God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21
We’re all guilty of sin because we have resisted God. There has only been one sinless, perfect man to ever live: Jesus. Jesus carried the guilt and offense of everyone’s sins to the cross. It was on that cross that Jesus received the wrath of God our sins deserved. Jesus was treated as if He had committed each sin, even though He was innocent. Was this cruel? No. This was mercy. Redemption isn’t fair because we have received forgiveness we do not deserve.
Some people call what Jesus did for us “substitutionary atonement.” Atonement means that there was a payment or satisfying of a debt we owed. We created a debt of offense against God by resisting His leading in our life. We are unable to make our debt right, so God has every right to collect that debt by giving us what our offenses against Him deserve. Jesus’ actions were substitutionary in that He took our place. Jesus took our sin so that He could also take our punishment and pay off our debt to God.
Jesus took your sin, took your punishment, and offers you His righteousness. Would you like to be forgiven, made righteous, and become a child of God? Jesus did all of the work that makes your salvation possible. Jesus told us to repent and believe. By repenting we turn from our disobedience and rebellion against God. We turn toward God and believe that Jesus is the Son of God who loves us and is able and willing to forgive us. Would you surrender your life to Jesus right now?
