March 29, 2013

Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

While brevity, clarity and fluidity are not hallmarks of my writing on a good day, today's entry will fall even shorter of those goals.

When I read today's verse, I was struck with the awesomeness of the two halves of the verse.

I have heard preached many times during the Easter season of Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross and how he bore all our sins.  As a result of this sacrifice, we are forgiven for all of our sins.  We are declared as righteous in the eyes of God.

But today's verse opened my eyes to the completeness of his sacrifice.  Jesus did not simply take our sins upon his shoulders like a dirty cloak or heavy burden.  He BECAME sin.  The holy, blameless Lamb of God BECAME sin.  His very essence was turned black and ugly for that brief time on the cross.  He gave up all his beauty, all his righteousness, all his glory for me.  A person he had never met.  A weak, sinful man who lived 2000 years after he fed the multitudes.  He BECAME sin for me.

But out of his incomprehensible sacrifice, he has given me the opportunity to BECOME the righteousness of God.  I am not just a righteous person.  God's righteousness is not just a cape I get to wear, but my very essence is God's righteousness.  I BECOME the righteousness of God.

This verse drove home to me just how complete Jesus' sacrifice was.  He didn't just bear our sins, he became sin.  Because his sacrifice was so great and so complete, my reward is conversely just as great and just as complete.  When I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I became righteousness.  Not just a righteous person, but righteousness itself.  My very essence changed.

Do I still sin?  Yes.  But those are just things I do as a result of my sinful nature.  They don't change who I am.  My post salvation sins are not who I am.  My righteousness is what defines me.  It is who I am at the very core.  Not an earned righteousness, but imparted through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.