Sinner’s Situations || 2 Corinthians 5:21 || Manna for the Mind #36

Welcome to Day 36 of my “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series takes a passage of scripture (typically 1-3 verses) and builds understanding through its context and connecting scripture. This helps us understand what the Bible truly teaches us.

2 Corinthians 5:21

21          For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

When we trust in Christ, we make an incredible exchange: He takes all our sins upon himself and makes us the right God. He bore the punishment for our sins on our behalf. God poured all our sins on Christ at his crucifixion, and he poured all of Christ’s righteousness into us at our conversion. Normally, bartering works only when people exchange goods of relatively equal value. God offers to trade his righteousness for our sins through this external exchange. This is an intense exchange, but we’re seeing the duality of God and humanity. God, who is good, trades his righteousness, which is ultimate goodness, for humanity’s sin, which is inherently evil. All this happened to allow us to have the right relationship with God. Without God, we are like wandering sheep.

Isaiah 53:6

6             All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s path to follow our own. Yet the Lord on him the sins of us all.

Isaiah talks about Israel straying from God and compares the people to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah, Jesus, to bring them back. We have the hindsight to see and know the identity of Jesus, who came and died for our sins. If we can see everything Jesus did and still reject him, our sin is much greater than the ancient Israelites, who couldn’t see what we have seen.

We ultimately know what is best for ourselves and will take the best path. Still, some circumstances happen outside of our control that don’t allow us to control it all. We can’t be ignorant of that. We must remember that God sees the path we’re walking, and even if it might not be his path, he will allow you to walk it. He’s not going to force us onto his path. Still, he will watch us until we intentionally wander back into the sheepfold.

Galatians 3:13-14

13          But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

14          Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

When God gave Moses this law, he established blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Curses are defined as solid condemnation. Jesus was the most faithful Israelite and human to ever live—he fulfilled the law entirely. Yet, he willingly paid our penalty. Jesus willingly went to the cross in our place, humanity’s place, and suffered a sinner’s punishment. He took the curse upon himself on the cross in our place.

This is something I don’t see most modern Christians talk about. It’s uncomfortable and can be deemed inappropriate for church leaders to teach this matter in the way of calling their small group and congregation a sinner, but we are. I believe we are sinners. Humans aren’t always taught sinful behaviors; some are learned very young. We don’t view them as sinners, but instead behaviors to correct. Yet, calling a 1–2-year-old a sinner is intense. Yet, when we do the same behaviors as adults, it’s because we are sinners. Now, there are different ways to approach this. I look at sinful desires as an intentional behavior that we know goes against God’s teaching. Babies aren’t aware of God’s teaching, nor are they intentionally learning it. I feel like talking in circles, but talking about sin does that. I don’t want to miss the mark on the importance of it, but it is essential to discuss when we talk about what Jesus did.

Hebrews 4:15

15          This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

Jesus connects with us because he experienced many temptations throughout his life. We feel comfort knowing that Jesus faced all our temptations and could understand and sympathize with us. We can be encouraged because he did not give into sin and thus gave us the way to overcome our temptations. Every time we resist temptation, we become more like Jesus.

This reminds me of the verse in which Paul talks about how God’s strength is found in his weaknesses. We all have weaknesses. None of us are perfect. Perfectionism is an unrealistic goal. As Pastor Mike Todd says, “I’m not perfect, but I’m progressing.” We have our weaknesses, but how we progress through them matters the most. Opening up about our weaknesses to God will allow God’s strength to shine through brighter than ever before.

1 Peter 2:21-22

21          For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

22          He never sinned or ever deceived anyone.

We can suffer for a variety of reasons. Some result from our sin, some from various foolishness, and some from living in a fallen world. Peter is talking about the suffering that comes from doing good work. Christ never sinned, yet he suffered so that we could have freedom. Jesus’ suffering was part of God’s plan to save us.

Christians must be prepared to suffer. Our goal should be to face suffering as Jesus did – with patience, calmness, and confidence that God controls the future. Jesus told his followers and told us that following him wouldn’t be easy. Jesus faced ridicule, contradictions, and bullying consistently but never wavered. He found patience in his teachings, was calm as Jesus was arrested, and had confidence that God’s will would bring him back three days after his death. He didn’t deceive his followers then and doesn’t deceive us now.

Father God, we thank you for sending your son. It couldn’t be easy to send your true son to die for the sinners of the world. Yet, you loved us so. You loved us so much that you sent your only son to die for us so that we could have the right relationship with you. Help us not to take it for granted. Help us express gratitude for what you did for us and how that impacts our lives today. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.