Untitled Sermon

July 9

Reconciliation Part 2

2 Cor. 5:16-21

July 9, 2023

I. Two “therefore”s. 2 Cor. 5:16 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.A. Therefore (number 1), since the love of Christ compels to be winsome, we have a heavenly perspective on people. Constrains or compels - with irresistible power limits us to the one great object to the exclusion of other considerations. The Greek implies to compress forcibly the energies into one channel. Love is jealous of any rival object engrossing the soul. What are the implications?

So we are to regard no one according to the flesh—that is, according to his mere worldly and external relations (In the Philllips paraphrase of 2 Co 11:18 Paul says:”I am not now speaking as the Lord commands me but as a fool who must be “in on” this business of boasting. Since all the others are so proud of themselves, let me do a little boasting as well. From your heights of superior wisdom I am sure you can smile tolerantly on a fool. Oh, you’re tolerant all right! You don’t mind, do you, if a man takes away your liberty, spends your money, makes a fool of you or even smacks your face? I am almost ashamed to say that I never did brave strong things like that to you. Yet in whatever particular they enjoy such confidence I (speaking as a fool, remember) have just as much confidence.”; Jesus said in Jn 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.; Phillipians 3:4 Paul says “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:”). Even Jesus is named here, because we who are saved, know the scriptural truth about the Messiah, the God-Man, and because of that we have a new vision of Him from what we knew of Him before we were saved.

B. Therefore (number 2), since we have that heavenly perspective we regard Christians as new.

2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. This means we regard no one according to the flesh, as distinguished from what he is according to the Spirit, as a “new creature”. For instance, the outward distinctions of Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, slave or free, learned or unlearned, are lost sight of in the higher life of those who are dead in Christ’s death, and alive with Him in the new life of His resurrection Gal. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[a] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus). If you think of creation when in Genesis God say of people His creation goes from good to very good, you can see the product of having Christ give them new birth, we are a new creation. We are called and enabled to see our brethren no longer from a selfish carnal viewpoint. ALL things becoming new- privileges, abilities, responsibilities.

II. Being new creations in Christ, we are His ambassadors of reconciliation.

A. All “this” - all what?

2 Cor. 5:18 . 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; All things are to be regarded from God’s eternal perspective. MacArthur says All this is “All the aspects related to someone’s conversion and newly transformed life in Christ are accomplished by a sovereign God. Because this is God’s plans we look at people not according to what the flesh looks at. Our experience and temporal daily lives tell a story, but not the whole story. We as believers are eternal beings headed to heaven, reconciled to God, able to be right with each other, able to get ever closer to God and His people, the church. At the church in Corinth you had contact with a lot of retired Roman military, Greek natives, Jews displaced and Christians on the run. Then like now it was easy to look at people by labels. Paul says we know longer judge by these fleshly distinctions. We do not prize the achievements and experience of the world. Neither do we look down on those who are not wise by worldly standards, nor those who have a checkered past. Even Jesus (look back at vs 16) we don’t look at in light of how the world saw Him. All things are new, especially with those formerly both bragging and pigeonholed by the worlds’ standards. We don’t look at people as to how they fit, but rather we look at what God values and strategize as to how would be the best ways to help them be closer to God. We stop saying “what would be ok”, but rather what would please God most.

B. Christ has reconciled us and given us as the local church the ministry of reconciliation. God has given us a message for the world.

2 Cor. 5: 19

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[b] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

That message is the Gospel. This word message was used by Paul in Acts 13:26 as he spoke in Antioch: 26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

Reconciled or “katallantzatros” means restored. The we or us Paul refers to is the local church. We are to make the case for Christ. We are to plead for people to be reconciled/restored to God in Christ then to each other. This is a hard re-set if you will to what God had made man in Adam and Eve before they disobeyed in the Garden. This is a restoration or reconciliation of God to man and God has made the church able to be His servants of that process. We are give the service department of where people can come to meet God in Christ, as we show and tell them the GOSPEL and the ABCs of how to act on it. This reconciliation in this chapter may not be what you thought I would speak of today. This is about a one way kind of thing where God has made provision in Christ for people to be restored to Him, reconciled to Him. This is not the mutual reconciliation of brethren but it is to have a cascading effect which we will look at after this.

So here it is saying that God, restored us (“the world,”) to His favor by satisfying the claims of justice against us. Let me insert in here that this is not saying that the world is restored in that all are automatically saved, it is rather that He has made a way for people to be saved. The only way is in Christ. The word world should not be interpreted as a universal way. Scripture is clear that not all will be saved or reconciled to God.World is about humanity as a unit being offered this Gospel, this reconciliation. See Titus 2: 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,…. Not everyone will “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” Also Titus 3: 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us… Titus goes on to show some instead will be self condemned.

Our position judicially considered in the eye of the law is altered, not as though the mediation of Christ had made a change in God’s character, nor as if the love of God was produced by the mediation of Christ; nay, the mediation and sacrifice of Christ was the provision of God’s love, not its moving cause (Ro 8:32). Christ’s blood was the price paid at the expense of God Himself, and was required to reconcile the exercise of mercy with justice, not as separate, but as the eternally harmonious attributes in the one and the same God (Ro 3:25, 26).

The Greek “reconcile” is reciprocally used as in the Hebrew Hithpahel conjugation, appease, obtain the favor of. Mt 5:24, “Be reconciled to thy brother”; that is, take measures that he be reconciled to youu, as well as thou to him, as the context proves. That word is Diallagethi, however (Mt 5:24), implying mutual reconciliation, is distinct from Katallagethi here, the latter referring to the change of status wrought in one of the two parties. The manner of God reconciling the world to Himself is implied (2 Co 5:19), namely, by His “not imputing their trespasses to them.” God not merely, as subsequently, reconciles the world by inducing them to lay aside their enmity, but in the first instance, does so by satisfying His own justice and righteous enmity against sin (Ps 7:11). The reconciling of men to God by their laying aside their enmity is the consequence of God laying aside His just enmity against their sin, and follows at 2 Co 5:20.

It that reconciliation makes it possible for us to maintain and grow relationships in Christ and to grow in being active ambassadors to the world from God’s church. Ambassadors make up the embassy the church. Greg Koukl has said the characteristics of Christ’s ambassadors are knowledge, wisdom and character. What would we need to be those ambassadors? Would we only seek the lost and ignore the sheep. Yes we as Jesus leave the 99 and seek the one, but we are attempting to bring the one back to be included in the whole flock. If the flock is scattered what do we to for the one when He is saved?

III. Who is he pleading with?

2 Cor. 5: 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. When Paul says he and others are Ambassadors for Christ, he uses a word that is sometimes elder but in context and older more experience mature representative of the king of one country to another. He’s pleading with non Christians to trust Christ and be restored. There were many at the Corinthian fellowship that were saved obviously. Some also who were becoming enslaved to legalism. But there were also among them those who had not yet believed. In every church there those who need to plead and those who need to be pleaded with. If you are saved then God’s will is for you to become an ambassador for Him. Now to take that into an application for brethren in Christ who have something between them, imagine an embassy that tries to reach the. unsaved by has rifts, dissensions, splits. You are asking people to be reconciled to God and be part of the flock, but the flock is scattered. What would it mean to love your brothers and sisters in order to have a unified embassy or flock for the new Christian to come and join. It’s here I want to say that many churches are great on having a member covenant or agreement which we agree to, when we join. Not many are good on the exit part. I believe all members should agree explicitly or implicitly to meet and with leadership when they separate and have an exit interview. If we have then conclusion as a possibility at the outset, we might have another tool in our box to restore each. Other in fellowship.

IV. Since he took our sin, we are able together to give Him the gift of righteous fellowship.

2 Cor 5: 21

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This verse is the Gospel. It has been said that in this verse, these words express the imputation of our sin to Christ, His righteous to us, and substitutionary atonement like no other. This righteousness is not just given to us for salvation and justification, but for sanctification. I once used to jog with a buddy every morning who was having marital problems. Obviously this was awhile ago! In fact it was at the beginning of my ministry and the beginning of his marriage. One day he told me he was planning to ask his wife for a divorce. I asked him about his wedding. I ask ed if he said the words, to death do us part. He said he did. I said most who divorce remarry, and those marriage have a higher failure rate. How will you feel standing at the altar and uttering the same words to someone else when you know you did not keep that commitment. If you let something come between you and a brother / sister with whom you have been the righteousness of Christ, how will that work when you join with another body? How will your witness be to those who see you leave as well as to people you try to bring into that new body. The illustration has limits. It was not to death tell us part with the church we attend, but there is still grief and a bad witness. Praise God that heals broken relationships every day. Look at Romans 12: 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[h] Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I have been amazed at how this church works together in a myriad of ways to please God, keep up the building. I know we do a lot of ministry things, compassion, study encouragement. But the building amazes me bc it is not new, but it iis kept up as good as new. Remember what Christ has done for you, and how he has made you an ambassador at His embassy to live as the righteousness of God. Do your past as people who can do all things through Christ who strengthens them too keep the embassy in good repair.