| “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” |
| —2 Corinthians 5:21 |
Have you ever done something or said something for which you wish you could have a “do over”? Sort of like rewinding a tape recorder, or pressing the restart button on a digital recorder. You could then continue to engage with a completely clean slate.
We all do things and say things we wish we could erase and try again to do it or say it much better. I know I do. I often feel as if I could have handled social situations much better if I could take what I learned in a particular situation and press “restart” and try again by giving much more sensitivity to how I come across in my interactions with others.
If my mistakes in handling interpersonal relationships were isolated incidents, I possibly could feel some slight relief for my ignorance and foolishness. But sadly, I do and say the wrong thing far too often. And, it seems no matter how hard I try to act and react with greater care, I can’t seem to school myself to do and say things in a more appropriate way.
Now, consider how God must feel when He watches us commit sins. The truth is we—every one of us—sin many times every day. The sin nature is so ingrained in us that we often sin without even realizing it until it’s too late. Over and over and over and over again, we sin. We know God hates sin because He is holy. We also know that He has forgiven our sins because of the shed blood of His precious Son, Jesus. Nevertheless, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t stop sinning. Left to our own efforts, we cannot achieve the kind of righteousness that our holy God demands.
Fortunately, God has given us a “reset button.” He has made a great exchange. He has traded the unrighteousness of our sins for the righteousness of His Son. And, the Apostle Paul makes this very clear in 2 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 we cannot achieve righteousness on our own, God has made His sinless and righteous Son to become our very own righteousness. Isn’t that an amazing and wonderful truth?
So today, dear ones, let’s remember to thank God for the unspeakable gift of this righteousness that comes to us through Jesus. We have so much for which we should be thankful. And, having the righteousness of Christ is one of the very best and most important gifts God has given us.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, July 21, 2017
