FEB 2 

2 Corinthians 5:21
Memorise 2 Corinthians 5:21
“…and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Have you ever experienced the anguish that comes when you know that you have sinned? It is certainly not a pleasant feeling, for the weight of guilt feels almost physically heavy in our hearts, and we feel so distant from God. 

How do you think Christ felt, then, when He bore the guilt for our sins? In today’s reading, we read that God made Christ “to be sin for us”. Certainly, this does not mean that Christ was at any point a sinner or guilty of any sin. The next phrase makes this very clear – Christ “knew no sin”. Rather, it refers to the fact that Christ was made to bear the guilt for our sins. Christ, the perfect, holy and sinless Son of God, who hates sin with His entire being, took on Himself all the sins of the world! All that He hated most deeply was poured out fully upon Him – and this He did voluntarily, for our sakes. What amazing love, what wonderful compassion! Because of this, Christ was also made to suffer the punishment and consequence of sin. In that moment the weight of the sins of the world was on His shoulders. And as He bore the guilt of our sins alone, God the Father poured out on Jesus the fury of His wrath – the anger of a holy, righteous God against the filth and wickedness of the sin of the world. This is a suffering of immense proportions that we cannot even begin to comprehend. 

To what end? Why did Christ willingly put Himself through such intense suffering and agony? The second part of the verse gives us the answer – “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. Because of what Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary, we are now declared righteous in the sight of God. Christ who was holy and pure was made sin, that we who are wretched and sinful might be made righteous. Truly, how marvellous the whole plan of salvation is! 

Dear teen, what is your response to this wonderful truth? Do you realise that Christ went through all these sufferings in your place? That, because of Christ’s sacrifice, you have been saved from the wrath of God? Or have you become dulled to sin, that you no longer view it as horrid and vile? Dear teen, come with a repentant heart to Jesus today. 

Thought: God treated Christ as the guilty one, so that He could treat us as right in His sight. 
Prayer: Lord, help me never to take the sufferings of Christ for granted.