The Gospel in a Single Verse – 2 Corinthians 5:21

²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

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That whereas they might conceive him most unjustly to be averse to the very motion of it, that yet he, for his part, is not only contented and inclined to listen to an agreement, but is and hath been ever so fully willing and desirous of it, that he hath made it as it were his chief business, and as that which he hath plotted to bring about; and that he for his part hath been reconciling the world to himself by Christ. ‘God was in Christ reconciling,’ yea, and from everlasting hath been. . . . He hath been (as it were) totus in illo, wholly bent upon this of all things else. And whereas it might yet be thought, that he being so just, and having declared himself so jealous a God, sensible of the least injury, so tender of his glory, and jealous of the least violation or wrong done thereto, that he therefore would require and propound to have full satisfaction from them first, as the condition of his and their accord and agreement; which that they, or any other creature for them, either were able or willing to perform, was utterly out of all hope. Therefore, . . . He bids his ambassadors declare, that as to that point men need not trouble themselves, nor take care about it; for he himself hath further been so zealously affected in this business, that he himself hath made full provision, and took order for that aforehand, and done it to their hand; ‘He hath been in Christ, reconciling the world;’ that is, in him and by him, as a mediator, and umpire, and surety between them and him, this great matter hath been taken up and accorded. . . . they both contrived and agreed, that Christ should undertake to satisfy his Father, for all the wrong was done to him, all which he should take upon himself, as if he were guilty of it; ‘he was made sin,’ 2Co 5:21, that is, a surety and a satisfaction for it. And God the Father, upon it, is so fully satisfied, as he is ready not only not to impute their sins to them, 2Co 5:19, but to impute all Christ’s righteousness to them, and to receive them into favour more fully than ever they were. ‘He was made sin, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him.’

~ Thomas Goodwin, Of Christ The Mediator; Book I: God the Father’s eternal counsel and transactions with Christ, to undertake; Chapter I: The exposition of the words of the text.— What is the great design of. See Volume 5 of Goodwin’s works.

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The reason you’re here on earth, if you are a Christian, is to tell people this message. Jesus keeps you here so that you can tell others about this message. The message is called the Gospel, the good news. This good news, this message, is about being reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20 – “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

What does that word, reconcile, mean? Can you remember a time when you got into a disagreement or fight with a friend. You were hanging out, having a great time, and then they said something mean, and maybe you did too. So, you got angry at each other. Maybe you’ve said or heard “I’m not your friend anymore!” You were friends, but now something has messed it up. Now, to reconcile, means to talk it out, and become friends again.

When God made human beings, He created us to be His friends. He provided everything we could possibly need. He gave us the whole cosmos to explore and enjoy. He gave us one another. He talked with Adam and Eve, walking on the dirt he had created to talk and teach them. He wanted us to enjoy friendship with Him as His children. All He asked for in return was trust.

Adam and Eve, created as children of God, representing humanity, were tempted by the devil. They were offered something else – something that God said would kill them, but that the devil said would make them like God. Instead of trusting God as their Father, they rejected Him. It’s not just that they did what God said they shouldn’t do. They didn’t just say “We aren’t friends anymore.” They told God that they’d rather have death than be His children – God who had given them the whole cosmos and Himself to know and enjoy.

We have a hard enough time to reconcile with our friends when we’ve had an argument. We don’t like feeling wronged, and it makes our hearts hard toward one another.

In this case, God has been wronged. He has been rejected. And what do we expect? That God’s heart is hard toward us. That we must convince Him to reconcile, or do our part in order to be reconciled. We would think that He cannot possibly be willing to accept rebels back unless they do something. That because He is just, perfectly loving, holy, and jealous that He could not possibly want to accept sinners back.

But what do we find? That God has set Christians in the world to proclaim this message: Not only is God the Father and the Son willing to reconcile, they desire to be reconciled with us sinners! God has desired it and planned it from eternity past. He tells sinners to not trouble themselves about any conditions they need to fulfill on their part to make up for the wrongs done. Not only has He been willing and desirous of reconciliation with sinners, but He has wanted this thing so much that He has made full provision for reconciliation. He has satisfied His own justice, holiness, and love for the wrong done to Him that He might accept sinners back!

2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

“For our sake” – For who? For sinners. For rebels. Not for seekers. Not for good people. Not for image bearers because they are made in His image. For wicked, weak, rebellious sinners.

“He made Him to be sin who knew no sin.” God the Father made God the Son, Jesus, to be sin. Jesus, who had never done anything wrong, who had loved and trusted His Father for eternity, who did not reject Him, was made to be sin for sinners. The Father credited to Christ all the sins that ever were committed or ever will be committed, and treated Him as though He were the son who had rejected and rebelled against Him. And sin, the whole of it, was punished and condemned in Jesus on the cross.

Why did Jesus do this? “so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” What does it mean to “become the righteousness of God?” It’s better than just to be treated as if we hadn’t sinned. Notice this is something “in Him,” in Jesus. Jesus, the Son who never stopped trusting God. The Son who never stopped loving Him, walking in step with Him, enjoying Him – we get that righteousness – the righteousness of God Himself.

We are children again, but closer than Adam and Eve were made to be. We share Jesus’ relationship with His Father, and what matters is His righteousness, not ours. In Jesus, we get reconciled to God the Father, not by doing anything to make up, but by trusting God’s heart in Jesus crucified for us.