God's Pursuit of Peace

July 6, 2014 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: 2 Corinthians

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16–20

Transcript

God's Pursuit of Peace

2 Corinthians 5:16-20
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Pastor Randy Smith


 

This morning as we prepare for the Lord's Table, there is a key phrase found in our selected passage from 2 Corinthians. It's one of those verses that even the most novice student of the Bible is familiar with. Throughout the centuries, these eleven words have brought both conviction and comfort, both confusion and confidence. The words are found in verse 17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature [or "creation"].

The great Puritan, Thomas Brooks, said of these words, "In every saved person, there are many divine miracles; there is a dead man restored to life, a dumb man restored to speech, a blind man restored to sight, a deaf man restored to hearing, a lame man - restored to walking, a man possessed with devils possessed with grace, a heart of stone turned into a heart of flesh and a life of wickedness turned into a life of holiness: (The Crown and Glory of Christianity, 1662).

For those in Christ, there is not simply a change in name or a resolution toward self-reformation. If you are in Christ, there has been a total transformation. A miracle was performed in your life, giving you a completely new heart that beats after completely new desires that now takes on a completely new identity. If you are in Christ, you are a completely "new creation." As Paul goes on to say, "The old things passed away, behold, new things have come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

So that raises two profound questions. How does this transformation take place and how do we now live? This morning we will answer those two questions in reverse order marked by the two sermon points in your bulletin.

1. A NEW OUTLOOK FROM A NEW IDENTITY

The first point as it pertains to how we live: "A new outlook from a new identity." The new identity is mentioned in verse 17. Let me read the entirety of that great verse again. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ." First of all we need to note that every person is identified in one of two ways and only in one of two ways. Either a person is "in Christ" or a person is not in Christ. These are the only two distinctives as seen by God.

For those not in Christ, the Bible teaches that they are unredeemed, unregenerate and unreconciled. They are spiritually dead. Their interest is in the things of this world. The make decisions based upon their own carnal instincts. They have the devil as their father and they have no hope in this world or for heaven in the world to come.

Yet for those in Christ, they have been born again. They have eyes to see God's will and ears to hear God's words. They are adopted as God's children and forever accepted in His presence. They have an inheritance in heaven that is imperishable. They Holy Spirit dwells within them. They are forgiven, loved and eternally blessed by the Father.

It's such a massive transformation that everything is changed. And one of those changes Paul alludes to in verse 16 is that we now see the world through an entirely new set of glasses. As he puts it, "From now on we recognize no one according to the flesh."

The things that once excited us in the world lose their attraction - the competition between others, the obsession with celebrities, the forever changing opinions of culture, the humanistic perspectives that fill the magazines at the doctor's office or in the check-out lines. We now see people as God does. We see beyond gender and race and fame and wealth. We see people as those created equally in God's image. We see people with eternal souls that need to meet Jesus.

Before salvation, Paul even admits, verse 16, he saw Christ this way - just another religious teacher and messianic pretender. But as he says in verse 16, "Now [he] knows Him this way no longer." His eyes were opened to see Him as Savior and Lord.

The change is so radical from an unbeliever to a believer that the Bible in verse 17 uses the terminology, "a new creation" to describe it. That is a fascinating and powerful description! Think about this for a moment.

We know God created the world and after creation God declared that everything was "very good" (Gen. 1:31). It didn't take long for man to blow it. He disobeyed God and sin entered the world. God's creation as it is to this day was marred. Killer tsunamis, cancer, murder, death, personal conflicts and humanity estranged from God. This is reality. This is what we experience. This is not the way God intended it.

But our God is a redeeming God. He will not let the devil or man's failures to get the last word. There will come a day in the future when God will restore the earth back to and even exceeding its original design. Listen to this promise from Isaiah 65: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying" (Isa. 65:17-19; cf. Rev. 21-22).

Has this happened yet? No, but there is one aspect of God's new creation that is already underway. And what is that? Verse 17, it is the transformation of His people.

Though we are not fully redeemed in body and we still long for the day when we will be perfected in spirit, the beginning of God's new creation is at hand (just like Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand) in the hearts of His people. The New Covenant, inaugurated through Christ's resurrection has brought forth the first fruits of God's new creation. It's not yet realized and seen in all its glory, but in the midst of this present evil age it's here. And if you are in Christ, it's in you!

Think of it this way. The first Adam led his people into sin and the consequences that resulted from it. The Second Adam (Jesus Christ) led His people out of sin and is moving them first and foremost back toward to restoration and glory.

That's why Paul could naturally say in verse 17, "The old things passed away, behold, new things have come." Therefore evidence that the new creation has burst upon the scene is the new moral nature of God's children being led by the Holy Spirit as they are progressively transformed into greater degrees of Christlikeness (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).

Let me give you an example from my own life. When I was first saved out of a pagan background at age 24, I was living a typical sinful life that characterized most American boys. Immediately I had a total interest in the Bible and being involved in church. Nobody really told me to do these things. They just came somewhat instinctively. It didn't take long to feel convicted that going to bars and consuming too much alcohol wasn't consistent with my new relationship with God. It was just in my own heart that I knew it was wrong. So I went to the bars and just drank a little alcohol. Again the Lord convicted me. So I then went to the bars and only drank Orange Juice. Again, within time, the Lord convicted me. Eventually I stopped going to bars and spent my weekend evenings with other Christian singles from my church. It was not overnight, but do you see how there was this progression of transformation - old ways of life disappearing and new things coming? Proof of God's new creation!

If we can't witness this in our own lives and in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ something is wrong because the whole point of verse 17 is being able to observe the beginning of God's new creation breaking upon the scene with Holy Spirit power in the lives of God's children

Do you see a noticeable difference between believers and unbelievers? Do you observe it in your own life when you consider how radically different you were before Christ in the way you thought and the way you acted?

2. A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH A NEW COMMISSION

Let's move to the second point and back up with Paul and see how this new relationship first began.

So here's the big question: How do people go from sinner in total rebellion to God to new creatures now with new hearts in total devotion to His glory? We can't personally manufacture a change like that in our lives! Since there is nothing we can do, we have to agree with verse 18 that "all these things are from God." There has been a divine miracle, producing a completely new creation performed in the hearts of all true Christians.

Colossians 1:21 declares we are "alienated and hostile in mind." Romans 5:10 describes us as God's "enemies." Romans 1:18 says His "wrath" therefore abides on us. What the Bible paints are two parties completely at odds with each other dwelling in the same universe, but totally separated in their relationship. The need is for reconciliation. And that's the key word mentioned five times in just a few verses.

So how does this reconciliation come about? How will God accept us? How do rebels who want nothing to do with God, find His acceptance, lay down their arms and not only allow but desire Him to transform their lives into Christlikeness? Since there is nothing man can do, the answer is that God is the One who needs to initiate and perform this work of reconciliation. The Scripture emphasize this point (the God-centeredness) in our text: Verse 18, "Now all these things are from God." Verse 19, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself." Verse 20, "God were making an appeal through us."

So let's be very clear on this point. We have all of humanity and God totally estranged from each other. It is not as if we contributed anything to the reconciliation. It's also not as if God were the transgressor and He needed to be brought back to us. We are the ones that were in hostility, animosity and alienation. We are the ones that pulled away from Him. We are the ones that ruined the relationship. Yet God is the One who does all the work to restore the intimacy between Himself and His people. As verse 18 says, "God reconciled us to Himself through Christ."

The wedge that severed this relationship is our sin. Sin must be treated with justice. Sin is offensive to our holy God. Sin will never exist in His eternal presence. Therefore our sin needs to be taken away. Sin needs to receive its proper penalty and only then may we receive our forgiveness.

So God in His infinite mercy and love chose to send a human representative, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ on a rescue mission. As verse 18 says, God would "reconcile [the world] to Himself through Christ." Jesus would live the sinless life and then stand as our substitute on the cross. Our sin would be placed upon Him and He would take the penalty for it that we deserved. His righteousness then would then be placed upon us and God would then accept us just as if we were Jesus Christ Himself!

We'll cover this in more detail next week, but that was Paul's point in verse 21. It couldn't be stated any clearer! Possibly no other verse describes this great exchange any better. How did reconciliation happen? "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus is treated as if He lived our life of sin and we are treated as if we lived His life of perfect righteousness.

Look back at verse 19: "Namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them."

This is not about humanity making peace with God. They can't! This is about God making peace with humanity by providing a way for their sins to be forgiven. This is why the Gospel is called "Good News." God has dealt with the barrier by removing our sins through the completed work of Jesus Christ. Think about this. In order for this reconciliation to be complete, God treated Jesus as if He committed every sin from every person who will ever believe in Him. And with sin taken out of the way, God's offer of total forgiveness and peace goes out to all who receive this gift of grace on the basis of faith.

Knowing this great news, we can see why Paul considered himself and all believers, verse 20, "ambassadors for Christ" as he and we "beg [people] on behalf of Christ [to] be reconciled to God."

An ambassador, like today, was a well-known role in the ancient Greco-Roman world. An ambassador spoke on behalf of the king. He was commissioned with the king's authority. He said only what the king commanded him to say. Oftentimes his goal was to bring peace with the king's enemies.

Do you see where this is going? The King of the universe has made peace with His enemies. We are the King's ambassadors. We are commissioned with His authority and given His words as aliens and strangers in this world that is not our home to declare to the world lost in their sin that they can be reconciled to the King through faith in the finished work Jesus Christ. That, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16).

Here is how one theologian put it: "When Paul says that God has given him the ministry of reconciliation, he means that he is a preacher of this peace. He ministers reconciliation to the world… It is not the main part of his vocation to tell men to make their peace with God, but to tell them that God has made peace with the world. At bottom, the Gospel is not good advice, but good news. All the good advice it gives is summed up in this - Receive the good news. But if the good news be taken away; if we cannot say, God has made peace, God has dealt seriously with His condemnation of sin, so that it no longer stands in the way of your return to Him; if we cannot say, Here is the reconciliation, receive it - then for man's actual state we have no Gospel at all. When Christ's work was done, the reconciliation of the world was accomplished. When men were called to receive it, they were called to a relation to God, not in which they would no more be against Him - though that is included - but in which they would no more have Him against them. There would be no condemnation thenceforth to those who were in Christ Jesus" (James Denney).

Our God is a reconciling God. It comes out clearly in our text and it is illustrated clearly in one of the greatest short stories ever written. When Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son to the self-righteous Pharisees, He created the worst sinner a Pharisee could imagine, one that would be most estranged from God.

This young man demanded his inheritance from his father. Basically that's the same as saying, "Die Dad." Then he foolishly liquidated it at a loss for cash. He went to a Gentile country (rendering him unclean) and spent the money on sinful living. When the funds were depleted he found himself feeding pigs (an unclean animal for the Jews).

The father is tremendously shamed by the son's actions, but to make matters worse, his response to the son is unimaginable to the Pharisee. He pulls up his robe, runs to the child, throws his arms around the kid and provides full reconciliation marked by killing the fattened calf and throwing a party.

Suddenly the self-righteous and unforgiving Pharisees find themselves in the story when Jesus introduces the older brother's animosity toward the father's gracious actions. And standing opposed to them is the father who represented God the Father - the forgiving and reconciling Father who welcomes repentant sinners to Himself.

The father says, "But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found" (Lk. 15:32). With reconciliation now available through Christ, heaven welcomes and rejoices over one sinner who repents (Lk. 15:7, 10).

Has heaven rejoiced over you? Have you received God's reconciliation through Jesus Christ? Are you at peace with God? Are you a transformed part with a completely new perspective on life that shows evidence of the in breaking of God's new creation?

 

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