THE WORD 4 ev 1

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.

It doesn’t always take a lot of words to say something powerful. Sometimes when I got in trouble as a kid, my dad, an ex-Marine, would look at me and say, “I’ve got just two words for you, and they ain’t happy birthday.” This always got my full attention rather quickly. That being said, Dad was a great guy and, thankfully, I never did hear those “two words.”

Today’s Bible reading contains two very powerful words—“for us.” Jesus was born and God made Him who was sinless to be sin (to bear the world’s sins) for us. There was no other reason for Jesus to suffer as He did and die except to do so for us.

But why suffer and die? There are two more important words—“so that.” Why did Jesus die for us? He did this so that we might become righteous in God’s sight. Justice demands payment for sin, and God knew we certainly weren’t able to pay for our own
sins or to save ourselves. I’ve actually got four words for you: for us so that.
THE PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for becoming sin for us so that we might become “the righteousness of God” and spend eternity with You in heaven. Amen.