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. —2 Corinthians 5:21
When I read the following article by Stephen Davey my thoughts stopped dead in their tracks. My heart stood in awe at the thought and it colored my thinking throughout the day. I hit the save button so I could read it again. Those who keep their focus on this glorious thought need never fear having a bad attitude, nor will they lack a reason to be thankful or motivation for Christian service. Keeping your focus here will simply, drastically, and permanently change your outlook on life and death:
Can you grasp the concept of Christ bearing the sin of the whole world on His shoulders? I can only understand a fraction of what that means. But an author by the name of Mark Mosley has helped me to capture a small drop from the ocean of truth encompassing Christ’s profound act of infinite sacrifice, by making this powerful statement:
“Jesus will bear the sins of the Assyrians, who gloated over their captives that they skinned alive. Jesus will bear the sins of SS troops, machine gunning women and children who ran from burning synagogues with clothing ablaze. Jesus will bear the sins of child molesters, making sure their victims never testify. Jesus will bear the sins of Pharaohs, sacrificing thousands of laborers lives to build themselves a deifying tomb. Jesus took on all of this and more.
He was tossed about in the endless storm of enraged fathers beating toddlers to death; pimps seducing runaways into lives of drugs and prostitution; Canaanites burning their children to Moloch; nice church ladies cannibalizing other nice church ladies over coffee; impoverished parents in China selling their children into slavery. He will bear the sins of Bible-believing leaders praying long and loud, while their wives sit in the back pews praying heavy make-up covers their bruises. Jesus will tumble alone.
He will bear the sins of embezzlers, gangsters, bullies, rapists, liars, the indifferent, the sadistic, the self-righteous. It is a scene of unbearable horror and unspeakable madness. He is the accused for us all, bearing the weight of abused children, families destroyed by adultery or apathy, civilizations decaying, wars ravaging, victims. Yet, through it all, deep in the terror of hell, He keeps His eyes wide open.
He is not just a bystander caught in the accident, He has come deliberately. He will accept it all, absorbing the full force of this storm of wrath in His body and mind and heart and soul, until there is nothing left to feel. Finally, the tumbling will slow a bit; the storm will slacken, and Jesus will lift Himself on His nailed feet to snatch a gasp of air and force His swollen tongue to shout, ‘It is finished – I’ve come; I’ve seen; I’ve paid for it all.'”
I would like to add to that last line just one more phrase: “and I have borne all this for them.” The mercy that God expended upon mankind at the cross was immeasurable. Christ died for the worst of sinners and loved the most hateful of enemies. What a powerful reminder of God’s enormous love. Christ bore our sin and our punishment so that we could bear His righteousness and His reward!
This is the greatest reversal in all of human history: sinners become sons of God, because the Son of God became sin for us!
