On the Cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ took the sins and iniquities of the world upon Himself, bearing them in His own body, in order that we would not have to bear the penalty of our own transgressions. The message of the Cross is that Jesus was “made sin for us.”.The Bible says, “For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). All our sins were laid on Him—Jesus bore them on the Cross. God who knew all about our sins, and my need to be forgiven, laid them on Jesus. And believing we are free and forgiven.
Being the only perfect sinless one that ever lived, Jesus could not sin. The scripture makes it abundantly clear that He “knew no sin” and in Him was no sin. In attesting to the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ and His vicarious suffering, the apostle Peter has this to say. “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:22-24). The apostle John also attests to the sinlessness of Christ, “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
There was no other way for sinful man to be completely forgiven of his sins but by Jesus being sin for him. Sin cause the great divide between holy God and sinful man. And bearing in mind that God cannot look with favor upon sin in any form, The prophet Habakkuk writes: “You are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Habakkuk 1:13). Jesus became our “sin bearer” when He bore our sins on the Cross. This was the only way for us to become the righteousness of God. Isn’t this a blessed thought that we are actually made the righteousness of God Himself. No one else could’ve done this for us. Christ died that we may die to sin and live righteously. The Bible says, “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their soul is precious” (Psalm 49:7,8).
God’s plan of salvation was fully implemented through the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death meant that the sin question has been settled once and forever. We read that “there is no more offering for sin.” The writer to the Hebrews wrote concerning the one sacrifice of the New Covenant is far superior to the many sacrifices of the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, the sacrifices for the sins of the Israelites had to be offered year after year because they could only “cover” sin for a year. And Hebrews states, “In those sacrifices there is a remembrance of sins every year” (Hebrews 10:3). But all glory be to God Almighty, “Now once in the end of the ages, [Christ] appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Also the assurance that He will not be dealing with sin again upon His return for His Bride, the Church. The Bible says, “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him” (Hebrews 9:28). The words, “will appear a second time, not to deal with sin” have great significance. They point out that the one time death of Christ on the Cross was complete and nothing more was required for man’s salvation.
The believer’s union is with Christ in His death and in His glorious resurrection. We have this full assurance in God’s word. “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death has no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God” (Romans 6:9,10). For the believer to be made right with God, he must identify with Christ in both His death and resurrection. And Paul explains this to the Church at Galatia when he wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20. This is exactly how a believer in Christ is made right with God. The following excerpt explains what is means to be crucified with Christ. “Being crucified with Christ means that we are no longer under the penalty of the Law. That penalty was paid by Christ on our behalf. When Christ was crucified, it was as if we were crucified with Him. The penalty was fully paid—just as surely as if we had been crucified for our own sins. When Christ rose from the dead, we rose, too. Now the risen Christ empowers us to live for Him in a way that pleases God. We used to seek life through our own works, but now we “live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). (Excerpted from: https://www.gotquestions.org/crucified-with-Christ.html). This ought to make every Christian excited about living the Christian life to the glory of God because the penalty for our sins has been paid in full by Jesus Christ who now sits at God’s right hand—a position of power and authority.