Dr. John MacArthur recently taught:
“The greatest Gospel verse in the Bible, 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.
Let me unpack those 15 Greek words…
He – God – made Jesus sin. What do you mean He made Jesus sin?
Only in one sense – God treated Jesus as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe though, in fact, He committed none of them. Hanging on the cross, He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. Hanging on the cross, He was a spotless Lamb. He was never for a split second a sinner. He is Holy God on the cross.
But God is treating Him as if He lived my life.
God punished Jesus for my sin, turns right around, and treats me as if I lived His life. That’s the great Doctrine of Substitution; and on that doctrine turned the whole reformation of the Church. That is the heart of the Gospel.
And what you get is complete forgiveness covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When He looks at the cross, He sees you and when he looks at you, He sees Christ.”
He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)