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.
Many times throughout the Gospels, Jesus would tell those in His presence to not be afraid or for peace to be with them. He could offer this assurance because He was certain He was in the constant loving and protective presence of God the Father. With one notable exception, Jesus was always in complete peace in all His circumstances. Whether it was a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee or being surrounded by soldiers who were there to arrest Him, Jesus had no fear and was in complete control because He was empowered by the presence of God through the Holy Spirit.
The notable exception was when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. His ultimate mission was upon Him – He would momentarily experience a mock of a trial, be scourged, and be crucified. For the first time we see Jesus in serious anxiety and fear – He is on His knees, and He is sweating blood. This is a rare but real condition called Hermaditrosis. So what happened that stole Jesus’ sense of complete security and peace?
We give you today’s verse – the definition of Jesus’ ultimate mission was God the Father instructed His only begotten Son to become our sin. Sin separates us from God. At this moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is beginning to sense the consequences of His ultimate mission. In becoming our sin, He is for the first and only time in eternity, going to be separated from the constant and loving presence of His Father. If we say that being in God’s presence brings total security and complete peace, we can conclude that the absence of God’s presence brings the complete opposite – total fear and complete dread. In becoming our sin, Jesus is beginning to experience His Father retreating from Him as God cannot be in the presence of anything but holiness and righteousness. What is His response to the idea of not being in the constant and loving presence of His Father? – He is in such terror that He is on His knees and sweating blood.
Why would God the Father instruct His Son to go through such an experience, and why would Jesus obey such instructions? What was so important to God that He would put His Son through such torture? The answer? – You were that important. God loves you, and He wants to have the same ever present and loving relationship with you that He does His Son, Jesus. What prevents us from having such a wonderful relationship with God is our sin. Something has to be done about our sin before we can enter God’s presence. The problem is we are unable to resolve the problem – only God can. He was the One offended, so our forgiveness has to be on His terms.
Out of His love and mercy for us, He had His Son shoulder the responsibility for doing what was necessary for us to be forgiven completely of our sins. The wages of sin is death, so Jesus’ death was our payment for our sin. The second half of today’s verse produces the fruit of Jesus’ mission – that we become the righteousness of God in Him. By our faith in Jesus’ sacrificial act, we take on His righteousness because His shed blood on the Cross purifies us from all our past, present, and future sins.
So what does that mean for those who believe? The believer is given the Holy Spirit as a “security deposit” of the assurance we are forever to be in God’s constant loving and protective presence – in this life and into eternity. The Apostle Paul offers this amazing assurance in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus was willing to be separated from the Father for your sake, but nothing will ever separate you from His love. This truth can bring total security and complete peace to those who believe. Do you believe?