No man could have written this

This past Sunday was communion Sunday.  Like most Christian churches every first Sunday of the month we observe the ordinance commanded by Jesus found in 1Cor 11:23-26.  Our pastor spoke on the reconciliation of sinners through the death of Christ.  He took 2Cor 5:16-21 and emphasized the reconciliation of men to God through the penal substitutionary death of Christ, dying on behalf of sinners.  What that meant was Christ died on the cross FOR us, Jesus became our substitute, it was a death taken by the sinless Son of God FOR sinful people like you and I.

If you’re a Christian who goes to church and listens to messages you may follow a similar routine.  I am normally engaged in the sermon but this past Sunday at church my mind wandered at this point in the message (probably because I wasn’t taking notes OR because it was late and I didn’t take a nap).  Where my mind wandered is what is what I wanted to share and that is this: No man could have written this! 

To step back a bit, last week I listened to several exchanges in debate format of a well-known Atheist against a well-known Christian apologist.  I started thinking about my faith, the Scriptures, the unfolding of God’s revelation to us about Himself.  I started thinking about how every facet of what I believe hinges on what I find in the Holy Bible – not traditions, stories, philosophical ideologies, or personal evaluations of how I feel God should be like or what heaven and hell or the meaning of life really is.  Stop for a moment and think about that.  Everything about my faith is found in a book thousands of years old.  A book which has propositional statements that goes against almost every modern day view on life and meta-physical matters.

Those thoughts converged this past Sunday as I sat and heard about the great exchange at the cross where Christ became sin FOR us!  Listen to these words again in 2Cor 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The “he” in the beginning sentence is God who made “him”, the sinless Jesus Christ, to become sin for us that the wrath of God may be poured on Christ instead of us.  Jesus referred to that wrath as a cup in Matthew 26:39 begging His Father saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”  That image of the cup of God’s wrath is used in Psalm 75:8.  Jesus took that cup of wrath that we deserved and drank every last drop until the wrath of the Father was exhausted on Christ paying the penalty of sinners.

No mere man could have written this explanation for how a sinful person can become reconciled to a holy and perfect God.  I mean think about it.  Compare it to other religions for example.  Under the explanation of biblical salvation, there is a big emphasis on the past completed work of redemption.  Christ already paid the penalty for our sin against God.  Its done. Completed.  A work completed by someone other than your self.  The bible speaks of that work as an act of grace, something done that would not require any merit or payment by the individual for whom the work was done.  Other religions explain salvation conditioned on a work: one must pray this, must chant this, must meditate X amount of times, must give Y amount of dollars, must attend such and such a meeting, etc.

So what is there left to do for the sinner if its all been done at the cross?  Well Yes the work is complete at the cross, the payment has been made.  But knowing that truth – do you believe it?  Do you believe that it was indeed God who sent His Son to die for your sin of cheating?  Your sin of habitual lying to impress your friends?  Your [insert your personal sin here]? 

The second part of 2Cor 5:21 says:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

By the death of Christ on the cross, we become the righteousness of God.  We become the righteousness of God how?  Two words “in Him.“  That is through Christ we become the righteousness of God.  Those two words qualifies who becomes the righteousness of God.

By His death our sin is paid for, through faith in Christ that payment for sin is applied.  How?  Those two words “in Him” means that you are in union with Christ. How does one have union with Christ?  By placing one’s faith in Christ as the one who died FOR you.

Jesus throughout the NT emphasizes those that are His and those that are not.  This distinction is important lest one is fooled into thinking that Christ’s atoning death on the cross is universally applicable to all.  By “faith in Christ” one becomes “in Christ.”  As one who is in Christ, you receive all the promises made for those who are in Christ such as eternal life, peace with God, freedom from the power of sin, forgiven, reconciled with God.  Here, the promise mentioned is that by being in Christ, you stand righteous before God, you become the righteousness of God.

So as a skeptic, possible religious person, or complete atheist I ask you to consider the claims of the Bible.  The bible makes amazing propositions such as this one, that the sinless Jesus Christ, became sin FOR you.  No man could have written statements like these.  Only God Himself could conceive of such a full and glorious claim.