THE WORD: “For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
THE POINT: Many people are trying to do the right thing, yet they fail miserably. Why? Before you can do right, you must first be made righteousness .
We were made wrong in Adam, and we need to be made right in Christ. But even after this happens, many people still fail when it comes to righteous living.
How can that be, since they have been made right? It’s because they are still living wrong.
Right living can never be accomplished by human efforts, no matter how good they are. (Romans 3:10) Your natural strengths, human talents, or physical abilities can never enable you to be good enough.
True righteousness cannot be achieved by living according to a Biblical code of ethics—doing right versus doing wrong.
There is only One who has ever lived right—Jesus Christ—the Righteous One. He is the only One who is truly righteous! Thus, Christ alone is capable of living right.
Since Christ is the only One capable of righteousness living, it was necessary for Him to come to Earth.
Jesus Christ, the one who makes us right, is the only one who can enable us to live well. Therefore, God makes us right in Christ in order that we might live well through Christ.
Our righteousness is derived from the Righteous One as a result of our union with Him. Jesus Christ is our sole source of righteousness . . . for life as well as for living!
THE APPLICATION: How did God make this possible? First, God had to correct the problem so He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life without any sin.
Then, He willingly gave up His life by becoming sin for us, and dying as us. He who knew no sin, became sin for us.
The perfect Son of God became the sinful son of man. “For such a high priest became us” (Hebrews 7:26 ASB). Jesus Christ took your place and became you upon the cross—an amazing miracle!
Christ became what you were—sin, so that you might become what He is—righteous. Christ became one with you in death in order that you might become one with Him in life.
This is the great exchange! Jesus Christ exchanged His life for your life, so that you could exchange your life for His life.
When you make that exchange God places you in vital union with Christ. By virtue of your union with Christ, you are made righteous in Him. Christ becomes your righteousness.
Your privilege is to allow the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, to live His righteous life through you. Now that’s living good!
THE PRAYER: “Heavenly Father, I realize that Satan made me wrong, but thankfully Christ made me right.
Even after I was made righteousness , I kept trying to live well, but that didn’t work. Now I understand that only Christ can live right.
I was made righteous in Christ so that Christ could live His righteous life in me. Therefore, I trust You, Lord Jesus Christ, to live Your righteous life through me.”
By Dr. Lewis Gregory/https://www.sourceministries.net/go/
