He BECAME sin

Today is Good Friday. The day that Christians all over the world celebrate that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. In our house, we talk about that all the time. We discuss it with our children, we say prayers of thanks at every meal. I thank God in my own private prayers especially when someone I know has died and I know they are now in heaven rejoicing with our risen Savior.


About a week ago, however, I felt a deep conviction in my spirit that I needed to deepen my understanding of what Jesus truly did for me. This conviction took me to 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."


So I pondered, meditated and repeated this verse over and over, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal something new to me.


He who knew no sin - Jesus never sinned. Just think about that for a minute. He never had a lustful thought. He never looked at another person and thought, "what an idiot, I hate that guy!" He never held a grudge over all those people who tried to kill Him. He never lied, not even a little white lie. He never got enraged with the stupidity of man. Until He was hanging on the cross, and the Father turned His face from Jesus, He had never ever experienced shame. I remember the first time I truly felt shame. I don't remember what I had done, but I remember the overwhelming feeling that I just wanted to not exist any longer. I felt hopeless, helpless, worthless.


He became sin - Not only did Jesus feel shame, but in that moment, when He was separate from the Father, he actually was hopeless, helpless and worthless! The bible said He didn't just take our sin on and carry it on His back, He BECAME sin. Ponder it. Let the Spirit show you the gravity of that which Jesus did for you. The faith that it took for the man Jesus to become sin, being separate for the first and only time from the Father, trusting that the Father would rescue Him from the pit of hell and allow Him victory over death is barely comprehensible to me.


And WHY did He do it? For me. For every single face that you will look at today. For every sinner on this earth no matter what their sin may be. No matter what your sin may be.


So we might become the righteousness of God in Him - It wasn't even a sure thing. He didn't die knowing that this would be accepted by everyone. Quite the opposite. Jesus died knowing that a very small percentage of people would actually accept this amazing gift of freedom, love and reconciliation. He knew the return on investment was dismal. He knew that most of the world would still choose to live in the bondage of flesh, rather than the righteousness of Christ.


Today, Good Friday, I ask you to ponder a few questions:
Do you understand the gravity of what Jesus did?
Are you grateful?
Do you live like you are grateful?
Do you look at the faces of others and know that Jesus died for them too?
Do you love them the way Jesus loves them?


Today is very very good, but it came at an extremely high price. A price that we disrespect if we try to do anything other than Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.