Standing on the promises of God, my Savior, standing,
standing, I'm standing on the promises of God.
Alrighty. Thank y 'all. Yes, sir. Thank you.
2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter
5. It's been a couple of weeks since we were
here. Of course, we had a cottage prayer meeting,
and then we had a revival, so we were a couple
of weeks removed from where we left off in 2
Corinthians 5. But we left off with the key point
being, that all who have died to Christ should
live for Christ, that we no longer live for ourselves,
but we should be those who live for Jesus Christ,
that Jesus has been raised from the dead, and
therefore we can be raised from the dead, and
we can have eternal life, and if we put our faith
in Jesus and give our life to him and seek to
serve him, We die to ourselves. We're not living
for the flesh. We're not living for the world.
We should be living for Jesus. And so that's
kind of a brief summary of the last couple of
verses before we get into the verses tonight.
So let's pray. And then we'll get started. God,
we thank you for your word. And I pray that your
word would challenge us tonight, that we would
grow in it, that your Holy Spirit would speak
to us. God, that you would hide me behind the
cross, that I would preach and teach in a way
that brings glory and honor to you. And just
let your Holy Spirit be with us. In Jesus' name
I pray. Amen. All right. 2 Corinthians 5, verse
16. Verse 16. Well, what exactly does this mean?
It doesn't really necessarily jump off the page
exactly what he's saying here, but he's saying
this. When we put our life in Jesus Christ, we
should be a new person. We should be changed,
as we're going to see as we read through these
verses. And so he says, Once that moment comes
in our life that we've put our faith and trust
in Jesus and we have been cleansed from our sins
and we begin to live for Jesus and not for ourselves,
there's a change. Now he says, look, from now
on then, okay, there was a point before we knew
Jesus and his resurrection and in all of his
power and glory, but now we know Jesus. after
the resurrection, and in his power and glory.
So from now on then, we do not know anyone in
a purely human way, even if we have known Christ
in a purely human way. So he's saying, we knew
Christ in a purely human way. He came, he was
a human, he walked on this earth. He was a human
just like you and I. But he's much greater than
that. He's the Son of God. He's the Messiah.
And so we know people in a human sense, in a
fleshly way, in an earthly way. We all know each
other as humans. But what the Bible really calls
us to is a spiritual knowledge of each other,
that the Spirit would guide us, that the Spirit
would lead us in our life. And so he's saying,
look, we don't just know each other as humans
anymore. We are now brothers and sisters in Christ
through the Spirit of God. And so we don't look
at things from a purely human perspective. We
have to ask God to help us through the Holy Spirit
to look at things maybe in the way that he looks
at things. And so we don't want to look at things
from a human perspective. We want to look at
it from a godly perspective. Now, the story of
Samuel is a good story here. When Samuel had
to go appoint the new king and it was going to
be one of the sons of Jesse. And when he goes
to see the sons of Jesse, he looks for the best
looking, tallest, strongest, the best looking
guy there. And he says, this has to be the guy
that God wants to be king. Now what he was looking
at was the physical. He was looking at the purely
human part of Jesse's son. But what God was concerned
about was the physical. what was in the inner
man. And so Samuel goes through all the sons,
and he thinks he's going to pick the right one,
and God says, no, that's not the right one. Even
though physically, in a human way, they look
like they were the one for the job, it was the
one who had the Spirit of God upon him that had
the heart of God that was going to be the one
for the job, and it ended up being David. Not
the one maybe from a human perspective would
have looked like the one who would have been
fit to be king, but it was God who was going
to appoint him as king because his heart was
right. So God looks at things in a different
way than we do. And so once we are filled with
the Spirit, then we need to begin to take on
some of the attributes of God and pattern our
life after Jesus Christ so that we can... Try
to be more like him in every way. So what does
that look like? Well, from a strictly human sense,
we may look into the world and we may see bad
things that go on and bad people and bad people
that do bad things. And we may be quick to say,
well, they shouldn't do that or they should live
their life a different way or they should make
better decisions. And we might look at them in
that sense and maybe some of those things are
true. But how does God look at people who are
struggling? who are making bad decisions. He
looks at them and he says, I don't want them
to make those bad decisions. I want them to know
that I love them. I want them to know my grace.
I want to shower my grace upon them and shower
my love upon them so that they'll know there's
something better than what they're living in
the world. And so what do we do when we see people
who maybe aren't living right, who are struggling
with some sin, with some lifestyle choices? Now,
we don't pretend that those things are okay.
We know that sin is sin. We call sin, sin. But
is compassion what drives us, or is it a spirit
of judgment? That's easy to look at somebody
and say, shame on them, we want to pass judgment.
But it is the Lord who judges. But it's also
the Lord who has compassion. And so maybe when
we look at people with the Holy Spirit that's
in us that we receive once we follow Jesus Christ,
we are no longer purely human. We've been changed.
We've been transformed. And we see people in
a human way, but we also see them through the
eyes of God. Or we should, as we see how Jesus
interacts with people through the Scripture.
We see it on more than one occasion that Jesus
has compassion on the crowds. He has compassion
on the people. Even the Pharisees and the Sadducees
that are out trying to trip him up, even the
things he says to them that are kind of harsh
or things that should get their attention, he
calls out the very things that they do and they
should have said, whoa, wait a minute, he's talking
about us. And they did do that. They did do that.
He'd say something, they'd say he's talking about
us, but instead of saying, hey, you know, he's
right, I need to change, they would get mad at
him. He would say, here's the thing you're doing,
and you're doing wrong. And they should have
said, whoa, maybe he's right. But instead, they
said, we've got to find a way to get rid of this
guy. And so when we experience people and encounter
people in the world, we see the purely human
part of them, but we don't always know their
story. We don't know why they make the decisions
they do or how they got to the situation they're
in. And again, we're not justifying anything
that occurred. But people go through a lot. People
experience a lot. And once the Holy Spirit indwells
in us, then I think we need to have a little
bit of that compassion that Jesus had. So we
knew Jesus in a human way. He was a carpenter.
But he was not just a carpenter. He was the Son
of God. And he changed the world. And he changed
the lives of many people while he walked on this
earth. And he changed the lives of many more
when he was crucified. and resurrected for all
of eternity. Verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is
in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have
passed away, and look, new things have come.
Now that's good. It's good when something old
is made new. It's good when something that's
worn out is made fresh again. And when we give
our life to Jesus Christ, we are a new creation.
Now, we need to remember this, and we need to
stand firm on this, because our old self was
pretty rough, and maybe even our new self is
sometimes. But before we come to Christ, we're
probably pretty rough. We've got lots of stories
of things that we did, and the way that we acted,
and the way that we treated people, and the things
that were in our heart that are just not good
things. And sometimes the thoughts and the memories
of our old self, they just kind of bombard us.
You know, we'll wake up in the middle of the
night and we'll remember something we did 20
years ago that just kind of keeps nagging at
us. But that's our old self. Yeah, we were sinful.
We're not proud of that, but we're free from
that. We're not enslaved in that. We're a new
creation. And so we need to rejoice in that.
I'm not who I was yesterday. And if we say we
are in Christ, but we're living like we did yesterday
today, then maybe we need to reexamine our life.
Maybe we're not a new self. Maybe we're the same
old self. Now that's not to say that even when
we're a new person that we don't sin, we're not
perfect when we come to Christ. But we need to
be able to gauge our life and say, If I'm living
pretty close to what I was living before I came
to Christ, after I supposedly came to Christ,
then maybe we're not a new creation. Maybe we're
just an old creation trying to fake it. Trying
to put on the new clothes but they don't fit.
Because really deep down inside we're still the
same old person. But the scripture says that
those who are in Christ... are a new creation.
So praise the Lord. If we've done things in the
past, then we repent of those things and we'll
never forget about those things, but we cannot
allow them to overcome us and get us down and
weigh us down. We have to realize we're a new
creation and we're called to new things and better
things, not the old lifestyle, not to be depressed
by the old lifestyle, but to rejoice in the new
lifestyle and say, God, these are the things
I did, but God, what do you want me to do? I'm
a new man. I'm a new woman now. God, how do you
want to use me? Verse 18. Everything is from
God who reconciled us to himself through Christ
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 he has committed the message of reconciliation
to us. Okay, the first part here, great little
word. Everything is from God. Everything is from
God. There's a good reminder. Everything is from
God. Everything we have is from God. Everything
in the world is from God. Now, it's a good time
in our life when we come to that realization.
Now there's a lot of people in our world that
haven't come to that realization. They think
everything that they have is from themselves.
It's from their own doing. That they're just
entitled to all of the resources of the world
and the waters of the seas and the trees of the
earth and the air that we breathe into our lungs.
Some people just think, well, I'm just entitled
to those things because I just live. But everything
is from God. So every breath we take, it's from
God. We didn't do anything to earn that. We didn't
make the air. The water we drink, it's from God.
We didn't make the water. God made the water.
Everything that we have is from God. Everything
that we make, every paycheck that we get, every
crop that comes into our garden, it's from God.
Everything that we have is from God. Some people
say, well, I worked. I made my empire. I made
my millions. Yeah, you did. But you didn't start
from nothing. You started from something. You
didn't just start from the existence of absolutely
nothing that we can't imagine. You started from
something, and that something was made by someone,
and that someone is God. So everything that we
have in life, everything that we have is from
God, and we need to remember that. It helps us
to stay grounded, I think, to say, okay, I wouldn't
be here if it wasn't for God. The fact that I
can get up and walk and breathe today is because
of God. The fact that everything I eat is from
God and every money I make is from God, then
maybe what we have from God should be used in
some way to serve God. Because everything that
we have is from God. And who is God? God is the
one who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. What
does that mean to be reconciled? It means that
people are at odds with each other. You might
have known people like that. You may be people
like that. You may be like that right now. There
may be somebody that you are at odds with, a
family member or a friend or a co -worker, and
you just don't get along. There's something that's
happened. They said something to you. You said
something to them. They looked at you wrong one
day, and for whatever reason, you're just at
odds with each other. You might speak. You might
do just enough to get by, but there's a tension
there. And there's no good relationship there,
and it's like you're always butting heads, and
it always makes you feel angry when you see them.
And that's what it means when you're at odds
with somebody, is that there's something between
you that's hindering you from getting over that
and having a relationship with that person. Well,
that's, for us, the Bible calls sin. There's
something that's between us and God. that separates
us from God, and it's our sin. But God gave us
a solution to that sin. Wasn't anything we could
do. After all, everything we have is of God.
There's nothing we can do to earn God's salvation.
It's all His, so we can't do anything that's
His for ourselves to earn our salvation. There's
something between us, our sin, that separates
us from God, but God, through Jesus Christ, reconciled
us to Himself. So now we're in good relation
with God. Now we can have that relationship,
that tension that keeps all of us as humans from
God, our sin. That's washed away through Jesus
Christ. So we're not at odds with God anymore.
We're not enemies of God, as Romans 5 says. We
are friends of God. That's a good thing. You
read the Bible, you see what God does to his
enemies? It's not good. What does God do for
those who are his? Even when they mess up sometimes,
God is faithful. God provides for them. God protects
them. God fights for them. God feeds them. It's
a good thing to be a friend of God. And here
we are told that we are reconciled to God through
Jesus Christ. So we no longer will be at odds
with God if we have trusted in Jesus Christ.
If we've put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
we are reconciled to God. Verse 19, that is,
in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them, and
he has committed the message of reconciliation
to us. Now listen to that. Paul says, This message,
this good news that we were at odds with God,
we were sinners against God, we were separated
from God with no good relationship, we were enemies
of God. He says, good news, Jesus came, he died
on a cross, he was resurrected, our sins are
forgiven, we're a new creation, we're reconciled
with God, we are friends of God, and therefore,
he says, the message of reconciliation needs
to continue through us. Now, I don't think he's
just talking about just himself and those who
are with him. I don't think he's just talking
about the apostles that were with Jesus. I think
he's talking about Christian men and women. That
if we have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
then we are reconciled of God, then we are the
ones who God has called to bring the message
of reconciliation. That's a big responsibility.
That God has called us to be the ones to bring
the message of reconciliation. So how's the world
going to hear the good news? How are they going
to know that they're a sinner but God loves them?
How are they going to know that there's grace
and that there's love and that there's someone
to have compassion on them? How are they going
to know that if they don't see it through us?
God can work a miracle. He can appear to them
in a bright ball of light and he can tell them
that. And maybe he still does. There's people
that say that that happens, and I don't doubt
it for a second. But I think way more times than
not, the way that people are going to be reached
is through us. Because we are the ones who are
called to bring the message of reconciliation.
So are we doing that? Does the world see that
in us? Do they see compassion and love and grace
in us? Or do they see someone who's judgmental?
And angry and unloving. What do they see? I don't
know. We have to answer that question for ourselves.
Maybe we don't like the answer we come up with.
Maybe we try to fake ourselves out and say, I'm
pretty good. But maybe if we're honest, we say,
man, the world doesn't always see good stuff
from me. They don't always see compassion and
love. But we are the ones who are called to bring
the message of reconciliation, the good news
of Jesus Christ. Continuing on, verse 20. Therefore,
we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God
is appealing through us. We plead on Christ's
behalf, be reconciled to God. Listen to that.
We are ambassadors for Christ. You think about
that for a second. You, as a Christian, are a
representative, of Jesus Christ. Now, let's talk
about politics for a second. I know we all love
that, especially in church. But you think about
every state, and every state you vote on people
that we call representatives, right? And these
representatives, they go to Washington, and they
represent you and what you want and what you
like and what you desire for this country. But
then you turn on the TV. and you see your representative,
and he's saying this thing, and you say, wait
a minute, I don't want that. And he says this
other thing, and you say, well, I don't want
that. And everything that he says and does and
fights for, you don't want. He's a bad representative.
He's not doing anything he should do. He's not
representing any of the things that are important
to you. So what about us with God? We are God's
ambassadors. We are his representatives. So when
God looks at us, does he look at us like we look
at our political representatives? Do the things
that we do is God saying, yep, that's exactly
what I want. That's exactly the way I want people
to act. That's exactly what I want people to
know. That's exactly what I want people to hear.
That's exactly what I want people to see. This
is exactly what's going to get my kingdom growing
in this world. Is that what God sees from our
actions? Or does he look at us and say, well,
he ain't representing me when he did that. She
wasn't representing me when she said that. That
doesn't represent my love. That doesn't represent
my compassion. That doesn't represent my grace.
That doesn't represent my son. So what kind of
representatives are we tonight? We are ambassadors
for Christ. Now, if you've trusted in Jesus Christ,
there's only two types of ambassadors you can
be, a good one or a bad one. There ain't no in
-between. So we have to look at our life and
say, okay, when we go out there and we tell people,
I'm a Christian, well, what do our actions say?
If you were to go stand in a court of law today
and you were accused of being a Christian, would
your actions be enough to get you off the hook?
If you're accused of being a Christian, would
your actions be enough to call you to be guilty
there? Is there enough evidence in your life
that would convict you? Maybe it is, maybe it's
not. Maybe we say we're Christians and we don't
live like it at all. Maybe we're horrible ambassadors
for Christ. Maybe we're not ambassadors at all.
Maybe we're just pretending. Paul says here,
look, you are called to be ambassadors for Christ.
Certain that God is appealing through us. We
plead on Christ's behalf. What do we plead? We
plead, be reconciled to God. That is the message.
We are pleading on Christ's behalf. What are
we pleading to people? We're telling them, look,
God loves you, but he does not love that you're
living in sin. Your sin has separated you from
God just as my sin has separated me from God,
but I've got good news. He sent Jesus Christ
so that your sins could be forgiven. So therefore,
repent and be reconciled to God. That is the
message. And Paul says that we, Christians, ambassadors
for Christ, are to carry that message to a lost
and dying world. Verse 21. He made the one who
did not know sin to be sin for us so that we
might become the righteousness of God in him.
Isn't that a beautiful, beautiful verse tonight?
Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us. He
took the curse. He took the punishment for our
sin. He took what we deserved. We deserve to
die. We deserve that punishment that he experienced
on the cross. And if God would have allowed us
to experience that punishment, it would have
just been the beginning of that punishment. We
would have been punished on a cross, or in whatever
form we would have been punished, and then we
would have died and been separated from God for
all of eternity. That was our punishment. That's
what we deserve. Because we're sinners. Jesus,
who knew no sin, took our sin. He took our punishment.
And with Jesus, it was nailed to the cross. So
Jesus got what we deserved. And in turn, when
we trust in Jesus, we get something that only
Jesus deserved. So that we might become the righteousness
of God. In him. We have been made righteous through
Jesus Christ. We don't deserve that. It's not
like God's going to look down and say, okay,
you did a pretty good job in your life, and the
good outweighed the bad, therefore I'll consider
you righteous. Nope. We are made righteous by
one thing and one thing alone, and that is the
blood of Jesus Christ. That he was nailed to
the cross, that his blood was shed for us, that
his body was nailed to that cross for us. that
he was put in a grave, and that three days later,
he arose. And that is the source of our righteousness.
Now, if we're living in the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, praise God, we are a new creation,
and we are ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives
of God. How are you representing him in your
daily life? Let's pray. God, we thank you for
this good passage and what a challenge it is
and what a call it is for us to examine ourselves,
dear Lord. And maybe we fail the test when we
start examining ourselves, dear Lord. Maybe we
don't represent you good or hadn't represented
you good. I pray that you would help us to bring
your grace and your love and your mercy and the
truth of reconciliation through Jesus to this
world, dear Lord. I pray that you would help
everyone here and listening. To be a new creation
in Jesus today that the old would pass away and
that we would know that it's passed away and
that we would rejoice in knowing that we are
in Jesus Christ. God, if we have received the
righteousness of Jesus Christ today, we thank
you that our sins have been forgiven and I pray
that you would help us to live in that righteousness.
I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.