i have an ugly confession to make…growing up, I started several fights, BUT I was never actually IN a fight. Confused? Let me elaborate, because of my innate ability to say stupid things at just the wrong time, there were many times, when random people wanted to pound my face in. I would just be trying to entertain myself and I would inevitably offend somebody. (I’ve gotten a little better, but this still happens.) Yup, I was a mouthy little punk. Of course, because of the genetic gift of who I am, these people were always much larger than me…further proof that I just wasn’t thinking!! I started fights with my big mouth, but fortunately, I had a really good friend named Jimmy. He was a scrapper, he looked out for me. He was my next door neighbor and my self appointed body guard. I think Jimmy realized that if I was left on my own, things would not go well. anytime he saw me about to get beat up, he stepped in and took my place. It was a great arrangement…for me.
Flash forward and I realize that, in the biggest fight of my life I also have a friend who has took my place. The fight of right…a fight that I can never win on my own. I can just NEVER be right enough. There is too much wrong in me. Because of my sin And stupidity, I have an opponent who is ready to pound me. And, I got it coming…I don’t deserve to get out of this. But check this out…
“He orchestrated this: the Anointed One, who had never experienced sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might embody the very righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus, the sinless One, stepped in and took our place. He took our sin so we could experience His life. He didn’t sin…He actually became sin. It is hard to grasp this, but He became the living embodiment of everything ugly, so that we could become the living embodiment of His righteousness.
He became the ultimate sacrifice. In the Old Testament they had a really messy way of dealing with sin, they made sacrifices. They did annual sacrifices to cover their UNrightness. They would take an unfortunate farm animal and kill it. They would bring a lamb to the temple. The lamb/ sacrifice had to be perfect, it couldn’t have any blemish or defect. The priest would come out and inspect the sacrifice. The priest didn’t inspect the person making the sacrifice. They were expected to be flawed, that is WHY they were there. The physics of rightness said that the sacrifice had to be perfect in order to cover imperfect people.
Jesus, the only perfect, ultimate sacrifice stood in and took our place. (To the relief of farm animals everywhere) when we live in that truth, when God looks at us, He sees the sacrifice, not the sinner. It is gift. We can’t make ourselves right, all we can do is surrender to the sacrifice.
Jesus took on our sin…ALL our sin. He didn’t leave anything or anyone out. But, We have to have an infusion of RIGHTness. We didn’t earn it, we don’t deserve it. But, it’s available simply because of love.
We can’t compare our sin to others. We can’t use our RIGHTness as a ruler, because it’s not our RIGHTness…it’s His.
Jesus fought the fight of RIGHT for us. He became the living embodiment of everything ugly, so that we could become the living embodiment of His beauty.
Stand behind His sacrifice!
carbonated joy 