2 Corinthians 5_18_21

17 Therefore if any man be gin Christ, ||he is ha new creature: iold things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

18 And all things are of God, kwho hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us lthe ministry of mreconciliation; 19 To wit, that nGod was in Christ, kreconciling nnthe world unto himself, not oimputing their trespasses unto them; and hath †committed unto us the word of mreconciliation.

*God saved and then committed the labor to us

20 Now then pwe are ambassadors for Christ, as qthough God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, kbe ye reconciled to God. 21 For rhe hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made sthe righteousness of God in him.

Now saved we are impowered by Him to entreat and beg the world to be reconciled so the world may be righteous before God

Repeated words

Vs.18,19,20,21Repeated word – God/Him/Himself/He Who X 8

Vs. 17,18,19,20,21 Repeated word – Christ/Jesus Christ/Him X 7

Vs.18,19,20Repeated word – Reconciled/Reconciling/Reconciliation/ Imputing trespasses X 6

Vs.19,20,21Repeated word – World/you/us/we X 6

Vs. 17 19 20 21 Repeated word – In Christ/in Him X 4

Vs. 17, 18 Repeated word – Things X 3

Vs. 18.19,20Repeated word – Ministry/Word/Ambassador

Vs. 17Repeated word – New x 2

Vs.21Repeated word – Sin x2

Grammar/Important words

Vs.17Adjective – New

Vs.18Verb - Reconciling …. Present (Katallasso) – To be or become restored to favorable or friendly relations with another after a presumed wrong

Vs.18,20Verb – Reconciled …. Past (Katallasso) – To be or become restored to favorable or friendly relations with another after a presumed wrong

Vs. 19Verb – Imputing …. Present Passive (Logizomai) – To think or regard/consider/ to hold against

Vs.20Verb – Ambassadors …. Present Active (Presbeuo) – To act as an authorized representative of one sovereign ruler or country to another

Vs.18 Verb – Given…. Active participle (Didomi) – To cause to have

Vs.19 Verb - Committed….. (Tithemi) Appoint – to assign a duty, responsibility or obligations to someone.

Vs.20Verb - Beseech …. Present Active (Parakaleo) – to ask or request earnestly … beg… plead URGENT!

Vs.19Noun – Reconciliation …. Act of Reconciliation (Katallage) – Act of reestablishing of friendly relations after disagreement or enmity

Vs. 19Noun – Trespasses …. Accusative Plural (Paraptoma) – Sin, Offenses

Vs.21Noun – Righteousness …. (Dikaiosyne) - State of Righteousness – A status of legal rectitude that satisfies the moral requirement of God’s character

Verse Observations

Vs.17Cause and Effect - if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new

Vs. 17 Contrast – Old things and new things…. What are these things?

Vs. 18 Action of God - And all things are of God

Vs. 18Action of God – Reconciled us to Himself

Vs.18Means - who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ

Vs.18Action of God - and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation

Vs.19 Action Role of God – God was in Christ

Vs.19Action Role of God - reconciling the world unto himself

Vs.19Cause and effect - (Cause) reconciling the world unto himself, (effect) not imputing their trespasses unto them

Vs.19Action role of God/Cause and effect – (cause) reconciling the world unto himself and/conjunction (effect) hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Vs. 20Cause and effect - committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ *** since God has committed us we are ambassadors

Vs.20Action role of man - as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. You the world (unsaved) we/us (saved)

Beseech you ENTREAT

Pray you BEG

Vs.20Action role of man - be ye reconciled to God (Be reconciled/Responsibility)

Vs. 21Action Role of God – For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;

He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin become sin for us

Vs.21Action Role of God – He became sin

Vs.21Cause and effect - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Vs.21 Means - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

CPS: Through faith Jesus reconciles us to God and we proclaim to the world Jesus’ reconciling work.

Outline

God saved us and committed to us the ministry of reconciliation Vs. 18-19

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

God empowered us to the ministry of reconciliation Vs. 20

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

The message of reconciliation Vs. 21

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Intro: During the revolutionary war there lived in Ephrata Pennsylvania a pastor by the name of Peter Miller. Although Miller was greatly loved by everyone in the community, there was one man who lived near the church who hated him and had earned a distasteful reputation for his abuse of the minister. This man was not only a hater of the church, but also turned out to be a traitor to his country and was convicted of treason and sentenced to death.

The trial was conducted in Philadelphia, and no sooner did Miller hear of it than he set out on foot to visit General George Washington and interceded for the man’s life. But Washington told him, “I’m sorry that I cannot grant your request for your friend.”

Friend! Miller cried. “Why that man is the worst enemy I have in the world!”

“What?” the general exclaimed in surprise. “Have you walked sixty miles to save the life of an enemy? That in my judgment, puts the matter in a different light. I will grant him a pardon for your sake.”

The pardon was made out and signed by General Washington, and Miller proceeded at once on foot to a place fifteen miles distant where the execution was scheduled to take place that afternoon. He arrived just as the man was being carried to the scaffold, and when he saw Miller hurrying toward the place, remarked. “There is old Peter Miller. He has walked all the way from Ephrata to have his revenge gratified today by seeing me hung.” But scarcely spoken the words when Miller pushed his way through to the condemned man and handed him the pardon that saved his life.

As Pastor Peter Miller interceded for someone who had wronged him and hated Him. Jesus intercedes for those who hated Him and brought a pardon made out and signed with His blood. And as Pastor Peter carried this message of the man pardon we carry the message of Jesus’ pardon.

Historical Context: Paul wrote from Macedonia in A.D. 57. This is a very personal letter you can feel his enthusiasm for Christ. Paul was here in Corinth during his second Missionary Journey staying about 18 months working as a tent maker with Aquila and Priscilla, and preached the gospel in the synagogue When most Jews rejected his preaching, Paul turned to the Gentiles. As souls were saved—both Jews and Gentiles—the Jewish leaders brought the apostle before the proconsul, Gallio. But the latter threw the case out of court as one over which he did not have jurisdiction.

He wrote 1st Corinthians while on 3rd missionary journey while in Ephesus to answer many questions the visiting Corinthians had. After leaving Ephesus and while in Macedonia Titus came to him and reported how the 1st letter was received. The saints had disciplined the sinning saint—and this discipline had resulted in his spiritual recovery. That was the good news. But the Christians had never sent the money to the needy saints at Jerusalem, as they had intended to do. That was not so good. Finally, Titus reported that the false teachers were active at Corinth, undermining the apostle’s work and questioning his authority as a servant of Christ. This was the bad news!

Grammatical Context: Attached to verse 17, we use to judge according to the flesh but now saved by faith in Jesus our position has changed and our old method of judging has passed away

The new creation is one of righteousness (Before saved unrighteous after saved now righteous)

A Change of position.

Body

God saved us and committed to us the ministry of reconciliation Vs. 18-19

“All things are of God”

Vs. 18 starts

There is no room for human boasting we are a new creation as presented holy before God and unblameable because of God’s grace.

We are now not of this world but of God.

How?

Eph. 2:8-9 by grace through faith not a work of yourself but it is a gift of God.

By faith (steadfast firm belief) in Jesus we are reconciled with God by the blood of Jesus

Vs. 18 “Who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus”

Reconciled (Katallasso), past tense verb to show that used to speak to those who have been saved or reconciled

To be restored to a favorable or friendly relationship with another.

In this case the other is God.

Since the 1st sin found Genesis 3 we have been rebellious towards God, now we are put into a right relationship with God

NB) Either Jesus saves or there is no salvation. You don’t have any part of the work done to reconcile you. Jesus did that work on a cross at Calvary.

We have no reason to boast, if reconciliation was left to us we would never find peace with God. Because we are sinful, it’s our nature. Reconciliation is completely unmerited, underserved, and can only be received as a gift from God.

Now that we are at peace with God and restored to His family we have a responsibility.

He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

Vs. 18 “Hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”

He has saved us and caused us to be ministers

By faith are we saved to glorify God and bring others to a repentance of faith.

By faith I tell others about the reconciling work of Jesus.

God did this work in Christ

At the cross Jesus made atonement available for the sins of the whole world

Now His atoning work is done and He has given us the work of telling the world about it

Vs. 19 “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,”

God seeks to reconcile the world by our testimony of the work He did in Jesus

God makes it possible for us sinner to cross over to a place that before we were unable to get to.

At the cross where Jesus died He became our propitiation

Propitiation “Mercy Seat”

Vs. 19 “not imputing their trespasses unto them”

By faith in Jesus God does not count your trespasses against Him, instead He moves it as far as the east is from the west.

He wants the world to understand this.

Vs. 19 “and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation”

So He appointed the believer to be the minister or the word of reconciliation

What is this word? THE GOSPEL THE GOOD NEWS of JESUS

We are to be agents of God’s saving activity as He acts to reestablish a friendly relationship with His wayward children.

Why? Because He loves us!

Because He loves us!

He created us, mind body and soul and souls are important to God

Illustration: RG LEE Souls valuable to God

God empowered us to the ministry of reconciliation Vs. 20

Since God saved us and committed us/believer to the ministry God through our faith has empowered us to speak on His behalf.

He gave us the authority to act.

Vs. 20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,”

Ambassador (Presbeuo) Present active verb – To act as an authorized representative of one sovereign ruler or country to another.

In the case – the sovereign ruler Jesus

If you have been reconciled to God then you represent the King if kings and the Lord of lords

Whoever accepts your testimony of Jesus accepts Jesus, and whoever accepts Jesus accepts God

Matthew 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

By the authority of our sonship and the Holy Spirit in us, we call for a lost world to be reconciled to God by faith

Vs. 20 “as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

As though God did beseech you by us

Beseech (Parakaleo) Present Active verb - to ask or request earnestly

Pray you (Deomai) – to Beg

Through us God is earnestly requesting the world to come to Him and be reconciled

And we are beg others to come to Jesus

Because Jesus is the only way to restore the lost and spare them from eternity in a sinners hell

Illustration: Andrew brought Simon his brother (Peter), just one. But, that one was many, for under God, Simon Peter brought 3000 to Christ in one day.

Ezra Kimball, a Sunday school teacher, in the back of a Boston shoe store, brought Dwight L. Moody to Christ. Just one, but that one was counted as many! For Christ rocked 2 continents Through Moody.

It is credited that Dwight Moody shared the Gospel Message with 100,000,000 people.

J. Wilbur Chapman was converted at a Dwight L. Moody evangelistic meeting;

Billy Sunday was converted at a Chapman meeting;

Mordecai Ham was converted at Billy Sunday meeting;

and Billy Graham was converted at a Ham meeting.

Through the preaching of Billy Graham 2.2 Billion people heard the saving news of reconciliation through Jesus and 2.2 million people responded to his invitation

Well we all aren’t Billy Graham, D.L. Moody, or Billy Sunday.

But we all can be an Ezra Kimball

Tell someone about Jesus and how He saves because you are His earthly representative.

The message of reconciliation Vs. 21

What is this message?

God made Jesus His only begotten Son to be sin on our behalf

Vs. 21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin”

The perfectly righteous Son of God became what was foreign to Him

He became sin….. Sin on Him not in Him

The sins of the world was charged to Him and He paid every last of one them

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Why is this important?

Because reconciliation with God means we exchange our unrighteousness for Jesus’ righteousness

Unrighteousness has no part of God’s eternal Kingdom

Vs. 21 “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Illustration: Court room

Once reconciled to God by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus, God no longer sees the rebellious sinner

But now sees Jesus and His blood covering us

Our sin debt owed to God is canceled like a paid off Bank Loan

You no longer owe a debt for your sin

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death

The payment for your sin was death and Jesus died that death

By faith you receive a gift from God, Eternal life.

Application: