Paradox of the Cross #8 - Jesus Christ was made sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God. Of all the paradoxes of the Cross we have studied thus far, this one seems the most "outrageous." Here you have the sinless Son of God who became sin for us (all of us who have sinned grievously and egregiously against God). And what do we get for this? We are made the righteousness of God!

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21 NKJV). The Amplified New Testament says, "For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as in and examples of] the righteousness of God - what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness." Does this truth humble you? It should. A sinless man, God's only Son, became sin in order that you and I, sinners in the sight of God, might become the righteousness of God in Christ. This really does away with self-righteousness and any boasting of who we are. What an "outrageous" trade!

Hymn: Unworthy am I of the grace that He gave, unworthy to hold to His hand;
Amazed that a King would reach down to a slave, this love I cannot understand.
Unworthy, unworthy; a beggar; in bondage and alone;
Yet He made me worthy and now by His grace,
His mercy has made me His own. (Ira F. Stanphill)