03-18-07 2 Corinthians 5 16-21
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
INTRODUCTION
Today we are going to talk about God’s gift of purpose.
· “Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
· Shakespeare, life is “Much Ado About Nothing”?
Purpose seems to be in question in modern society.
· Living life with intention and direction escapes the masses.
· Popular beliefs perceive life as having no direction, and is only occasionally influenced by the ancient Greet gods of Luck and Fate, e.g.
· “She was lucky to have won the lottery,” or “He made a fateful decision.”
Let’s look at what scriptures says
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Pray
I. SAVED
A. The apostle Paul certainly takes issue with Shakespeare, as do all of the Biblical authors
1. The Bible and the Christian gospel is diametrically opposed to the popular, common view of society that life is chance and has no purpose other than self
2. God’s will is a thread that runs through all of life, and each of us is intimately and dynamically connected to God’s will
3. It is in God’s will that we find our purpose.
B. Paul boldly writes in his letter to the Corinthian Christians that in God’s scheme of things
C. Our purpose is not seen in what we do in life, but rather in what God has done and in who we are
1. He highlights the very center of the Christian gospel that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself and saving us.
2. We hear the question, “Are you saved?”
3. When the question is directed at us, we say, “Yes,” and rejoice that Jesus has saved us from hell and damnation
D. Paul has a different slant on salvation
1. He writes to the Corinthians that Jesus died so that we no longer need to live for ourselves
a) We are saved from ourselves
b) We are saved from the bondage of self-centeredness and selfishness
c) We are saved to live for Jesus
d) The validity of our salvation is not in the fact that we were baptized, or that we know the time and date when we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior
e) It demonstrated in how we live with our attention focused not on ourselves but on serving God and serving others
2. Salvation gives us a new purpose in life, and that new purpose transforms our lives
II. We are a NEW CREATION
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
A. The transforming power of a new purpose in life can be seen in the lives of the disciples
1. Peter, James and John were transformed from fishermen to leaders of Christ’s church
2. Matthew turned from a tax collector to a follower of Jesus
3. Their lives were never the same because the discovered their real purpose in life
B. Believers should not evaluate Christ or anyone else according to the flesh, that is, the way people typically evaluate each other
1. From now on we do not judge men in a carnal, earthly way, according to appearances, human credentials, or national origin
a) We see them as precious souls for whom Christ died
b) Not He was a tax collector
c) Not He was a fisherman
d) But AS …..They turned the world upside down
C. Know Christ according to the flesh
1. It was one thing to know Jesus as a next-door neighbor
a) In the village of Nazareth
b) Or even as an earthly messiah
c) How about as God
(1) Who knocks you off your hoarse, blinds you, speaks to you audibly, and directs you to your supposed enemies, and changes your life completely
2. Paul did not have to walk with him hear on earth to know Him
3. It is quite another thing to know the glorified Christ who is at the right hand of God at this present time
a) Paul tells his readers that they are a new creation—the old has past away and the new has come
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
4. The future has become the present
a) The Christian hope is that one-day Jesus will come again and when he does he will bring a new heaven and a new earth
b) We have a foretaste of that new creation that Jesus will bring in our lives today
5. The Holy Spirit is constantly moving in our lives to mold us into the image of God and to make us new
6. Growth, maturity, spiritual transformation should be a common, normal part of our lives
a) Listeners are apt to think that when a man is saved, old habits, evil thoughts, and lusts are forever done away, and everything becomes literally new in a person’s life
7. The verse does not describe a believer’s practice but rather his position
a) Notice it says that if anyone is in Christ.
b) The words in Christ are the key to the passage
(1) In Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new
c) Unfortunately, “in me” not all this is true as yet!
d) But as I progress in the Christian life, I desire that my practice may increasingly correspond to my position
e) One day, when the Lord Jesus returns, the two will be in perfect agreement
8. Only God is the same, yesterday, today and forever
a) We are always to be changing and growing—
(1) Allowing our new purpose in life to have its full effect on us
b) All things have become new:
(1) A believer’s life should change, because he or she is being transformed into the likeness of Christ
c) Instead of living for oneself, a believer lives for Christ (v. 15).
d) Instead of evaluating others with the values of the world, a believer looks at this world through the eyes of faith (v. 16).
III. We are RECONCILERS
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
A. 1st who ……was reconciled ……and to whom?
1. To Himself
2. All things are of God
3. He is the Source and Author of them all
4. There is no ground for human boasting
5. It is God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation
B. Jesus died so that we might be reconciled with God
1. Reconciliation Katalasso means to restore to harmony
2. That means to be returned to a right relationship with God
3. God has done everything needed in Christ to bring us into harmony with Him (positionally)
4. But believers must choose to bring daily life and our attitudes into harmony (experientially)
C. God does not need to be reconciled to man
1. Man does need to be reconciled to God
2. Man must lay down his arms of rebellion, must cease his stubborn revolt, and must be reconciled to God
3. We are the ones that declared war on God by our collective disobedience
a) We disobey when we walk our own way according to our own purpose
b) We obey when we walk His way according to His purpose
c) Jesus had to go get them from their nets after his resurrection and return them to His way
D. Not counting their trespasses against them or Not imputing their trespasses to them as some translations read
1. This is not universalism
2. Such a teaching would be completely in disagreement with the rest of the word of God
a) While that way is available to all
b) It is effective only in those who are in Christ
c) The trespasses of unsaved men are definitely reckoned to them, but the moment these men trust the Lord Jesus as Savior, they are reckoned righteous in Him, and their sins are blotted out
d) When you take a check to the bank it is recognized by the worth put on it
(1) What makes it real?
(2) The money backing up what is in print
(3) The endorsement on the front
(a) God says he is who he says he is
(b) God has the provision he says he has
(4) The endorsement on the back
(a) We accept the person who gave the check to us as being honorable
(b) We endorse it in faith believing it to be real and to be the representation of what it claims to be
(i) Heaven is the mere pay off by the bank
(ii) Till then we are making deposits in the eternal kingdom …..
E. Paul writes that we are called to carry on the ministry of Christ
1. Reconciliation, a word meaning “a change of relation from enmity to peace”
2. We reconcile others to Christ through our witness
3. Our witness flows from who we are and it affects what we do
4. We don’t plan special times for witnessing
5. Our style is not to set aside an afternoon each week to knock on doors and ask people if they have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, or if they knew where they would go if they died one night
6. Our witness and our ministry as reconcilers is in our relationships
7. We are reconcilers and witnesses in our vocation—whatever our vocation may be
8. We are reconcilers and witnesses as parents, children, family and friends, and co-workers and team mates
IV.We are also ambassadors
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
A. An ambassador of the kingdom is in a foreign land
1. His life is spent among people who usually speak a different language
2. Who have a different tradition and who follow a different way of life
3. To that extent we are a stranger
4. The person who is not willing to be different cannot be a Christian at all
B. An ambassador speaks for his own country
1. When a Christian ambassador speaks, his voice is the voice of the kingdom of God. In the decisions and the counsels of the world we must be the voice which brings the message of Christ to the human situation
C. The honor of a country is in its ambassador’s hands
1. God’s Kingdom is judged by our actions and words.
a) The ambassador, while acting, acts not only as an agent, but as a representative of his sovereign. …
b) The ambassador’s duty is not only to deliver a definite message
c) To carry out a definite policy
d) He is obliged to watch opportunities
2. We represent Jesus
3. We speak for Jesus
4. 5:20 Ambassadors are more than messengers
a) They are representatives of the sovereign who sent them.
5. It has been said that you and I are the only Bibles that some people will read—we are the only Christian gospel that people we see and hear
6. Being reconcilers and ambassadors is the result of being saved from ourselves and being given a new purpose in life
V. Jesus did no wrong
A. God the Father made him sin on our behalf
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.