Let us pray. Oh Jesus, we thank you. We thank you because your justice and your mercy have met at the cross. We thank you because the wrath of God was satisfied. We thank you because We were once your enemies and now we sit at your table dressed in all your beauty. We thank you, Lord. We have no words to describe our thankfulness. And may now you guide us, Lord, as we reflect especially in light of the coming table that we will share of what has made it possible for sinners like us to approach the holy and pure, spotless, living God. Guide my meditation, Lord. Open my eyes and I shall see. Incline my ear and I shall hear the voice of Your commandments. May You guide us into understanding what has happened at the cross. In Jesus' name, Amen. Please be seated. Friends, imagine if you had a large debt that you needed to pay back and there's no way that you can pay that amount. There is no way. You tried everything and nothing will suffice. The bank tells you that in few weeks they will come and take over your house, your possession. All will be lost and that you will spend the rest of your lifetime in jail. And imagine that the night before that day, the son of the owner of the bank tells you, your debt has been paid. Completely. You don't owe us anything. What will be your reaction there? But leaping for joy. Incredible joy. And imagine that on top of that, He tells you, not only your debt has been paid in full, and you don't owe us anything, but we will now provide for you a job. We will provide means of sustenance for you and your family, so that you will be able to take care of anything that is needed. And you will think, this man is out of his mind. Who would undertake such an irresponsible exchange? Not only to come and take over your debts, but also give you His credit. Expenses are taken care of. And now an income is credited to your account. No way that anything like that can happen in our world. I mean, bartering makes sense if you exchange equal terms, doesn't it? It would be such an irresponsible exchange. And yet in spiritual terms, the living God in Christ. Me and you are in debt. And according to the law of God, we must go to jail. And we have no penny, no single penny to repay the living God for the offense that we have caused. And in real terms, God trades His immeasurable, worthy righteousness for our worthless sin. This is what the cross has made possible, friends. This is what Sinclair Ferguson once called the Great Exchange. And it is found in our text today. I ask you to open your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Paul gives us the heart of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. He, that is God the Father, made Him, that is God the Son, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. This is the glorious gospel before our eyes. This is the heart of the apostolic ministry of reconciliation that Paul has to declare like a herald to the Corinthians. He comes like the aroma of Christ. Aroma of Christ, a sweet aroma for those who are saved, and a bitter taste for those who are perishing. He's committed to proclaim the gospel to the Corinthians, regardless of how they receive Him, regardless of the fact that men may be pleased or not by His message, as long as Christ is pleased, that proclamation of this ministry of reconciliation pleading with men from all places, all nations, that they might not receive the grace of God in vain. And what we see here in our text is the foundation to that reconciliation that He expressed to us in verse 20. What makes that reconciliation possible? As Christ was the sacrifice for our sin, that new covenant that makes possible, as Christ goes to the cross, makes possible, the righteous is now accounted. To us, the righteousness of Christ. That the sinner is considered righteous. And this text shows us how this is made possible. Because Christ took the guilt of you, believer, upon His shoulder. He endured a penalty for those sins that you have committed so that you might be considered righteous before the holy and perfect God. What is behind this text, Francis? The theological doctrine of the double imputation. Double imputation. What makes possible what we love to mention and Paul speaks of in Romans as justification, that we are declared righteous before God, it would be impossible without this double imputation, this great exchange described in our text. What does imputation mean? Well, literally, imputation is apply to one's account. And that is why we have two accounts before our eyes. Rightly so, the account of Christ and the account of us, sinners, undeserving of His salvation. And so in this exchange, in this double imputation, our sin is imputed to the account of Christ. And His righteousness is imputed to the account of us. That is the great exchange. As the sinless son was treated as a sinful, as a sinner, in the trial for the provision of righteousness. Because righteousness is needed, friends, to go to heaven. But we do not have that righteousness. And therefore, let us look at the first side of this coin and this marvelous great exchange. in our text, as our sin is imputed to Him. Our sin is imputed to Christ. Christ took our sin. The heart of the Gospel message that Paul wants the Corinthians to grasp is that God the Father, according to that plan sovereignly established before the foundation of the world, and when the fullness of time came, He sent His own Son, He lived a perfect life, He went at the cross, not out of a mistake, But because, in agreement, the Son offered Himself and He was made to be sin. He made the sinless Christ virtually to be sin. And I underline the word virtually. This verb of made stands for undertaking. The Father undertakes to do something to bring about a condition upon His Son. Causing that condition to take place. And in the grammar, we are here before two direct objects. You could say, as the father made the one who knew no sin, sin. Notice how Paul intentionally contrast this opposite. How is it possible? The one who knew no sin, he was made sin. Because there is a contrast in the mind of the Corinthians and in the mind of all of us. How can we sinful people be reconciled before a holy and perfect God? That is impossible. God had to become man to accomplish it on our behalf. And such action had already taken place as Paul is speaking these words to the Corinthians. It is not as if the Father made Christ to sin. It is not as if the son became sinful. But as many translations imply, and even our New King James helps us here because puts those words to be in italic. Meaning the original text does not have that verb to be. But it helps us to understand that Christ was considered as sin. Though He had no sin, He was acting in our place. He was vicariously acting as the offender party in this divine judgment over sin. Sin needed to be punished by death. And therefore the Father made Christ, in the sense that He actualized His purpose in Christ. He acted by bringing Christ upon the cross, and there He treated Him judicially as if He was a sinner. Christ acted on our behalf. As He took the punishment of our sin, the Father made Christ to be the offering for your sin and my sin. It is in this sense that the Father made the sinless Son to be sin. He bore the consequence of your sin. Friends, we find this in Galatians 3 chapter 13, describing us the nature of that. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. And how did that take place? He has become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. Friends, we are all concerned about this virus that is spreading over our land. A virus that we are afraid of. A virus that brings death. And yet there is a pandemic that is far greater, that should concern all of us, that is far more widespread, because everyone dies because of it. And it's not only a death that is physical, that is caused by this virus, but it's a death that is spiritual. And if it's not dealt with, it will lead to your eternal death in hell. And we do not busy ourselves Over that pandemic, that plague of plagues, as the Puritan Ralph Venning called it. Sin is the plague of plagues. And we need to find a cure. And guess what? The Father has found a cure for that. He brought the cup of His wrath to the lips of Christ. As He was in the garden, He saw that cup of the wrath of God coming toward His lips. And He says, Father, if it's possible, take it away from Me. The curse of sin was laid upon the shoulder of Christ. The Father poured into the Son the condemnation for our very own sin. And we do not want to see too much in this text. But we don't want to see too little. What does that even mean that He made Christ to be sin? It is a dreadful thought. It is not as if Christ Somehow, the second person of the Trinity was made to be one with the sinfulness of man. Now, that is not what is in view here. How can the one who, according to our text, knows no sin, commit sin? God cannot be the author of sin. Nor does He blasphemously make the Son of God a sinner. What is in view here is the substitutionary role of Christ in a judicial standing, in a tribunal, where the justice demands the death of the sinner. And therefore Christ went to the cross and was treated as if He were a sinner. He stood as an innocent criminal. He assumed your role as a sin offering. He stood, cursed, hanging on that tree. That is what Isaiah 53 as he describes the The suffering servant. Why this suffering servant? Why did he have to bear all this shame and spitting and being stricken and smitten by God? Why? The text in Isaiah 53 verse 4 says, Surely he has borne our grief, and he carried our sorrow, and yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. And that was a right consideration, because the Father at that moment looked at the Son as stricken, smitten and afflicted, cursed. He laid on Him the iniquities of us all. As if He were a sinner, He was stricken, smitten and afflicted. He bore the sins of many. They made His grave with the wicked. It was all done because of our transgressions. And therefore, because of that, for those who embrace by faith this promise, in Christ, God now looks at your life, believer, as if you never sinned. As if you never sinned. The Father made the one who knew no sin to be sin on your behalf. For us. That means for our sake. Sometimes you see online this, students who have to pay the debt of their school, years, lifetime. And the bank tells them, you're free. And you see their reaction, they start crying. This is me, this is a personal thing that has happened. And it's not just for our advantage that He took our sin on the cross, but He stood in our place. That condemnation was for you, and He took it instead of you. Because we are sinners. We deserve by nature to be punished. And yet He took that punishment on your place. There is no way for us as sinful people to be able to perfectly obey God and have eternal life. There is no way. There is no way that we can bargain our way into heaven. Christ had to become man in order to achieve exactly that in your place. He paid the ultimate price for your sin. By death on the cross, He took your place as the Father made the Son to take the place of the sinner. And the sinner is you in judgment. It is a dreadful place, isn't it? There's a darker side of the cross. Dark became all the earth as Christ poured out. And He says, Eloi, Eloi, lemma sabachthani, while God has view forsaken me. We don't often pause to wonder as the Christ paid and bore the abandonment from the Father. The full measure of the wrath of God against sin was poured out in Him. His body was broken. His tears were shed. His blood was shed for you. This excruciating pain was the right judgment over your sin, over the sin of all the believers. From all the ages, that mass of sin came on that moment in the shoulder of the Savior, treated as he was a sinner. And this is because His justice requires it. That is something that we often forget that justice of God demands. That by no means the wicked shall go unpunished. That is not just a dreadful place to be for Christ, but it is also a personal place. Which means this is not just the sins in general. This is not some... Offering. This is specific. He took your place, believer. You should have gone through that. He bore your sin. While you were still plunging in the depths of sin, Christ offered Himself for you. While you would care less of Him. While you were mocking with the crowds. He took the full measure of the punishment that would do for your sin. He bore the punishment. of a criminal. Your specific sins. Think of your specific sins. He bore them at the cross. God cannot leave you unpunished. There's no man that does not sin. There's no man that can open the scroll. A mere human cannot do this. God Himself does it. And yet, the Redeemer took your sins on His shoulders. He took care of them. It is finished. They're gone. He was punished as he personally committed those sins. They're gone. This leaves the sinful Corinthians and all of us with no alternative but be reconciled with God. And therefore, believer, if you come to a stage of your life when you are in a dark place, meditate upon what the blood of Christ has accomplished. When attacks from the devil come at you, meditate upon the blood that has paid. And that sin is gone, as far as the east is from the west. It is gone. But that place, that cross, is also a transforming place. It is not only a personal place, but a transforming. It transforms all of our life. This is more than just giving a doctrinal assessment to the idea. Okay, double imputation. I get it. No, Christ's death has a life changing nature to it. If Christ died as a substitutionary sacrifice, this has a life changing nature. We count ourselves as dead. There is a real sense in which we consider ourselves as dead. We have been crucified with Christ. We no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ. We are a new creation. We died to sin. The punishment of our sin has already been removed. Has this become true in your life? Is this true for you? Because if it's not, the Gospel tells us that the wrath of God still abides in us. And that wrath, if not dealt with, will result in an eternity of damnation in hell. That needs to be taken care of. And there is no plan B. There is only the cross to solve that overwhelming weight of condemnation. There is a cure for this greatest pandemic in the world. Christ has provided it. We all infected by the deadly epidemic of sin have now received complete forgiveness, complete removal of all of our sin. But how? How can I, though removed from my sin, how can I now live to righteousness? I mean, if we would stop here, Christ paid for my sin. you will still not have any righteousness to go to heaven. Because remember, that is needed. The justice of God demands that. Though I'm free from the penalty of death, I'm still naked of any necessary justice. And that is the other side of the coin that we want to see today, of this double imputation, this great exchange. It's not only that Our sin was imputed to Christ, but then now His righteousness is imputed to us. Christ, our text says, never sinned. The one who knew no sin is Christ. You take as a whole the life of Christ. He knew no sin. You take... He's the only one who had no sin. He was completely free from sin. Not only free not to sin, but impeccable, which means he could not sin. Why? Because he was God. He was not only human, but he was divine. He had a divine nature. He was unable to sin. Though tempted in every way like us, he never sinned. He is the sinless one. Completely innocent. except from sin. Even Pilate, while he received Christ, has to declare in front of the crowd, I find nothing wrong in this man. No evil. What evil has he done? And yet, that very one is the one who was made to be sinned. Which means he was the only one qualified to be able to bear the wrath of God for your sin. It was said before, it cannot contradict the fact, therefore, that Christ, in His nature, in His essence, remained sinless. There are these polar opposites that could make no sense, can make sense only as they meet at the cross. As 1 John 3, verse 5 says, Christ appeared in order to take away sin, and in Him there is no sin. And what this means, therefore, is that not only in Christ God sees us as if we never sin, but because of His righteousness imputed to us, in Christ God sees you, believer, as if you always obeyed. As if you always obeyed. This is what Zacharias Ursinus, the one who did a commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, says. God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, not only as if I had never sinned, nor been a sinner, but also as if I had been perfectly obedient, as Christ was perfectly obedient for me. Isn't that amazing? That the result of this great exchange is not only that the sinless one is treated as sinful, but that the sinful one like you and me is treated as sinless. So that, the text says, he was made to be sin on our behalf, so that we, believers, who have taken and grasped this perfect sacrifice of Christ by faith, we might become the righteousness of God in him. This is the marvel of this righteousness Christ imputes to us. It is sin placed on His account, but here we have the opposite result. Righteousness is placed on my and your account. There is a complete change in our nature that has happened. In this great exchange, we enter into a new condition and how this takes place in Him. Our text says, in Him. By our union with Christ, there is no other way. If we have by faith in Christ embraced this gospel, we are declared righteous by faith. in union with Him. Not because we have any righteousness of our own, but because we are united with Him. In the one who knew no sin, we become righteous. In us, we are only sin. In Him, we are clothed with His perfect robes of righteousness. We are viewed as righteousness. Now, this term righteousness does not determining any quality in me, any worthiness in me and you? No. We are still sinners. But it's expressing the state, our condition before God is considered as if we are righteous. We are completely, judicially imputed to be righteous on no other ground but the righteousness of Christ, which is outside of us. It is a righteousness of God, says our text. Which means it's a righteousness that belongs to God. It doesn't belong to me. It's not produced in me. Not only, therefore, the sinless is treated as sinful, but in this great exchange, the sinful is treated as sinful. We become approved and acceptable by God. In exchange for the guilt and punishment for our own sin, And the wrath of God for that sin poured out on the Son of God, He pours on us His perfect ropes of righteousness. What a marvelous exchange that we, therefore, can be reconciled with God. We can be restored in this right relationship with God. We are now no longer enemy. You can think of nations being an enemy to one another. Zamperini, the Italo-American runner, went to Japan as an enemy. He was pierced. He was treated as an enemy. But comes back, he wants to kill these Japanese. He hates them. There is enmity. But because of the redemption he has in Christ, he's able to go back there and forgive his enemies and love. There is a peace. He even runs the marathon there. That is reconciliation because of the gospel. that verse 20 speaks of reconciliation and verse 21 takes place through that perfect union with Christ that we are made righteous, not only freed from sin, but imputed righteousness of Christ. Oh, what a humbling righteousness it is, friends. How unworthy am I and you that the spotless Lamb of God will give us His righteousness and pay the consequence for my and your sin. It is not a fallen man. It is not an imperfect friend that takes your place. It's the spotless Son of God becomes human. Not only you deserved hell, but you were completely undeserving for anything good. And here He gives you His ropes of righteousness. Here He clothes you. He sees no sin in you. Not only takes away your sin, but He dresses you with His own obedience. His perfect life was lived in your behalf to open the gates of heaven. Sinner, He doesn't take you. He doesn't seize you as you are. Anytimes the Father sees you now, He sees you clothed in Christ and in His righteousness. How thankful should we be to be in that state? This is also an enabling righteousness. Because, how can we sinners be righteous in the eyes of God, was our original question. We're not righteous. And yet, through Christ, we are considered as righteous. We are justified. God the Father sees you through the lens of Christ. And all He sees is perfection. 1 Peter 2.24 says, He Himself bore our sin in His body on the tree. It doesn't stop there. He says, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. We become the righteousness of God therefore, also in the sense that now we are acceptable, now that we are acceptable to God, now that we are regarded by Him as righteous, We are pleasing before God. We are enabled to obey despite our failures. Because through His death, we not only die to sin, but we live to righteousness. Not only we are freed from the condemnation of sin, as we read this morning in our Gospel Assurance, but we are free from the power of sin. We are able to walk in newness of life because of Him. Because of His perfect righteousness. This is not because of anything in us. not having a righteousness of our own, but because of the very righteousness that He requires, He also provides for me and you. We are judged in the lens of Christ's perfect righteousness. And ultimately, this also proves that this is a loving righteousness. All this talk of the wrath of God gets unbelievers sometimes to think, oh man, the Father was really mean to treat the Son this way. How blasphemous is to speak this way, when the Son of God freely, obeyed. And this was all done for you and me. I mean, would the father have given his own son to be punished this way if he hated us? Never. But the gospel you see is not about you and me. The gospel is about the justice of God. And so those who speak this way undermine to realize who God is, and His perfection, His justice. I mean, we get so mad when human courts fail to punish. And now, God has to somehow overlook sin? No. The gospel requires the provision of righteousness, but that provision that He requires, He has provided. And that is the good news for me and you. All that we have in us is only sin. We are infamous traitors worthy of hell. That is our condition. And in that framework, we then look at what happened at the cross. He dealt with our sin. Look at His love. The Father loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son. So that we might not perish in our sin. He was placed in the perishing condition instead of us. Look how He loved us. Look at the boundless love which motivates the Father to give His own Son. His beloved Son. Not only He paid our punishment, but now He clothed us with His perfect righteousness. How sacrificially loving to do that. Let us therefore not forget that it is out of love, the love of God that the Father sent His Son to endure such dreadful punishment to satisfy justice. A just love. See, we don't divorce our understanding of the love of God from His holiness, from His justice. Jesus made sin for his people. Let us look lovingly at that act. And so let us meditate, friends, on the greatest transaction that took place in the history of the entire world. Realize and meditate on this great exchange. What a contrast that he was made sin for us and we are made righteous in him. That He takes on your sin, and we take on His righteousness. That He was pierced in your place, and we are clothed in His royal robes. The righteous is treated as an unrighteous, and the unrighteous is treated as righteous. This great exchange, not only it is us who are reconciled with God, but also our understanding of God is reconciled at the cross. Our understanding of His different, different, Attributes is reconciled. Our need of mercy and the justice of God can only meet at the cross. There is no plan B. There is no other provision that is provided except this one. A just God and yet a gracious God. And yet this great exchange makes only sense as if you wholly rely on the righteousness of another. Wholly cast yourself on the mercies of Christ. and embraced by faith. He died for me. He was pierced for my transgression. He has clothed me with His righteousness. And I plead therefore with you, accept this only way to reconciliation with God, because without it, there is no way of escape for you. There is no way out of hell. Receive this only righteousness. Receive this only way that is provided for you to be reconciled before a holy and just God. And now and from now on, make mention of His righteousness alone. His and His alone. Not what my hands have done. Not what my hands have done. Because left to myself, I only have sinned, yes. But yet in the hands of Christ, your sins, are removed and His righteousness is extended to you. This is the heart of the Gospel, friend. This is the only way a sinful man can be reconciled with a holy and perfect sinless God. How? The sinless Christ was punished as a sinner in exchange for the sinner rewarded as sinless. Let us pray. O gracious God, O holy and gracious God, the thought of what the cross has done for us leaves us without words, without excuse, but to enter into this greatest transaction that ever happened Oh God, who are we? What do we have to offer? No penny, nothing, and yet you give us all? And not only that, but you take all of our sins? Yes, this is what you have provided for us. Oh God, may this be true of everyone that listened to these words today. May they too come and embrace this great exchange. May they really realize that they are in a spiritual bankruptcy. May they realize that the only cure for their pandemic of sin is found in the righteousness of Christ and in his perfect obedience and in his sacrifice for us. May we receive this. May we walk in newness of life. for all of our days. We ask you to bless us now as we meditate upon these truths, as we approach your table, seated at the table, once your enemies. May you be with us in Jesus' precious name. Amen.