What Jesus Did
What Jesus Did
2 Corinthians 5:17–21 (NASB 2020)
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Sins are not counted against anyone because Jesus took away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) The only reason that anyone goes to hell is because they reject the truth of this.
People who sincerely seek after God do not fall into that category. God has promised that those who seek Him will find Him and that He will not turn any of them away. We can take comfort in this because it makes it clear that He isn't placing conditions on us.
So, Jesus took away the sin of the world. God said He is not counting people's sins against them. He also said He no longer remembers your sins. None of your attitudes or actions can do anything to prevent you from going to heaven or from having a life of freedom here on earth.
God gave people the freedom to choose. People can choose Him, or they can choose their own path whatever that may be; various world religions, no religion at all, agnosticism, whatever. Those who choose their own path, remain spiritually separated from the Source of Life (God). If they are separated from the Source of Life, they have no Life. They live physically, but they remain dead to God, dead in their sin (the state of missing the mark, which is perfection). Scripture talks about this by saying God's wrath remains on them. John 3:36 "The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (NASB 2020)
Notice here that the one who believes (chooses God) HAS eternal Life. That's important. It's not pie in the sky by and by, it's here and now. You HAVE it. Right now. Also notice that it's called eternal life. There are a couple of words that we sometimes don't think much about. The word "everlasting" and the word "eternal." That which is everlasting has a beginning, but it has no end. That which is eternal is different. Eternal things have no beginning and no end. There is only one Life that is eternal. There is only one Life that has no beginning and no end. God's Life.
So, what God did in Jesus Christ was two major things. First, by the sacrificial death of Jesus, the wages of your sin were satisfied. This is what we call forgiveness. Because Jesus was perfect, and also human, His blood satisfied the law of sin and death. That made us no longer liable for our sins. It's like if I walked into your bank and paid the mortgage on your house. The bank would no longer accept payments from you because your debt would have already been satisfied.
The second thing Jesus did was rise from the dead. Romans tells us that this resulted in our justification. Romans 4:25
"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (CSB) His resurrection conquered death and paved the way for us to share in His life.
When we accept that as truth, we "partake of His divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). That means that old us has died (Romans 6, Galatians 2:20) and new us shares the nature of God. We are no longer in Adam, now we are in Jesus. We don't inherit sinfulness (imperfection) from Adam, instead, we inherit perfection (godliness) from Jesus.
That's what 2 Corinthians 5:21, which is quoted above, is talking about. We became the righteousness of God in Him. That is justification. God does not see us as sinful because we (our spirit, what we actually are) are no longer sinful. He sees us as righteous, holy, and blameless, because that is what He has made us.
That's what Jesus did for you. It's the best news ever.
