Chapel 5/28 2 Cor. 5
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A New Creation
A New Creation
Good Morning, (I’m Tony Graffanino)
We’ve been going through 2 Corinthians, this week we’ll be in chapter 5
To start, I’d like to ask a couple of questions,
Who knows what an ambassador is?
an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country.
a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specified activity.
late Middle English: from French ambassadeur, from Italian ambasciator, based on Latin ambactus ‘servant’.
So, what responsibilities does an ambassador have?
to properly represent the one who is sending them.
To speak and act on their behalf
To know the wishes, desires, message, etc. of the one who sent them
What would this take? To know this and be able to do this?
Time with the sender
Conversations with the sender
Observing the sender over time
To understand that they are not there for themselves, but for the sender, to serve and represent them
All of those are important, would you agree, but that last one might be the most important
Can you imagine an ambassador being sent out, they have a job to do, but for them, it’s a vacation, that’s not going to go very well
Or what if, they go, and in reality, they’re just using the sender, their position, to move up in the world, maybe get a job within the country they got sent to, they are not going to properly represent the sender, right
No, they are not there for themselves but for the sender, to serve and represent them
Now, last question, what are the hours, the on duty hours for an ambassador when he or she is sent to another country??
It’s a 24/7 job, they are never off duty, constantly being watched, listened to.
What if they decide to go get drunk and go hang out in the sex district, and it gets raided and they get arrested??
What are the headlines in the paper going to say?
Not off-duty, it won’t be ignored, no, it will read in big bold print, the ambassador to the United States arrested .......
This job is a big deal, it comes with big time responsibilities, but it is also a tremendous privilege
The honor of being the one to represent the president of the United States, to speak for him, make appeals for him, act in his behalf, and help achieve the goals of our country
Well today we are in 2 Cor. 5, starting in verse 11
You see, this is how Paul viewed being an apostle, a disciple, how he considered himself as a servant of Jesus
Before I read, let me pray
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Did you hear it? He said what we are is known to God, but he hopes they know it to
He doesn’t say this bragging, no it was God who saved Paul, who appointed him as an apostle and sent him on his mission
Paul indicates that this is his life, representing Jesus and helping others to know Him
He says that he is controlled by Jesus love, the love Jesus has for people, demonstrated by His leaving His heavenly throne, taking on human flesh, living and dying for all of humanity.
When one realizes this, receives this love, it changes them, they now see themselves differently, they see this world and their purpose in it differently.
We in a sense die to it, die to our selfish pursuits and choose to live for Jesus, to properly represent Him.
I’ll read on, starting in verse 16
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
What Paul means by not regarding anyone according to the flesh is that he doesn’t base judgments about people based on the criteria of this world
It’s no longer about what you can do, or what you have, or what others think of you
It’s not about what level your at, if you’re a starter, an all-star, in the big leagues or high A, or rookie ball, or never played past high school
it’s not about your bank account, your car, your hot girlfriend, your social media followers etc.
That’s how the world separates and quantifies, not so in the kingdom of God
We have all departed from God’s good path, His ways of properly living life, but He sent Jesus to do it right, so by faith in Him, we trust He lived that life for us
But He also died, the death promised to all who don’t live the good and right way of God, and that death was for us as well
He died we died, but He was also raised to new life, and so can we, a new life now as a new person, a new creation like we were always intended to be, and this new created life carries us into eternity
All this is from God, He did this, not us, without His initiative, we would all be doomed, but His great love for us compelled Him to rescue us, to save us, to free us, to restore us, and to repurpose us
What is that purpose? Paul calls it the ministry of reconciliation
Does anyone here know the origin of the word “reconciliation”?
It’s an accounting term, to reconcile, it’s to square your books, to have your debts paid and have a zero balance, make (one account) consistent with another, especially by allowing for transactions begun but not yet completed.
But by doing this you also bring harmony, balance, things are now back in proper relationship, they’re good
So, it’s also a relationship term, if one is owed a debt, and the one who owes it refuses to pay, or can’t pay, this puts a strain on the relationship.
The lender deserves to be paid, the borrower is obligated to pay, and Paul likens this to our relationship with God prior to the cross
We all owed a debt to God, some refuse to pay, ignore it, claim there is no debt, but according to God, there is
Some, realize they can’t pay it, they’d like to but can’t
God makes this offer to have it wiped clean, payed off by Himself to Himself, that’s the cross and the offer to us, and to all humanity
And we now, those who have accepted this offer, we now know and serve Jesus, are His ambassadors, making this appeal to others.
Listen to 19 thru 21
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
There it is, God reconciling the world to himselF, not counting their debts against them,
And then giving us the message of reconciliation
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, His representatives and servants, not serving ourselves but Him
God is making His appeal, His generous offer through us
Paul communicates this by saying, “We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
Almost begging, desperately wanting people to accept God’s gracious offer
If this was a financial transaction, if we owed a huge debt and the lender said to come in, he has an offer to make us, we’d go, hear him out
If he then said, I will wipe your debt clean but in response you need to represent me wherever you are and tell people of my kindness, my generosity, my self-sacrifice towards you, and that it’s available to them as well,
would you do it?
But this is even greater than a financial transaction, it’s a spiritual one, and eternal one.
New Living Translation Chapter 5
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Let me pray
Amen