Recently, I listened to a sermon in which the preacher had three main points.

Point 1.  ”God, the Father.”  2. “God, the Son.”  3. “God, the Holy Spirit.”

Having studied these thoughts for many years, I naturally was quite interested in what he had to say about “God, the Son.”  To begin with, this wording does not appear in Scripture.  What one does find is “Son of God.”

Mary, his mother, was told by the angel  ”the holy  one to be born will be called the Son of  God” (Luke 1:35).

The Jews declared to Pilot that “he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God”  (John 19:7).

The apostle Paul began his ministry preaching “Jesus is the Son of God”  (Acts 9:20).

That Jesus was Son of God while living upon the earth is crystal clear in John 20:17 where he says to Mary: “Go instead to my brothers and tell them ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  Indeed, while living in a  body of human flesh, God was his Father.  As such, he was divine because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  He was also human, because Mary, a human being, brought him into this world.  Consequently, he frequently referred to himself as “Son of  man.”

God sent him into the world, (John 3:17).  God anointed him with the Holy Spirit, (Acts 10:38). God raised him from the dead, (Acts 10:4).  God called him home, (Acts 1:10,11).  Thank you Father.

In writing the Corinthian letter, Paul stated that God made Christ “who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  The original text simply reads:  ”The one who knew no sin, he made sin on our behalf,…”  The context makes it clear that Paul is stating what God did through Jesus Christ on our behalf.

This statement is enough t0 blow one’s mind.  ”God made Christ to be sin.”  Think of it:  Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and never sinned.  True, he was tempted in all the ways we are, but he did not sin.  (See Hebrews 4:15).  Why then did God make him to be sin?  For one reason only; to reconcile us to God and to save us from sin.  (Read it in Romans 5:6-10).  Did even one of us deserve it?  Absolutely not!  The motivating reason is stated by the apostle in verse 5:  ”the love of God.”

Once this is clear to us, we’ll have no problem understanding why God the Father kept silent while his Son, on that cross, cried out:  ”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46. NIV).  To be sure, God had not forsaken him, but He was compelled to remain silent while Jesus was paying the supreme sacrifice of  atoning for our sins.  It was in this awesome act that God made Christ to be sin and remained silent while Jesus willingly offered himself to satisfy the justice of God  and to provide the means for sin to be forgiven and too be  removed from our lives.

Finally, the crowning purpose is stated:  ”that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21)   Praises God! and thank you Jesus!

The word reconciliation implies there is a problem and something must be done to make things right.  In 2 Corinthians, chapter five, Paul is discussing how God has arranged to reconcile the human race to Himself.  In v.19 he states “that God was in Christ reconciling the world  to Himself.”

To paraphrase v.17, he says that if one is in Christ, he/she is a new creation.  The old nature is gone and the new nature takes over.  All of this comes from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  So, to obtain God’s favor and to enjoy spiritual blessings, one must be in Christ.  If in doubt regarding being in Christ, help is available in  The Faith of Christ pages 291 through 328.

The apostle continues with a strong appeal:  ”we beg you on behalf  of Christ, be reconciled to God” (v-20).  We are not ready for our eternal  journey beyond death until we are “in Christ” through whom we are reconciled to God.