In God’s redemption, do Christians exchange their position with Christ? In other words, did the righteous Christ become unrighteous and are unrighteous sinners made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21)?
In God’s redemption, Christians do not exchange their positions with Christ; rather, they are united to Christ. “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
There is no place in the Bible that says that Christians and Christ have changed positions. Although we often say that we were sinful and that we were saved only because Christ died instead of us, we need to know that this expression refers exclusively to what we personally attained. The question mentioned above concerns our position in “God’s redemption.” As far as our personal gain is concerned, it is true that Christ died for us. But in God’s redemption, if we said that Christ only stood in the position of the sinners in order to die for us, it would make God unrighteous. Christ is clearly righteous; how can God condemn Him as unrighteous? We are clearly sinners; how can God reckon us as righteous? In God’s redemption, Christ and we do not exchange positions; rather, we are united.
Let us read 2 Corinthians 5:21 again: “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf.” This verse shows us that God caused the One who never sinned and who knew no sin to be made sin for us. Note that the verse says, “Made sin,” and not “bear” or “carry” sin. If it said “bearing,” there would be a possibility of not bearing. If redemption were only a matter of “carrying,” then it could be accomplished by merely carrying something on the body. Christ, however, not only bore our sins or carried our sins on the cross; He was made sin. The Lord Jesus is united to us to such a degree that He not only bore or carried our sins, but He also was made sin. Therefore, when God judged Him, He judged sin. When God punished Him, He punished sin.
In God’s way of redemption, we should understand three aspects: (1) God and man, (2) God for man, and (3) God in man. First, the union of God and man enabled God to accomplish redemption. Second, God accomplished redemption for man. Third, God worked what He accomplished into man. The Lord Jesus’ incarnation is the union of God and man. This is the meaning of God and man. Because there was a union of God and man, the Lord Jesus was able to die for us, resurrect for us, and become the mighty Savior. In order for God to dwell in man, God sent His Holy Spirit from heaven. While He was on earth, the Lord was clothed with flesh. But now He is dwelling in us and is clothed with the Spirit. Therefore, some say that the Holy Spirit is the Lord Jesus Christ in another form. The Holy Spirit comes to work in us and accomplish all that God has accomplished in us. If there were not God and man, there could not have been God for man or God in man. If the Lord Jesus had not been born as a man, He could never have died. When He died on the cross, the Lord Jesus did not bear the sin of the world as a third party; He was made sin and died for us with the qualification of being a man. On one hand, God has laid our sins on the Lord, and therefore, the Lord bore our sins; but on the other hand, in God’s way of redemption, God judged both us and sin when He judged the Lord Jesus. Today we thank God for the fact that Jesus Christ was made sin for us on the cross.
What is the result of Christ being made sin on our behalf? Do we become righteousness? No. Do we become righteousness in Him? No. Instead of these, we “become the righteousness of God in Him.” We should not only pay attention to the words “in Him” but also to the words “the righteousness of God.” Christ was not made sin on our behalf in order to make us righteous and no longer sinners. Rather, He was made sin in order to make us the righteousness of God in Himself. It was for the purpose of becoming the righteousness of God. Every saved Christian has become the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God saved us. God made Him (the Lord Jesus) sin. Since God judged the Lord Jesus, we have been judged, and sin has been judged. Therefore, God reckons us as righteous, but not because we are righteous. God’s reckoning of us as the righteousness of God is purely an objective matter. If someone should say, “According to my observations, you are not so good,” this would be true. But we are not made righteous in Him; rather, we have become the righteousness of God in Him. This proves that it is the righteousness of God that saves us. If we are clear on this point, then the number of problems that we encounter in our daily life will be greatly reduced. The Lord on the cross was equivalent to sin on the cross. There on the cross God condemned sin and solved the problem of sin. Therefore, we are set free.
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