1. God imputes to us what actually belongs to us in the first place. Where (Romans 5:12) says that "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned", death is part of our spiritual heritage from Adam. Death has been reckoned to our account. Adam's sins were not his alone, but it was placed on every person's account, on the debit side, you might say.
2.God the Father imputes to the Lord Jesus Christ that which does not belong to him. (2 Cor. 5:21) says that "he (Christ) was made to be sin for us, even though he knew no sin...” This is the Bible concept of substitution; Christ died for our sins, not his own. Isaiah 53:4-6. The verse does not say that Christ became a sinner, but that sin was set to his account that was not his.
3. God imputes (credits) to the sinner what is not actually his. Again, (2 Cor. 5:21), "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Here, the actual perfect righteousness of God is credited to us. This righteousness, which is placed on the credit side of our ledger, is known as imputed righteousness or justification.
God declares men to be righteous on the basis of faith. Read (Romans 4:3). "Abraham believed God and
it was counted to him for righteousness". God makes men righteous on the basis of practice by the
Word (John 17:17) and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Grace Provision
(2 Cor. 5:21) “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
As the unique person of the universe, Jesus Christ is both true humanity and undiminished deity. (John! 1-2). As God, He possesses eternal life and is therefore is not subject to death (Psa. 90:2); as Man, He died on the cross. Like all who have died, He too must now be buried; yet the grave had no power over Him.
The death of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:27-50). After He had been cruelly beaten, the God-Man-Savior was led away to a place called Golgotha, or Calvary. He wore a crown of thorns, and the sharp thorns dug painfully into His head and face. He was struggling up the hill, staggering under the heavy load of the cross. It was nine o’clock in the morning when the soldiers nailed Him to the cross. They lifted up the cross and set it into place between two other crosses.
Two Old Testament Saints wrote what they had been allowed to see about the death and burial of
the Lord Jesus Christ. David saw the Lord crucified and wrote in Psalm 22 how Christ was nailed to the cross and suffered the most painful and slow kind of death a person could die. He heard the very words The Lord Jesus would scream out on the cross: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me” (vs. 1)? He saw the enemies of Jesus, shaking their heads and pointing to the cross, saying, “He trusted on the Lord … let God deliver him!” (Vs. 8). He knew exactly how much pain the Lord Jesus would suffer in His body. He even saw the nail prints in His hands and feet and almost felt His terrible thirst (vs. 13- 17). He also saw the Roman soldiers dividing Jesus’ clothing and rolling dice for His robe (vs. 18).
Isaiah had also seen the whole picture of how the Savior would be crucified and wrote it in Isaiah 53. He said Christ would die between two wicked men - thieves. He wrote how our He suffered pain and shame sakes and also death for sinful “us”.
It all came true. Even the crowds of curious people who stood about watching. And others walking past, shaking their heads and making fun of Jesus. “If you are the Son of God, come down
from the cross.” They yelled. “He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let’s see if God will help
him now!”
Christ could have come down from that cross but the cross was why He came. He came as the Lamb of God to die on that cross to take away the sins of the world. For three long hours God the Father judged our sins in the Lord Jesus. God can have nothing to do with sin; that’s why the Father and the Holy Spirit turned away from the Son. Yes, David had heard right: the Lord did scream out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me”?
The bur1al of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:57-61) Where would Jesus be buried? He had died on the cross like a criminal; He should really be buried in the “potter’s field” where the two thieves would be buried. But a rich man named Joseph wanted to bury Jesus properly so he asked Pilate for His body to place in a tomb that he had bought for his own burial. Nicodemus brought with him nearly one hundred pounds of sweet smelling spices for the burial. Together they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it carefully in strips of linen, sprinkling the spices between the many layers of cloth, for this is the way the Jews buried their loved ones in those days. (Little did they know that Jesus would only be there for the weekend.)
The tomb is sealed. (Matt. 27:62-66) The Lord’s enemies had not forgotten that He had said that He must stay in the grave three days and three nights before He would rise from the dead. So they went to Pilate to have to tomb sealed and guards put on watch until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal the body away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead. They thought that now they could relax; they were rid of Jesus once and for all. What a surprise they had coming.
There is no excuse for anyone to die in their sins. Jesus Christ died for all our sins. He took our place that we might live forever with Him. If you have not believed in Him, the Bible says you are dead - even while you are still living - dead in sins (Eph. 2:1-5) You are dead to God and can have no fellowship with Him, now or forever. But you can change that right now; you can be made alive in a second. 1 John 5:12 is God’s promise to you, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
You can have new life simply by believing that Christ died for your sins, that He was buried and
rose again – for you.
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