Question and Answers???
What
is the meaning of 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He
(God) made him (Jesus) who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf?”
The
penalty for sin was death as pronounced on Adam when he sinned in the Garden of
Eden. This penalty was passed on to all mankind, and from that time on all were
born in sin. Sin is “missing the mark” of perfection. Only Jesus was able to
maintain a sinless nature. There is no
doubt about our sinful nature: Romans 3:10-12 tells us, “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is
no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have altogether
become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
John 3:16 tells us
that “God so loved the world
that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.” This was God’s plan to redeem men and women from the
penalty of sin and death. We read in 1 Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our
sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and
live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” This impartation of our sins was foreshadowed
or pictured in Leviticus 16:21-22 “He (the High Priest) is to lay both
hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness
and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the
goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed
for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary
place; and the man shall release it in the desert.” A”scapegoat” by definition, is someone who is innocent, but is
convicted and sentenced because of what someone else has done. Jesus was indeed the innocent “scapegoat” for our sins that He so graciously
bore on
Jesus paid the price that justice required
by pouring out His life unto death. The Apostle Paul states in 1
Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as
a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” Yes, Jesus, the antitypical scapegoat, carried
all our sins into oblivion by dying for you and me, and all
man-kind have been ransomed. He thus became
mediator for men and so by faith in Him as Lord and Savior, we all have the opportunity
to be justified, sanctified and reconciled back to God.
Jesus Christ, is the sacrificial
Passover Lamb of God that the Apostle Paul wrote about in 1
Corinthians 5:7, “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as
you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.”
It is only because of Jesus’ sacrifice that we can now choose not to sin
because we now have access to our Heavenly Father and can receive forgiveness
and cleansing. This we find in the words of the Apostle John in 1 John 1:9-2:2, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we
make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. My dear
children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world.”
God, Who is All-knowing, planned this from
the earth’s foundation. Revelation 13:8 refers to “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” We read
in Isaiah 53:10-11, “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and
though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his
offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his
hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be
satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will
bear their iniquities.”
How thankful, how grateful, we should be
to our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved us so
much that They have provided for us release from the bondage of sin and death
and have given us a hope that is truly indescribable. Yes, “As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1
Corinthians 2:9).
E. Weeks
“Do not
let this picture (of the Scapegoat) vanish until you have rejoiced in your own
deliverance and adored the loving Redeemer on whom your iniquities were laid
and carried away!”
From Morning and Evening by Chas. Spurgeon