"He Was Made!"

Hebrews 7:20

All that the Lord Jesus Christ is as God, in his Divine Being, he is (if I may be permitted to use such language) by nature from all eternity. Omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, majesty and glory, infinity and immutability, sovereignty and supremacy, all are his by nature as God. But everything Christ is as the God-man, our Mediator, Substitute, and Representative, he was made to be by virtue of his voluntary obedience to the Father's will as our Savior, the Surety of the everlasting covenant. Here are five things Christ was made to be for us.

He "was made a Surety of a better testament" (Heb. 7:22). The Son of God assumed all responsibility for the salvation of God's elect in the covenant of grace before the world began. Therefore, in the fulness of time, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). In order to redeem us, the Son of God became one of us! Yet, he never ceased to be "God over all, blessed forever!" As a man, our Savior was "made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law" (Gal. 4:4-5). He was made of a virgin, because he who redeemed sinners must be free from all sin. And he was made under the law because our Substitute must both fulfill and satisfy the law on our behalf. And Christ "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." This refers to his royal descent from David's family and asserts his rightful claim as a man to David's throne. Then, at the appointed time, God the Father "made him to be sin for us!" Wonder of wonders! Miracle of miracles! He "who knew no sin was made," by a marvellous transfer of grace, "to be sin for us!" All the sins of God's elect were imputed to Christ! And he was slain for our sins. Why? "That we might be made the righteousness of God in him!"

Though God loved us with an everlasting love and chose us to be heirs of eternal salvation, he would not and could not have us unless we were made to be perfectly righteous in his sight. And he could not make us righteous without the satisfaction of his justice. And his holy justice could not slay his innocent Son. The sword of justice could not slay an innocent Substitute. Before God could cry, "Awake, O sword, and slay my Son," the Son of God must be "made to be sin for us."

Don Fortner