WHAT HAPPENED ON THE CROSS?

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” 2Corinthians 5:21.

LIGHT FOR NOW: Jesus took the sinners’ place by identifying with the sinners’ state.
What happened to Jesus on the cross is the father’s love manifested to the sinner man.

It is important to note from our opening text that Jesus was not a sinner; rather, he was made sin for us. The question that now comes to mind is at what point was he made sin? He was made sin on the cross; he bore our sins and suffered the punishment of sin which was stirred up by man himself in his choice of disobedience. Secondly, on the cross, Jesus became poor; “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2Corinthians 8:9). So, Jesus became poor; this was an identification with our state because we were poor, we were poor because of sin.

When Jesus was made sin, he became poor. Now, this is not referring to earthly possessions as some have mischievously tried to do in an attempt to teach material wealth. Rather, what this means (he became poor) is that he laid aside his status, his glory and his fellowship with the father. The absence of this (that is, his status, glory and fellowship with the father) is poverty. Thus, his poverty was the absence of his fellowship with the father and not the absence of money. We were all poor (that is, we had no fellowship with the father; we were separated from the father). Both the millionaire and the one who had nothing were all poor. This means that poverty here is not defined by the presence or absence of money; rather, it is defined by the absence of fellowship with the father. It was a spiritual state and not a physical reality (that is, absence of money or possessions). We were poor because of sin; Jesus was rich because of God (that is, he and God were in fellowship). Now, he is made poor so that we might be rich; to be rich is to be in fellowship with God.
Thirdly, Jesus was made a curse for us, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us: For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). He is cursed, that is, an accursed object; he must never be in God’s presence this way. Under the law, this accursed thing is removed from the land (Deuteronomy 21:23). In this state, Jesus must go to where spiritually dead people go to which is hell (Acts 2:27); he must suffer their pains. On earth, this is to happen for three days and three nights; outside the earth, we must never forget the sun does not dwell there. It would not be three days and three nights, it will be timeless.
All these, Jesus did for us so that the man who was not in fellowship with God is now brought back to fellowship with God. Jesus became sin, Jesus became poor, Jesus became an accursed thing just for us and as a result, he went to hell still for us. When he rose, he conquered hell and now today, we have his life at work in us. Hallelujah!!!

INSTRUCTION: You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus; let this occupy your mind.

PRAYER: Thank you for the cross Lord, thank you for the price you paid; thank you for your love dispensed towards me. I will forever be grateful for this, in Jesus Name, Amen.

FOR MORE LIGHT, get the message ‘Understanding Salvation’ by Dr. John Linus.

QUOTE: Who Jesus is, becomes who you are when you identify with what he did.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 21; EVENING: GALATIANS CHAPTER 3