2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21
Last week Ed reviewed Chapter 5 but after the teaching we talked and talked about how much was in Chapter 5 and I mentioned that if I had done the teaching I might have even spent 2 or 3 weeks on Chapter 5 alone. There’s that much covered and mentioned about our relationship with God and Jesus and our regeneration, our new birth as Christians and the what Christ did for all of mankind’s sin, verse 21; the description of the Gospel. So much to take in that I had to go back over these last few verses of Chapter 5.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (5:21) Here then is the definition of the Gospel, the Good News.
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). For God commended, or demonstrated His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:8). "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). And always God's love for you is tied up in the death of Jesus Christ for you. And they never thought of the love of God apart from the cross, because that is God's demonstration, His supreme demonstration of His love. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man will lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Chuck Smith said in a sermon: That's why I say, "Don't believe it if the papers write I've died." I cannot die. I will move, yes, thank God for that. But I won't die. For I will never be separated from God, because of Jesus' death for me. Never for a moment will I be separated from Him. And that's what real death is. Physical death, the separation of your consciousness from your body, you're not to worry or be fearful about that. But what you really need to fear is the separation of your spirit from God for eternity, that's what you ought to be concerned about.
Now, that's why Christ died for us. That we might be freed from the bondage of corruption, the bondage of our flesh. That we might be able now to live a whole new life in a new dimension, in the dimension of the Spirit.
"For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and joy and peace" (Romans 8:6).
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [or creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2Cr 5:17).
So many people in church are deceived into thinking that their attendance at church is going to buy them a place in the kingdom of God. Their giving to the church is going to secure their place in heaven. Their faithfulness to the church. Church attendance, church membership, church contributions cannot do anything towards your eternal life. And these things can be a deception.
And Paul gives us that horrible list, the works of the flesh, of which, unfortunately, we are all too familiar. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21).
You better read that list over again. Read it prayerfully. And read Paul's conclusive remarks. If you are living after the flesh, don't think you're going to inherit the spiritual kingdom of heaven. "If any man's in Christ, he's a creature: the old things have passed away." Have they? That's the question. "Let a man examine himself," because you're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and "if you will judge yourself now, then you will not be judged then" (I Corinthians 11:28,31). 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
For he [God] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in [through] him (2Cr 5:21). Wow! Now that’s a fair exchange! NOT!!!
Here is one of the most glorious scriptures in the New Testament, as we see what God has done for us in Christ in reconciling us to Himself. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we turned every one of us to our own ways; and God laid on Him the iniquities of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). "God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."
Jesus knew no sin. Absolutely pure. Absolutely holy. Absolutely righteous. But God laid on Him every horrible, vile deed that has ever been done by perverted, fallen man. Now, can you imagine what a shock that must have been? No wonder He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) As He tasted of death for every man, that separation from God, that spiritual death. That cry that came from His lips upon the cross was made in order that you might not have to make it for eternity. There, as God laid upon Him our sins, He was reconciling man to God. And so He became what we were, in order that He might make us what He is. The void created by Him taking our sin was filled with HIS righteousness!! The very righteousness God requires before he can accept the sinner is the very righteousness He provides.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[a] 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
That's what it's going to be. God has offered salvation, but you didn't take it. God has offered love, but you rejected it. No hope. For there remains no further or no other sacrifice. There's nothing else you can do for the atoning of your sin, for being reconciled to God. No other way you can be reconciled to God.
That's why Satan hates the cross. That's why your cults hate the cross. That's why the liberals hate the cross. The cross declares to mankind there is only one way by which you can be reconciled to God. And that's through the cross and the death of Jesus Christ.
i. God made us to live for Him, not for ourselves. It is a corruption of our nature that makes us want to live for ourselves and not for the Lord. In Revelation 4:11, it says in the King James Version: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. We are and were created to live unto God, not unto ourselves. Jesus lived completely unto God the Father.
ii. What does it mean to live no longer for themselves, but for Him? It doesn’t mean that we can say, “I won’t love or serve anyone else but God.” Instead, our love for God, and our life for God, is expressed in our service of others. So we need to serve others with the heart that we living for God.
b. God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ: God has initiated this ministry of reconciliation, even though He is the innocent party. He reconciled us to Himself; we did not reconcile ourselves to Him.
i. Importantly, God did this through Jesus Christ. God did not reconcile us to Himself by neglecting His holy justice, or “giving in” to sinful, rebellious humanity. He did it by an amazing, righteous, sacrifice of love. God demands not one bit less justice and righteousness from man under Jesus, but the demand has been satisfied through Jesus Christ.
c. And has given us the ministry of reconciliation: Having has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, now God expects us to take up the ministry of reconciliation, and has therefore committed to us the word of reconciliation.
i. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself is all the more amazing when understood in light of what happened on the cross. At some point before Jesus died, before the veil was torn in two, before Jesus cried out it is finished, an awesome spiritual transaction took place. The Father lay upon the Son all the guilt and wrath our sin deserved, and Jesus bore it in Himself perfectly, totally satisfying the wrath of God for us.
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.
“Made sin”? What can that possibly mean? He had nothing to gain by stooping from the throne to the manger.
His love took Him to the cross. Our sins put Him on the cross.
The nails couldn’t have held Him there. It was the strength of His love for us!
Summary: it behooves us to examine our own lives regularly in light of the coming “final exam.”
We can exempt issues from the Final by taking them to the Throne beforehand!
We no longer look at life the way we used to. It’s time to stop “playing at” Christianity, and start taking it seriously...
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
The Message (MSG)
16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
By the love gift of God in Jesus Christ, Yeshua, we have been given the ministry to pass on the good news of reconciliation.
How are you performing your ministry? Today?
