The Sinless made Sin and the Sinful made Righteous.
I. Jesus Christ was personally sinless.
II. As the voluntary representative of sinful men, Jesus Christ was through a limited period accounted by God a transgressor.
III. The object of God in treating Jesus Christ as a sinner was to place Himself in a position whence He might account sinful men righteous, and really work righteousness within them. The text shows (1) the riches of the goodness of God, (2) the unutterable love of Christ, (3) an absolute human necessity provided for, and (4) the security of such as participate in Christ's mediation.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons,3rd series, p. 225.
References: 2 Corinthians 5:21. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. iii., Nos. 141, 142; vol. vi., No. 310; Ibid., Morning by Morning,p. 95; Sermons for Boys and Girls,p. 206; A. Barry, Cheltenham College Sermons,p. 320.