Sin came from Satan as the rebel against God (Isa. 14:12-15), entered into man (Rom. 5:12), and made man not only a sinner, but sin itself under God’s judgment. Hence, when Christ became a man in flesh (John 1:14), He was made sin (not sinful) on our behalf to be judged by God (Rom. 8:3) that we might become God’s righteousness in Him.
In order to understand what it means to say that God made Christ sin on our behalf, we need to read John 1:14 and Romans 8:3. John 1:14 says that the Word, which is God Himself, became flesh. Flesh refers to fallen man. When Christ became a man, man had already fallen. This fallen man is the flesh. Thus, when Christ became man, He became flesh. When we put John 1:14 together with 2 Corinthians 5:21, we see that when Christ became flesh, He was made sin. In the sight of God we, as fallen flesh, are actually sin. We are not only sinful and are not only sinners—we are sin itself. Because Christ became flesh, in this sense He was made sin on our behalf.
Romans 8:3 says, “God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Yes, Christ was made sin. But in this verse we are told that He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin. This means that He was made in the form of sin. This is what is signified by the type of the brass serpent. When the children of Israel were bitten by serpents, they received the poisonous nature of the serpent. In the sight of God, they all became serpents. Therefore, God told Moses to hang a bronze serpent on a pole. This bronze serpent is a type of Christ dying on the cross as our substitute. As John 3:14 clearly indicates, this serpent on the pole was a type of Christ lifted up for us. As that serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so Christ was lifted up on the cross. Furthermore, as the bronze serpent had the form but not the poisonous nature of a serpent, so Christ had the form, the likeness, of the flesh of sin, but He did not actually have the nature of sin. He had the form of the serpent, but He did not have the serpentine nature.
For us to experience the first step of reconciliation, it was necessary for Christ to die for our sins. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 Paul declares, “Christ died for our sins.” But in order for us to be reconciled further, even fully, to God, it was necessary for Christ to die also for us, not only for our sins. For Christ to die for our sins is one thing, but for Him to die for us is something else. Christ died for our sins so that our sins may be forgiven by God and taken away. Christ also died for us so that we may be terminated. Christ’s dying for our sins accomplishes the first step of reconciliation, and His dying for us accomplishes the second step.
Paul has this second step in mind when he says, “One died on behalf of all” (5:14). According to this verse, Christ died not for sins; He died for persons. The objective aspect of Christ’s death involves His dying for our sins. But the subjective aspect of Christ’s death involves His dying for us. This subjective aspect enables the believers to be reconciled to God in full. Furthermore, in the objective aspect of His death Christ bore our sins. However, in the subjective aspect He became sin. Today there is much teaching among Christians about Christ dying for our sins and bearing our sins, but not much is said about Christ being made sin on our behalf.
Since we, as fallen human beings, are sin, for Christ to be made sin actually means for Him to become us. The subjective aspect of the death of Christ puts us to death. According to Romans 8:3, God condemned sin in the flesh. This means that He condemned us; He condemned the natural man. Furthermore, the veil, the natural man, the natural life, the flesh, was cleft through the subjective aspect of Christ’s death. When sin was condemned and when the veil was rent, we were terminated. As a result, the second veil was taken away and we may be fully reconciled to God. Therefore, we should not remain in the Holy Place; we should come forward into the Holy of Holies. Moreover, we should no longer know one another according to flesh, but we should know one another according to spirit.
Paul’s concept in this chapter is to show us that the apostles, as ministers of the new covenant, are those who can spontaneously bring others back to God fully and thoroughly. I would ask you to compare the situation of the new covenant ministers with that among Christians today. Some are brought back to God only in name. They are in the outer court. The situation of others is better. They have been brought back to God in the Holy Place. The genuine, saved, blood-washed, and Spirit-regenerated Christians have all been brought into the Holy Place. However, many still live in the flesh, in the natural life, and some still live in gross sin. Those who are in the outer court can bring others into the outer court, no further. Likewise, the genuine Christians who are in the Holy Place have been brought there by some who were already in the Holy Place. They have been reconciled to God to this extent, but not to the full extent. How far can you bring another person? How close can you bring others to God? It depends on how much you have been reconciled to Him. Those who have been brought to God by you cannot advance further than you have advanced. If you have entered the Holy Place, you can bring others there. If you are at the entrance of the Holy Place, you can bring others to the entrance. But if you are in the center of the Holy Place, you can bring others there. The point here is that we can bring others only as far as we ourselves have gone.
This is Paul’s thought in chapter five. Here Paul seems to be saying, “We apostles have been brought into the Holy of Holies. God has reconciled us to Himself fully and thoroughly. Therefore, spontaneously He gives us a commission to reconcile others to God fully and thoroughly. Because we have been reconciled to Him to this extent, we can help others to be reconciled to the same extent.”
The ministers of the new covenant have been reconciled to God to the uttermost. All the veils are gone, and there is nothing between them and God. They have been reconciled to God completely and also thoroughly constituted of the Triune God. They behave according to their constitution. They live a crucified life for the manifestation of the truth and the shining of the gospel, and they are mature, ripe, and ready to be raptured. Their only aim, their only ambition, is to please the Lord by living to Him. These are the ones who can bring others back to God thoroughly. Because they are in the Holy of Holies, they can bring others there also.
Eventually, those who have been brought back to God in the Holy of Holies will enjoy Christ to the uttermost and even become the righteousness of God in Him. Paul speaks of this in 5:21 where he says, “That we might become God’s righteousness in Him.” Righteousness issues from God for His administration (Psa. 89:14; 97:2; Isa. 32:1), which is Christ to be our righteousness (Phil. 3:9; 1 Cor. 1:30), making us God’s righteousness in Him, not merely righteous before God. Through His redemption, man as a sinner, even as sin, is made God’s righteousness, reconciled to the righteous God, and a new creation living to Him for God’s eternal purpose. The apostles are commissioned to minister such a Christ, with all the glorious issues of His marvelous achievement, to His believers who are His members to form His Body. Praise and glory be to Him forever!
The phrase “in Him” means in union with Christ, not only positionally, but organically in resurrection. We were enemies of God (Col. 1:21) by becoming sin, which came from the one who rebelled against God. Christ was made sin for us by becoming one with us through incarnation. God condemned Him in flesh as sin for us, through His death, that we might be one with Him in His resurrection to be God’s righteousness. By this righteousness, we, the enemies of God, could be and have been reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20; Rom. 5:10).
In the organic union with Christ, those who have been brought thoroughly back to God are made the righteousness of God. They not only become righteous; they are the righteousness of God. This means that they not only become righteous persons, but they become righteousness itself.
God desires to have a people on earth who are not only righteous persons; He wants a people who, in the sight of God, the Devil, the angels, and the demons, are the very righteousness of God. To be made righteous before God is one thing; to be God’s righteousness is another thing. To become the righteousness of God is the highest enjoyment of the Triune God in Christ.
In Adam we fell so low that we became sin. Not only were we sinful before God—we became sin itself. But now in Christ, having been brought thoroughly back to God, we may enjoy Christ to such an extent that in Him we become God’s righteousness. What a salvation! What a reconciliation! To have this enjoyment is to be on the peak of God’s salvation, to be on the peak of our holy Zion.