] so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds[b] you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:19-25, NRSV). To advise slaves would be hard - like it was for those wanting to support the victims of their Nazis. Surely the author would say all followers of Jesus are called to that pattern Jesus set, not just lowly workers. Significant that slaves are given special assurance that their sins had been borne by Jesus. Who cared about slaves? All who belong to Jesus know that their sins went to that cross with him. He went as a lamb goes to its slaughter.

 

Jesus' loving self-giving action even gives the example: and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God (Eph 5:2, CSB).

 

The NT writing we know as Hebrews has a lot to say about sacrifices for sin. The writer tells us about what Jesus did and what Jesus will do. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9:24-28, NRSV). Jesus did what he came to do. He will do what he is coming to do. His promises are certain.

God can change what lies within and no external force is involved. Paul encapsulates it this way: This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[a] (Romans 1:17, NLT). God can and God does. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[a] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[b] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, (Romans 8:3, NIV). Our law, like their Law, can only do its very best to bring real righteousness to pass. In the hospital as I write there are at least two rooms here being guarded by police. Hopefully nothing and no one will go wrong and the occupants will recover for whatever comes next for them. Our community depends on integrity and external constraints. (Some people think we should just be "free". How has that worked out?) God is connected to the inward and true heart; God's power is applied there.

Some people thought Jesus must be a sinner or an agent of evil. He was not. For our sakes God did treat Jesus as we deserve - see my (incomplete) survey above. This was done by God for you and for me. Thanks be to God.

Here is a YouTube presentation of an oldish hymn, "Man of Sorrows" which covers a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzOkVtXPdGk

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