Well, please turn with me this morning to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 17 through 21. The passage uh before us today is a Clear. Summary explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, it's one of the clearest, most succinct summaries of the gospel in the Bible. If you want to know what Christianity is at its foundation, look no further than 2 Corinthians 5, verses 17 through 20.
Let's read it together and then we'll spend a few moments today meditating on the good news of salvation. In and through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, beginning at verse 17. 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. 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. Let's pray. God of heaven, what Miraculous. grace you have shown to Adam's race.
that you would pursue reconciliation with sinners like us. We who deserve Eternal separation from your glorious presence are given not merely access, but a divine welcome. As family into the presence of your glory. through the atoning work of Jesus Christ your Son. by whose death and resurrection we are made righteous.
In your sight forever. Thank you, holy God, for not giving us what we deserve and instead giving us far more than we could ever deserve. Thank you for rescuing us. and making us your own for all eternity. We pray in the name of Jesus, our advocate.
And our bridegroom, amen.
Well, as we've already discussed in our journey through Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul is writing this letter in order to, among other things, defend his position and his authority as an apostle. Corinth was a church that admired flashy, shiny things, eloquent speakers, polished influencers, credible credentials, and Paul was none of those things. Paul, however, Has just pointed out in the previous few verses that it's not a good thing to judge a book by its cover. In fact, as sinful people with all sorts of idolatries in our hearts and affections that contradict God's values, we're really not in a good position to be the judges of the credibility and sincerity of those claiming to have authority over us. We ought not rely on our ability to make sound moral judgments based on the outward appearance of things.
With regard to apostles or even with regard to Christ himself, we simply aren't reliable at evaluating things rightly. Instead, we need to let God's assessment be our guiding principle. In light of this principle of evaluating ethics and people and truth by God's assessment rather than our own, Paul begins to explain who he is as an apostle. He also explains who all Christians are by God's standards, in God's estimation of things. And he says that Christians are what they are by virtue of the fact that God has reconciled us to himself.
in Christ. These verses then are primarily concerned with what a genuine Christian is. And explaining how God has reconciled to himself a people who, from outward appearance, seem to be hopelessly lost. These verses answer the question, are you a Christian? By explaining what a true Christian is.
You know, our world is full of all sorts of answers to that question, isn't it? I'm a Christian because I love to go to church. I'm a Christian because I'm an American. I'm a Christian because I'm a political conservative. I'm a Christian because I enjoy doing Christian-y things.
I like to be nice to people. I celebrate Easter. I read my Bible every day. I pray a lot. I've experienced miracles.
I tell my neighbors that God loves them. And on and on our answers go. And while these answers may describe some of the qualities that characterize Christians, those do not fundamentally address what makes a Christian a Christian. It's like asking someone if they are Italian, and they say, oh, yes, I love to eat pizza. A person in China may love to eat pizza.
That doesn't make him Italian. What makes a Christian Christian? Christian. And here it is. A Christian is someone who has been reconciled to God through Christ.
A Christian is someone who has been reconciled to God. Through Christ. In these five verses, Paul explains this truth by giving us something to know, something to be, and something to do. First, there's something to know. It's right there in verse 17.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, Christ. If anyone is a true Christian, He is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold the new. has come.
Paul wants us to know that Christ makes all things new. It doesn't matter what you appear to be. It doesn't matter how bad you've been. It doesn't matter how good you've been. It doesn't matter who people think you are.
If you are in Christ, you are new. You were something you were not before. Things have fundamentally changed for you. What you know, what you do, who you are has radically, fundamentally been altered from what it was before.
Now, the New Testament was originally written mostly in Greek, and Greek is an interesting language. A Greek sentence, unlike English, doesn't have to have a verb.
Sometimes it only implies a verb. If you've grown up in church, you're very familiar, I would imagine, with 2 Corinthians 5, 17. It's one of those verses we memorize early on. But if I were to read this to you literally from the Greek, it would go something like this. Therefore, if anyone in Christ a new creation.
Therefore, if anyone in Christ, a new creation, the verbs are missing. We have to supply the missing verbs based on what we think from the context of the sentence Paul is intending to say. And because in Greek the subject, the person or the thing doing the action of the verb is oftentimes embedded in the verb, we sometimes have to supply the missing subject in a sentence as well.
Now that being the case, we have a couple of options in how we might translate verse 17. We can say If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. Or we could say, if anyone is in Christ, There is a new creation. The first option emphasizes the effect of Christ on the individual. And it's certainly true that if Christ has changed you, you are changed through and through.
You are new, morally new, spiritually new, experientially new. You have become something you were not before. You're a new creation. The second option It doesn't contradict the first option, but it definitely broadens it, doesn't it? It extends Christ's creating work to far beyond just the individual.
And makes the point that Christ's renewing work. affects everything in the cosmos. of which the individual is just one part. The NIV tries to capture this broader option by translating verse 17 like this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.
When God gave the curse to Adam and Eve at the fall in the Garden of Eden, he did not just curse Adam and Eve. He cursed the serpent, he cursed the ground, he cursed the process of procreation, he cursed man's vocational efforts, he cursed the relationship between husband and wife. The fall of the human race into sin did not simply affect some limited moral space in the hearts of human beings, it affected everything in the created order. Venomous spiders and poisonous plants and carnivorous predators were suddenly a thing. Disease and infection and mutations were introduced.
Decay and contamination and death spread to all. The fall was a cosmic fall. Fall. And so when God set out to redeem Adam and Eve, from their state of sin and misery. He set out to perform a full redemption of creation.
He set out to wash away sin, yes, but God also set out to restore creation to the good state for which He had created it. Romans 8 speaks of this full cosmic redemption. Romans 8 verses 19 through 23 says, For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. for the creation was subjected to futility. not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.
In hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit. Groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption. of our bodies.
You see, friends, there is a whole new redeemed creation awaiting those who are in Christ. This world, as beautiful and wonderful as it is, is fallen and imperfect and sick. But God in Christ is going to fix all of that. along with fixing the broken souls of sinners. And the thing Paul wants us to know here in verse 17, whether he intends us to understand this verse as referring to God's work on the individual only or on the individual and the rest of the universe, is this.
Christ alone makes all things new. Christ alone makes all things. New. It doesn't matter what the outward appearance of things are, if Christ is absent. The blessings and beauties of the new creation are absent.
If a president or a king possesses all the accolades and authority this world has to offer, but does not have Christ. He has no place in this new and perfect creation that God is making. If some obscure peasant lacks the wealth and prestige of the world but has Christ, he possesses all the beauties and blessings of God's new and redeemed world. And this is what Paul wants us to know. that it is Christ and Christ alone who makes all things new.
Well then the pressing question is this, how do I get Christ? How can I become a part of that group of anyone who is in Christ? This brings us to our second point, and there's something Paul wants us to be.
Something he wants us. To be. If in Christ all things are made new, then that knowledge ought to have a radical effect on those who are being made new. It ought to change not just what we know, but who we are. And in fact, it does.
Paul says that when Christ makes us new, we become the righteousness of God. We become the righteousness. Of God. And Paul begins to explain this change of being, this change of nature. He tells us how it comes about by explaining where it comes from.
In other words, what its source is. He explains what the means by which it comes about is. And he describes what the practical effect or consequence of it. Is on us. First, he tells us the source.
Where does this change come from? Verse 18. All this This work of incredible new creation, all this is. from God. Whatever this new creation looks like.
Whatever changes it introduces into my life and being, one thing is clear, it is God who is doing it. He was the one who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. He is the one who today makes all things new. All this is from God. He is the source.
By what means, then, does God make all things new? Verse 18 continues. All this is from God who Through Christ. Through Christ. Jesus Christ is God's means of making all things new.
Something that Jesus has done has brought about this radical change in me. Christ is the means by which God carries out this work of new creation. When God created the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1, The means by which he created all things was his words, right? God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God said, let there be an atmosphere and there was an atmosphere.
Let there be plants, let there be animals, let there be and there was. God's creative means in the present physical realm are His words. In this new creation, God recreates by means of His only begotten Son. And as Paul describes the work that Jesus Christ has done, he... introduces a theme that will become the prominent theme of the remaining versus It's the theme of reconciliation.
Reconciliation. All this is from God. who through Christ reconciled us to himself. Christ is God's means of making all things new. And Christ goes about this work of making all things new.
Not by creating another sun and another moon and another batch of plants and animals and another human race. No, he goes about this work of making all things new by reconciling the creation that already exists. Christ fixes what is broken and makes it right again. And that's what it means to reconcile. Jesus sets right those things which have been at odds with each other.
Well, how did Jesus do this? He did this by becoming something himself. That he previously was not. Look at verse 21. For our sake.
God May Jesus Christ To be Sin. who knew no sin, so that in him we might become The righteousness. of God. And there it is. That's what Paul would have us be.
That's what God would have us be, the righteousness. Of God. We who are sinful and broken. We who are at odds with God and who live in contentious tension with our Creator become the righteousness of God. We who are morally bankrupt are made morally upright.
We who are broken. Are made whole. We who are dying are made eternally alive in Christ. All of this sin and misery and death that has characterized us as human beings is reversed. Through Christ.
All of the animosity between God and Adam's race that has characterized all of human history since the fall is set right through Christ. Jesus Christ became something he was not so that we can become something we are not. He became sin.
so that we might become the righteousness. of God. And this is the only means, the exclusive means by which the work of new creation comes about: Jesus Christ becoming sin for us. Friends, there is no return to favor with God. except what is founded on the sacrifice of Christ alone.
If you would come to God, you must come through Jesus Christ. Alone. If you desire this new creation of which Paul speaks, the only way to attain it is through the work that Jesus Christ has done. All this is from God. Through Christ.
This brings us then to the effect or the consequence. of God's work of new creation. What exactly is happening in us or to us in this divinely initiated Christ accomplished work of new creation?
Well, the effect is described for us in verse 18. Paul says, All this is from God. Who through Christ, and here it is. He has reconciled us to himself. All this is from God through Christ who reconciled us to himself.
Reconciliation with God is the effect. of God's work of new creation in the lives of sinners. The word reconcile means to exchange hostility for a friendly relationship. Where two parties were enemies, they become friends. What good is a new creation if we aren't right?
With our Creator, if we aren't in right relationship with the Creator to enjoy that creation. That would be like a wife trying to enjoy some gift from her husband while they aren't even on speaking terms. The relationship must be repaired first. Then the blessings and the perks of that relationship can be enjoyed. God takes care.
of the reconciliation so that we can enjoy The new creation.
Now what did this act of reconciliation entail. Paul explains what it entailed in verse 19. He says in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. not counting their trespasses against them. not counting their trespasses against them.
In order for man to be reconciled to God, God had to deal with the wedge that was between himself and Adam's race. He had to deal with the very thing that was preventing his goodness and favor from being lavished on those who deserve the opposite of goodness and favor. In other words, God had to deal with our sins, our trespasses, Paul calls them in verse 19. Reconciliation with God. has nothing to do.
With increasing my self-esteem or achieving some sense of inner peace or public respectability. It has nothing to do with attaining temporal prosperity, getting wealthy, getting healthy, getting recognition and fame. This reconciliation is not about outward appearances, but about inward spiritual realities between the man's soul and the God who made that soul. It's a spiritual and moral reconciliation in which God forgives the sins and offenses of the offender.
Now think about that for a minute. We are the offender in this relationship. We have offended God by breaking His law, trespassing against His righteous rules. When an offender commits a crime, In any other realm, it is incumbent upon the offender to initiate the reconciliation process and to see it through to completion. The criminal must pay for his own crimes.
Restitution is given to the victim, not the perpetrator. The lead-footed driver gets the speeding ticket, not the policeman who pulled him over. The murderer is executed, not the murdered. That's how it works. Reconciliation is the responsibility of the offender toward the offended.
But in the case of God to the human race, it is God, the offended, who initiates and pursues and achieves reconciliation with man, the offender. Beloved, this is the burglarized hunting down the burglar in order to invite him to his table for dinner. This is Joseph insisting that his brothers who had betrayed him and left him for dead join him in his palace and enjoy the protection and abundance of Egypt. This is Hosea. Buying back.
Unfaithful Gomer. and bringing her home to be his wife once again. These are backwards situations in which, rather than the criminal pursuing the victim and begging for mercy. The victim. The offended party pursues the criminal in order to lavish grace and forgiveness on him in spite of his crimes.
And in our case, the offended party is not just any old victim. It's the God of the universe. who deserves absolute and eternal loyalty. This majestic All-powerful God, who could punish every crime to the fullest extent and without ever breaking a sweat, instead shows mercy. by not counting our trespasses against us.
The most amazing part of this act of reconciliation. Is that the only way this works is if God... who cannot ignore sin and remain just. counts our trespass against someone else. And that someone else is his own son.
the Lord Jesus Christ. He became sin.
so that we might become righteous reconciled recreated saints. This is what Paul would have us. To be. Lastly, there's something Paul would have us do. We see it there in verse 20.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ. Be reconciled. to God.
be reconciled. Yeah. If God through Christ is making all things new, and if this newness of life is attained only through the reconciliation that Christ provides by taking our sin and giving us his righteousness, then sinners be reconciled to God. Don't let another moment go by in an unreconciled state with your Creator. Be reconciled to God.
This sentence, by the way, be reconciled to God, is the only command in this entire passage of Scripture. And isn't it interesting that the only command in this passage of Scripture is a passive Command. In other words, it's not a command to go and actively do something. The fact of the matter is, we cannot reconcile ourselves to God even if we tried. It's impossible.
There's nothing we can do to make God like us. There's nothing we can do to undo the trespasses we've already committed. We cannot reverse the death sentence. We cannot change our nature and suddenly start living lives that are pleasing to God. Left to ourselves, we will never even want to change who we are and start living lives that please the Lord.
We cannot garner God's favor and reconcile the relationship between God and man that's been broken since Adam. Only Christ can do that. And so this is a command. to have something done to us. The command which Paul gives is a command.
to submit to the work that Christ has already done. It's a command to receive that which Jesus has already done for you. It's a command to stop striving and simply to rest in the sufficiency of Christ becoming sin so that you can become his righteousness. Friend, the beauty of the gospel is that when you stop trying to make yourself right with God through your own efforts, When you stop trying to reconcile yourself to God by trying to show him how morally good and upright you are on your own and instead begin to receive and rest in the reconciliation that Christ alone can provide, you become the righteousness of God. God wipes the slate clean.
He makes all things new. All of your failures and broken promises, all of your lapses back into sin, all of your trespasses are forgiven and never counted against you again. Scripture says that this grace is so thorough that it not only wipes the slate clean, but it makes everything new. Your desires change. Where you once loved darkness, you begin to love light.
Your behavior changes. Where you once were bound to evil and destructive habits, habits and patterns that you thought you would never be free from, you begin to experience freedom from those habits. Your destiny changes. The path that would inevitably have ended in eternal misery and destruction is blockaded, and you are transferred to the path that leads to indescribable joy in the presence of God and in the new heavens and the new earth that He is preparing for all who have been reconciled to Him through Christ. Corinth loved outward appearances of success.
and it nearly costs them an eternity with God.
So what is that thing? in your life. In your heart. It is blinding you from seeing and desiring and pursuing the glorious promises of the gospel. Is it some conceit?
Some Desire to be in control, some stubborn insistence on coming to God on your own terms. rather than on his terms. Is your blind spot the product of some stubborn desire to be your own savior, the hero of your own story? rather than in humility recognizing that Christ is the only hero. who can truly save a soul from eternal destruction.
Be reconciled to God by recognizing that God through Christ is the only reconciler there is. If you have already Experience the sweet reconciliation that Christ provides. What a privileged life you have. Enjoy that privilege. Drink deeply every day of the delights of peace with God.
And when the enemy, the accuser of the soul, bombards you with accusations and guilt and reminders of how miserably sinful you are on your own, know that your righteousness is an alien righteousness. It's a righteousness that doesn't come from inside of you, but from Christ given to you. It is a perfect and unchanging righteousness. that has truly made all things new. And one day that perfect Unchanging righteousness.
which now we receive and rest in by faith. will be made visible and manifest to all. And all the children of God will forever. Enjoy the exquisite delights of those who, through the death of his Son, have been reconciled. The God.
Let's pray. Father, what a gracious Creator you are. For you have not only created us but have redeemed us from the state of Sin and misery into which we had cast ourselves by our own doing. You are the great rescuer of the souls of men. We look to you.
desiring to be reconciled forever. To the one who holds all joy and peace. and power and hope. Thank you for Jesus. who has become our sin and who is our righteousness forever.
And it is in his name that we pray. Amen. Mm-hmm.
