Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

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Christ reconciled us to God

March 6, 2023 by Marissa 4 Comments

Have you ever wanted to trade places with someone? Many mornings, my dog torments me by curling up in the empty space I just left in my bed. As I stand at the bathroom sink getting ready for the day, I’m forced to watch him lay his little white head on my pillow and doze off. 

His life seems so easy: sleep, eat, repeat. But then I remember that he eats the same thing every day and has to go outside to use the bathroom, even in frigid temperatures and thunderstorms. Maybe the trade wouldn’t be so great after all! 

This month’s devotionals focus on the benefits we receive from Christ’s death and resurrection. Today we’ll see that Jesus took our place to reconcile us to God.  

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

Christ became sin for our sake. In this passage, Paul is talking about reconciliation—specifically, how sinners are reconciled to a holy God. He humbled Himself in the form of a servant, coming under the curse and receiving the punishment our sin (Philippians 2:7-8). Because Christ took on our sin, we are reconciled to God. 

Christ became sin even though He was sinless. If He had sinned even once, the punishment He received would be His own. Only a sinless Lamb could be our substitute and take our punishment on the cross. 

Christ became sin so that in Him we might receive righteousness and reconciliation. We can think of this as “The Great Swap.” On the cross, Christ took our place and received the punishment our sin deserved. In exchange, He gives us His perfect record of obedience–His righteousness. We are reconciled to God because of what Christ’s obedience earned for us: right standing before a holy God and eternal life with Him. 

This Great Swap is the good news of the Gospel: those who are in Christ look at the cross and see their punishment given to Christ and the righteousness of Christ given to them to reconcile them to God. 

No matter what you face this week, Christ took our place to reconcile us to God. 

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Filed Under: No Matter What Mondays

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  1. Christ secures our forgiveness - Marissa Henley says:
    March 13, 2023 at 6:02 am

    […] at the benefits we receive from Christ’s death and resurrection. Last week we learned about how Christ reconciled us to God. Today we will see that because Christ shed His blood for us, all our sin has been […]

    Reply
  2. Justified by God's grace - Marissa Henley says:
    March 20, 2023 at 6:01 am

    […] from Christ’s death and resurrection. Over the past two weeks, we’ve looked at the benefits of reconciliation and forgiveness. Romans 3:23-24 teaches us that we receive the gift of justification through the […]

    Reply
  3. Christ's certain victory - Marissa Henley says:
    March 27, 2023 at 6:01 am

    […] all of March, we’ve been looking at the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection. He reconciled us to God, shed His blood for our forgiveness, and secured our justification. As we live out our days as […]

    Reply
  4. The Sting of Death - Marissa Henley says:
    April 3, 2023 at 6:03 am

    […] Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen several gifts we receive because of His resurrection: reconciliation, forgiveness, justification, and victory. Today we’ll consider one more gift: because His […]

    Reply

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I write to remind myself of the truth of God's promises. I share my writing here in case you need to be reminded sometimes, too.

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