The passage before us is one of the golden pages of Scripture. It is one of those passages of Scripture that is much like a mountain top that towers above many of the other passages of Scripture. Yes, all God’s word is from the finger of God, but there are some passages that have special meaning. There are certain passages that you highlight because it has special importance or meaning. This is one of those passages. It is because it deals specifically with the death of Christ.
More particularly, this passage reminds us of the kind of death that Christ died. These verses detail for us the fact that Christ’s died as a substitution. Some theologins will call his death, vicarious. That’s just a fancy word that means that he was substitute.
If you look at verse 14 you see it: For the love of Christ controls us, for we have concluded this: that one has died for all, and therefore all have died. That one is Jesus Christ. And when it says that he died for all it means that he died in their place. He died for us in that he stood in our stead. He took our place.
We are familiar with this idea of substitution because of the world of sports. In sports we often make subsitutions. For instance, back in the day I wasn't the best basketball player. I loved the sport and played it all the time, but I wasn't anything glamorous. I was actually pretty unpredictable. I wasn't a guy you wanted in during the key parts of a game. So if things got tight or we came to a point where we needed to clinch the win, the coach would usually pull me out. He would have someone come in for me. The coach would put in a substitute and that guy would play in my place.
This passage is reminding us of that kind of thing. The passage is reminding us that, when it comes to securing the victory over sin and death, we not very reliable. But God has sent Jesus Christ to be our substitute. He stands in our place in order to secure the victory.
And this passage develops that idea of how Christ acts as that great substitution. And I want to look at this doctrine, first, by acknowledging the wonder of it.
I. The wonder of it
It is a wonder because it is an act of supreme love. That’s brought out clearly in our passage when Paul says, “The love of Christ constrains us, for we have concluded this: that one died for all; therefore all have died.” Paul basically says that the death of Christ is synonymous with love. The death of Christ was nothing other than an act of pure love. Love was the motivating factor in Christ’s forfeiting his life. It was love that caused it to happen. It was love that put him here. He chose to die in our place because he loved us.
What was it that motivated Christ to give his life? What was it that propelled him to go to the cross? What made the Son of God come down from heaven and be so rudely mishandled by men? It was nothing other than pure love.
You know the Scripture that says, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.” Jesus was the embodiment of this very thing. The only difference being that he gave himself for people who were not his friends.
That’s the point Paul makes when he says that we “no longer regard Christ according to the flesh, though we once regarded him this way.” Paul’s saying we weren’t Christ’s friends. We didn’t regard him the way we should have. We used to think rudely of him and think that he was nothing.
Truly, that shows us something of the wonder of Christ’s love: that he would give his life for people like us; people who loved him not in return.
If that were not wonderful enough, there is also the fact that this was all initiated by God. Did you notice what was said in verses 18 and 19? Be sure to take to heart what is said there. Verse 18 says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.”
Verse 19 then repeats that by saying that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.” Let that sink in. God was the initiator. God was the one making the reconciliation happen. God took the first steps to rectify the situation. The greatness of God’s love is seen in the fact that God didn’t wait for us to turn to Him. He took it upon himself to mend the relationship.
How is it that we normally operate? Reconciliation, we should recognize, is a rare thing. It doesn’t happen all that often. When it does it is a wonderful thing. But usually, when there is a rift between two people, it is the offender who has to do the reconciling. He has to take it upon himself to go to the one he has hurt and begin the process of reconciliation.
We do this with our children. We notice that they did something wrong and we say, “You need to go say you are sorry to that person.”
And even many times those who are offended will feel very justified in holding their grudge. They will think, “He better come and make things right. I’m not going to move and inch until they get back here and make amends.”
But that’s not what happens here. In this passage we find something that stands in radical opposition to the standard procedures. This passage says that the one who was wronged was the prime actor. In this case it was not the offender, but the offended who took it upon himself to bring reconciliation.
This should give us pause and make us stand in wonder. Because it is wonder-ful. The fact that Christ would give his life, the fact that God would not hold that grudge—these are reminders of the great love that He has and the great blessing it is that we may have eternal life.
But as we stand in wonder, let us consider its nature.
II. The nature of it
What kind of substitution is it? We must answer by saying that it is a "Penal" substitution. It is important to make this distinction because there are many different views when it comes to the nature of Christ’s death.
For instance, some pick up on the idea of love that we just talked about. Some say that Christ’s death on the cross was the supreme act of love because it shows how far God was willing to go to have a relationship with us. But this view doesn’t have anything to do with God’s anger and wrath. There’s nothing about the legal status of having incurred guilt and provoked God’s curse. It is just saying that God was so infatuated with you that he was willing to die.
Todd Friel has a good critique of this view and he really shows how silly a thing it really is to believe. It sounds good, but it really is quite goofy if you think about it. Friel says, “Imagine you’re out on a boat on a lake and someone comes tearing down the beach with their arms open wide. They run out onto the pier screaming, “IIIII lllooovvveeee youuuuu!” and he jumps off the end of the pier and drowns himself.
Is that really a way someone expresses love? Not at all. And if Christ’s death is summed up in that, then we would be more embarrassed by it than anything else.
Other people believe that Christ’s death was God’s way of bringing about the end of Satan’s rule over us. There is some merit to this. This view says that Satan held sway over men as the ruler of this world and prince of darkness. And some people say that the death of Christ was a transaction made between God the father and the Devil. Jesus’s death was a substitute in that he died to release us from the dominion of Satan. His death then becomes the victory over the powers that hold us in bondage to sin and death.
Now again, there is some merit to this. Scripture does tell us that Christ triumphed over the rulers and powers of darkness, but there’s something missing from this view. The real problem is not so much Satan as it is us! We have broken God’s covenant and have become guilty. And there are consequences for that. The penalty was clearly delineated back in the garden: in the day you eat of it you will surely die.
That is why I note here that the death of Christ is penal in nature. In the cross Christ stands in our place, taking on himself the penalty that is due to us for sin.
This is brought out most particularly in verse 21, where it 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.”
This is saying that on the cross Christ, who was sinless, took upon himself the curse that was due to us for our sin. He became sin in that God looked upon him as the one who was the sinner, instead of us. As Charles Spurgeon has said, “It is as if all our transgressions were piled upon Christ in one heinous heap.”
Keep in mind that this is not saying that Jesus really became sin. It is a manner of speaking that Paul is using. He’s saying Jesus was so closely identified with the guilt of sin that he could be called sin itself. It is just like what we find at the communion table. We talk about the bread and cup being the body and blood of Christ. Do we mean that it is literally the body and blood? Of course not. We just mean that one represents the other. The symbolism of the bread is so closely related to the body of Christ that we can call it his body.
That’s the kind of thing that Paul is talking about here in verse 21. On the cross, Jesus became so closely identified with sin that he could be called sin itself. And he died on that cross as the sin bearer.
That is the evangelical doctrine that constitutes Christ’s work on the cross. And this idea of penal substitutions is what we are to believe regarding what Christ accomplished in his death.
But we might still explore the impact of his death. (having understood its wonder and nature, we are in a place where we can see the impact of it).
III. The impact of it
Christ’s becoming the substitution has further implications for the Christian life. It isn’t just something that happened long ago and far away. It is something that has huge ramifications for us now—today.
It’s impact can be seen, first, in our justification
Justification - a new standing with God - Justification is a legal term. It means that our sins are forgiven and we are declared to be not guilty. It is “just-as-if-I-never-sinned.”
You see it first of all in verse 19. In that verse Paul says that our trespasses are no longer counted against us. In other words, they are completely forgiven. Because Christ died we are no longer held accountable for them. God does not hold a grudge, but has completely blotted out the record of our wrong.
You also see it in verse 21 where it says that we have become the righteousness of God. What this is saying is that Christ’s righteousness was given to us (or imputed). Just as God saw Jesus as bearing our guilt, he looks upon us, not as we are—sinful and corrupt—rather he sees nothing but the purity and righteousness of Christ.
The impact is that we are looked upon as innocent and acquitted of all charges against us.
But it is not just that we may be able to be in the presence of God, but we are able to have a relationship with him. The impact of Christ’s death is further spelled out by the term “reconciliation.”
Reconciliation – a new relationship with God - You’ll notice that that word “reconciliation” is used 5 times in verses 18-20. The word reconcile literally means “to change.” The idea is that there has been a change in relationship. The relationship now is one that is different. Because of Christ’s death God and man are on friendly terms.
You gain something much greater than eternal life or a chance to get to heaven. You actually gain God himself. You are not just on good terms, but you can relate to him. God can now be called your friend.
Unfortunately, relationships don’t often reflect this. We may have a problem with a friend and offend them. We might seek to make it right and “clear the air” so to speak. But it is rare that the friendship is ever repaired fully. We have a tendency to say that all things are cool, but we never really speak to each other ever again after that. So the reconciliation is pretty shallow, if we can say that it really exists at all.
But that’s not the way it is with God. Because of the death of Christ, we come to have a complete change in our relationship with God. We are able to interact and draw near to one another and truly commune with one another.
But along with the new standing and the new relationship there is a also a new way of living. Its impact can also be seen in terms of the transformation that it produces.
Transformation – a new way of living - Look at verse 17. It says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
This is speaking of the radical change that comes to us through the Spirit. We die with Christ and are raised to newness of life. Our hearts are changed and there is now a new identity that defines us. We can say that we are “new creations” because the death of Christ.
This is important because this is the way we are to think of ourselves. We are to see ourselves, not so much as defined by our sin—though it be a major part of our lives. Despite the fact that sin still plays a part in our lives, we are to consider ourselves as being defined by the new life that we have been given.
This is the beef that we Christians have with the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. In those meetings the participants are encouraged to come to grips with their lifestyle and say things like, “Hi, my name is Harry, and I am an alcoholic.” But that’s not the Christian approach. The Christian says, “Hi, my name is Harry, and I am a new creation in Christ.”
You are not drunkards. You are not liars. You cannot be a homosexual or fornicator or reviler. If Christ has died for you, then you have been radically transformed. You have a new life and you have a new orientation towards obedience to God. You are defined by God as being completely different.
And now you see what a radical impact the death of Christ has on the believer. You are forgiven, you are reconciled, you are transformed. You might say that the impact on your life is downright seismic because of the colossal changes that take place in you.
More particularly, this passage reminds us of the kind of death that Christ died. These verses detail for us the fact that Christ’s died as a substitution. Some theologins will call his death, vicarious. That’s just a fancy word that means that he was substitute.
If you look at verse 14 you see it: For the love of Christ controls us, for we have concluded this: that one has died for all, and therefore all have died. That one is Jesus Christ. And when it says that he died for all it means that he died in their place. He died for us in that he stood in our stead. He took our place.
We are familiar with this idea of substitution because of the world of sports. In sports we often make subsitutions. For instance, back in the day I wasn't the best basketball player. I loved the sport and played it all the time, but I wasn't anything glamorous. I was actually pretty unpredictable. I wasn't a guy you wanted in during the key parts of a game. So if things got tight or we came to a point where we needed to clinch the win, the coach would usually pull me out. He would have someone come in for me. The coach would put in a substitute and that guy would play in my place.
This passage is reminding us of that kind of thing. The passage is reminding us that, when it comes to securing the victory over sin and death, we not very reliable. But God has sent Jesus Christ to be our substitute. He stands in our place in order to secure the victory.
And this passage develops that idea of how Christ acts as that great substitution. And I want to look at this doctrine, first, by acknowledging the wonder of it.
I. The wonder of it
It is a wonder because it is an act of supreme love. That’s brought out clearly in our passage when Paul says, “The love of Christ constrains us, for we have concluded this: that one died for all; therefore all have died.” Paul basically says that the death of Christ is synonymous with love. The death of Christ was nothing other than an act of pure love. Love was the motivating factor in Christ’s forfeiting his life. It was love that caused it to happen. It was love that put him here. He chose to die in our place because he loved us.
What was it that motivated Christ to give his life? What was it that propelled him to go to the cross? What made the Son of God come down from heaven and be so rudely mishandled by men? It was nothing other than pure love.
You know the Scripture that says, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.” Jesus was the embodiment of this very thing. The only difference being that he gave himself for people who were not his friends.
That’s the point Paul makes when he says that we “no longer regard Christ according to the flesh, though we once regarded him this way.” Paul’s saying we weren’t Christ’s friends. We didn’t regard him the way we should have. We used to think rudely of him and think that he was nothing.
Truly, that shows us something of the wonder of Christ’s love: that he would give his life for people like us; people who loved him not in return.
If that were not wonderful enough, there is also the fact that this was all initiated by God. Did you notice what was said in verses 18 and 19? Be sure to take to heart what is said there. Verse 18 says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.”
Verse 19 then repeats that by saying that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.” Let that sink in. God was the initiator. God was the one making the reconciliation happen. God took the first steps to rectify the situation. The greatness of God’s love is seen in the fact that God didn’t wait for us to turn to Him. He took it upon himself to mend the relationship.
How is it that we normally operate? Reconciliation, we should recognize, is a rare thing. It doesn’t happen all that often. When it does it is a wonderful thing. But usually, when there is a rift between two people, it is the offender who has to do the reconciling. He has to take it upon himself to go to the one he has hurt and begin the process of reconciliation.
We do this with our children. We notice that they did something wrong and we say, “You need to go say you are sorry to that person.”
And even many times those who are offended will feel very justified in holding their grudge. They will think, “He better come and make things right. I’m not going to move and inch until they get back here and make amends.”
But that’s not what happens here. In this passage we find something that stands in radical opposition to the standard procedures. This passage says that the one who was wronged was the prime actor. In this case it was not the offender, but the offended who took it upon himself to bring reconciliation.
This should give us pause and make us stand in wonder. Because it is wonder-ful. The fact that Christ would give his life, the fact that God would not hold that grudge—these are reminders of the great love that He has and the great blessing it is that we may have eternal life.
But as we stand in wonder, let us consider its nature.
II. The nature of it
What kind of substitution is it? We must answer by saying that it is a "Penal" substitution. It is important to make this distinction because there are many different views when it comes to the nature of Christ’s death.
For instance, some pick up on the idea of love that we just talked about. Some say that Christ’s death on the cross was the supreme act of love because it shows how far God was willing to go to have a relationship with us. But this view doesn’t have anything to do with God’s anger and wrath. There’s nothing about the legal status of having incurred guilt and provoked God’s curse. It is just saying that God was so infatuated with you that he was willing to die.
Todd Friel has a good critique of this view and he really shows how silly a thing it really is to believe. It sounds good, but it really is quite goofy if you think about it. Friel says, “Imagine you’re out on a boat on a lake and someone comes tearing down the beach with their arms open wide. They run out onto the pier screaming, “IIIII lllooovvveeee youuuuu!” and he jumps off the end of the pier and drowns himself.
Is that really a way someone expresses love? Not at all. And if Christ’s death is summed up in that, then we would be more embarrassed by it than anything else.
Other people believe that Christ’s death was God’s way of bringing about the end of Satan’s rule over us. There is some merit to this. This view says that Satan held sway over men as the ruler of this world and prince of darkness. And some people say that the death of Christ was a transaction made between God the father and the Devil. Jesus’s death was a substitute in that he died to release us from the dominion of Satan. His death then becomes the victory over the powers that hold us in bondage to sin and death.
Now again, there is some merit to this. Scripture does tell us that Christ triumphed over the rulers and powers of darkness, but there’s something missing from this view. The real problem is not so much Satan as it is us! We have broken God’s covenant and have become guilty. And there are consequences for that. The penalty was clearly delineated back in the garden: in the day you eat of it you will surely die.
That is why I note here that the death of Christ is penal in nature. In the cross Christ stands in our place, taking on himself the penalty that is due to us for sin.
This is brought out most particularly in verse 21, where it 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.”
This is saying that on the cross Christ, who was sinless, took upon himself the curse that was due to us for our sin. He became sin in that God looked upon him as the one who was the sinner, instead of us. As Charles Spurgeon has said, “It is as if all our transgressions were piled upon Christ in one heinous heap.”
Keep in mind that this is not saying that Jesus really became sin. It is a manner of speaking that Paul is using. He’s saying Jesus was so closely identified with the guilt of sin that he could be called sin itself. It is just like what we find at the communion table. We talk about the bread and cup being the body and blood of Christ. Do we mean that it is literally the body and blood? Of course not. We just mean that one represents the other. The symbolism of the bread is so closely related to the body of Christ that we can call it his body.
That’s the kind of thing that Paul is talking about here in verse 21. On the cross, Jesus became so closely identified with sin that he could be called sin itself. And he died on that cross as the sin bearer.
That is the evangelical doctrine that constitutes Christ’s work on the cross. And this idea of penal substitutions is what we are to believe regarding what Christ accomplished in his death.
But we might still explore the impact of his death. (having understood its wonder and nature, we are in a place where we can see the impact of it).
III. The impact of it
Christ’s becoming the substitution has further implications for the Christian life. It isn’t just something that happened long ago and far away. It is something that has huge ramifications for us now—today.
It’s impact can be seen, first, in our justification
Justification - a new standing with God - Justification is a legal term. It means that our sins are forgiven and we are declared to be not guilty. It is “just-as-if-I-never-sinned.”
You see it first of all in verse 19. In that verse Paul says that our trespasses are no longer counted against us. In other words, they are completely forgiven. Because Christ died we are no longer held accountable for them. God does not hold a grudge, but has completely blotted out the record of our wrong.
You also see it in verse 21 where it says that we have become the righteousness of God. What this is saying is that Christ’s righteousness was given to us (or imputed). Just as God saw Jesus as bearing our guilt, he looks upon us, not as we are—sinful and corrupt—rather he sees nothing but the purity and righteousness of Christ.
The impact is that we are looked upon as innocent and acquitted of all charges against us.
But it is not just that we may be able to be in the presence of God, but we are able to have a relationship with him. The impact of Christ’s death is further spelled out by the term “reconciliation.”
Reconciliation – a new relationship with God - You’ll notice that that word “reconciliation” is used 5 times in verses 18-20. The word reconcile literally means “to change.” The idea is that there has been a change in relationship. The relationship now is one that is different. Because of Christ’s death God and man are on friendly terms.
You gain something much greater than eternal life or a chance to get to heaven. You actually gain God himself. You are not just on good terms, but you can relate to him. God can now be called your friend.
Unfortunately, relationships don’t often reflect this. We may have a problem with a friend and offend them. We might seek to make it right and “clear the air” so to speak. But it is rare that the friendship is ever repaired fully. We have a tendency to say that all things are cool, but we never really speak to each other ever again after that. So the reconciliation is pretty shallow, if we can say that it really exists at all.
But that’s not the way it is with God. Because of the death of Christ, we come to have a complete change in our relationship with God. We are able to interact and draw near to one another and truly commune with one another.
But along with the new standing and the new relationship there is a also a new way of living. Its impact can also be seen in terms of the transformation that it produces.
Transformation – a new way of living - Look at verse 17. It says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
This is speaking of the radical change that comes to us through the Spirit. We die with Christ and are raised to newness of life. Our hearts are changed and there is now a new identity that defines us. We can say that we are “new creations” because the death of Christ.
This is important because this is the way we are to think of ourselves. We are to see ourselves, not so much as defined by our sin—though it be a major part of our lives. Despite the fact that sin still plays a part in our lives, we are to consider ourselves as being defined by the new life that we have been given.
This is the beef that we Christians have with the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. In those meetings the participants are encouraged to come to grips with their lifestyle and say things like, “Hi, my name is Harry, and I am an alcoholic.” But that’s not the Christian approach. The Christian says, “Hi, my name is Harry, and I am a new creation in Christ.”
You are not drunkards. You are not liars. You cannot be a homosexual or fornicator or reviler. If Christ has died for you, then you have been radically transformed. You have a new life and you have a new orientation towards obedience to God. You are defined by God as being completely different.
And now you see what a radical impact the death of Christ has on the believer. You are forgiven, you are reconciled, you are transformed. You might say that the impact on your life is downright seismic because of the colossal changes that take place in you.