November 18, 2018
Steven Lee (North Campus) | 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 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.—2 Corinthians 5:16–21
Introduction
Earlier this summer, the world’s attention was captured by a Thai youth soccer team. Twelve young boys, ages 11 to 16, and their coach were trapped in a cave due to rising flood waters in Thailand. They were trapped on June 23 and everyone was rescued by July 10 through the joint efforts of Thai Navy SEALS, and Australian and British divers. But what is most striking is not the rescue, but the aftermath of the rescue. Eleven of the 12 boys were ordained as novice Buddhist monks for one week. They did this so that they could donate the karma and merit of their good deeds to the Thai Navy SEAL officer who lost his life in the rescue. The boys are attempting to repay his sacrifice the only way they know how: giving him their good karma so that he can be reincarnated into a better life. Those with a biblical worldview see the deep insufficiency of Buddhism’s answer of how to repay an immense debt. Yet the question that these boys will likely wrestle with the rest of their lives is this: Now that I have been rescued, how should I live?
Yet this is a question not only for those trapped in a cave, but for those who have been rescued by God from sin and death: Now that I have been rescued, how should I live? Yet the answer the Bible gives us is vastly different from the solution of Buddhism. Christians realize that we cannot repay any aspect of the debt we owe for our salvation. We have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone. Yet in our saving grace, we also receive enabling grace to live as God’s people with his mission here on earth.
So in our passage this morning, the apostle Paul answers the question, “How should those who have been rescued by God now live in light of their new life?” The main point is that as new creations in Christ, embrace your mission and declare the message of reconciliation.
My aim this morning is that we would have greater clarity about who we are in Christ, greater excitement about the mission we have been given, and greater boldness to declare the message entrusted to us.
So our plan is to spend the first half of the message asking three questions of the text in front of us:
Then in the second half, to apply this to us in light of our “Befriending” initiative.
Paul calls the Corinthians to no longer use worldly standards to judge: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.” This follows the argument of the letter thus far, because Paul has been defending himself and his ministry. Paul was unimpressive on the outside when he came to them, and he didn’t have a strong presence (2 Corinthians 10:10). There were other “super apostles” (2 Corinthians 12:11) who were more impressive, who had visions, deeds of power, and impressive letters of recommendation.
Paul defends himself by saying that he’s operating according to another standard: the standard of Christ. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t judge according to the flesh, according to worldly standards.
Immediately prior Paul wrote, “That one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15). God’s work of redemption is a game changer. It reorients everything, so that those who live, live for Christ rather than for themselves. It transforms the Christian’s motivation, but it also transforms the Christian’s identity, which is what Paul is getting at in verses 16–17.
Paul’s point: Stop judging wrongly, according to the flesh. Paul goes on to give the example that he once judged according to the flesh: “We once regarded Christ according to the flesh.” This likely refers to Paul misjudging Jesus and his disciples by persecuting them:
Paul, being “zealous for God” persecuted the church: “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women” (Acts 22:4 ). In Acts 26:9–11 we read ...
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”
So in answer to the question, “Who are we?” We read in verse 17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation! Our identity isn’t dictated by the flesh or what’s on the outside. Everyone in Christ is a new creation. The old self is gone; this is radical change and transformation. Paul was a murderer that became a disciple that is now part of the group that he persecuted.
This new status is in Christ, which means that we belong to Christ, but we live in his power, and we are united to him (e.g., like the abiding in Christ language we see in John 15:5; we’re vitally connected to the source of all life). Paul emphasizes the newness, even if the old still persists. This happens in the new covenant because Christ ends the old and begins the new.
This is transformative for us all: God does not judge according to the standards of men. Superficial criteria such as the number of degrees you have; whether you’re a 5th-generation Minnesotan; have great physical appearance, power and influence, and financial means—these are inconsequential in Christ’s kingdom. That is not how God judges, not how Paul wants the Corinthians to judge him, and not how we ought to judge ourselves.
So who are we? We are new creations in Christ. But we also need to know our mission as followers of Christ, which leads us to our section point.
As those reconciled to God, we have been given a ministry of reconciliation. We have been entrusted with this ministry and message. Paul’s use of “reconciled” is in the Greek tense that makes clear God’s completed action has ongoing effects.
Romans 5:10 speaks about reconciliation as well, but draws out another aspect for us to see more clearly:
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
This reconciliation happened even while we were enemies of God. And it happens through Christ’s death and resurrection. Reconciliation is the work God does through Jesus to turn enemies into family, prodigals into children, and the estranged and alienated into a tender relationship of love and trust.
In Colossians, Paul draws out another aspect of reconciliation:
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.—Colossians 1:19–20
This reconciliation was obtained by Christ, and it purchases us peace by the blood of Jesus shed at the Cross.
Reconciliation means we have a restored relationship after being estranged and enemies. God removes the obstacle to our friendship—namely our sin—through Christ so we can experience friendship and intimacy with him. We are called to proclaim that reconciliation has come.
In verse 19, “God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself” isn’t suggesting reconciliation without repentance and belief, but rather God reconciles humanity so that every person who believes, including Gentiles, are able to experience this friendship with God.
We have now been given a ministry of reconciliation. Only God reconciles sinners, and yet we have a part to play in bringing people to Christ. We are stewards that have been entrusted with this ministry. As those reconciled, declare reconciliation and peace.
Not only do we need to know who we are, and what our task is, we also need to know our message.
In these two verses, we see all of this coming together. Our identity isn’t just new creations, but we are ambassadors of Christ. Ambassadors speak in the name of someone else and speak in the authority of the one who sent him. And to receive an ambassador is to receive the one who sent him. This is like telling the kids, “Listen to the sitter when mommy and daddy are gone.” The babysitter speaks and is cognizant that she does not speak of her own accord. She speaks aware that she has been entrusted responsibility and has delegated authority. In the same way, as ambassadors of Christ, we have delegated authority to speak on God’s behalf his message; he makes his appeal through us.
It’s striking that Paul was writing to a church, the Corinthians, and calls them to be reconciled. There were some—perhaps even many—who had fallen back into the ways of the world. They could have been abandoning the message of salvation. They had judged Paul according to worldly standards rather than that of the gospel. The Corinthians needed renewed reconciliation with God. In the next verses, we see that Paul tells them not to accept the grace of God in vain.
Verse 21 is the amazing and stunning reality that some theologians call double imputation. Jesus Christ takes our sin on himself so that we will not be punished for our sins. They are removed from us and put on him. But God goes further. In Christ we become the righteousness of God. We get Jesus’ perfect righteousness—perfect life, perfect obedience to the Law—given to us.
Christ’s sinless incarnate life meant, “he knew no sin,” yet in Christ’s sin-soaked death “God made him become sin.”
And while the lost don’t care about double imputation, they do care about pain and suffering. They do care about shootings, wildfires, poverty, injustice, and corruption. They do care about evil running rampant in the world. And that is our opportunity to show that God is not silent on corruption, rebellion, idolatry, and injustice. Instead, God has made a way for justice, to rectify rebellion, idolatry, and corruption.
Some here this morning need to respond to this message: Be reconciled to God! The gospel of Jesus Christ offers meaning, hope, and life that even suffering, pain, and heartache cannot diminish. Here is how Tim Keller puts it:
“[These are] Christianity’s unsurpassed offers—a meaning that suffering cannot remove, a satisfaction not based on circumstances, a freedom that does not hurt but rather enhances love, an identity that does not crush you or exclude others, a moral compass that does not turn you into an oppressor, and a hope that can face anything, even death” (Making Sense of God, p. 216).
Believe and be reconciled to God!
For those who do believe, we ought not to take the grace of God in vain by failing to live as ambassadors of Christ. Like the foolish servant who took the talents from his master, he buried them in the ground rather than invest them and use them. Could we perhaps have good works that we have been called to walk in that we have never embraced? Are there people in our lives that we ought to engage with this week, or this holiday season? We are ambassadors of Christ, and God desires to give his appeal to the lost through us. Will we be ready instruments of his message?
So we answered our three questions:
How then do we apply this to us today?
Application #1: As a New Creation, Shine in Weakness
In light of being a new creation in Christ, we can shine for Christ in and through our weakness. If we are attractive, successful, powerful, or influential, it does not make Christ look better. We shine forth love, compassion, and truth. You don’t need a “perfect” life to win others to Christ.
Our fears, our anxieties, and our struggles are opportunities to share the hope of the gospel—not things to hide lest we diminish the power of the gospel. The world doesn’t need a strong, triumphant Christianity that has no category for outcasts, the vulnerable, and hurting. The world needs a compassionate and steadfast Christianity that knows how to have real answers in the midst of suffering, pain, marginalization, and heartache.
Application #2: Befriend the Different
A second practical application is not to use our worldly standards and judgments to make decisions about whom we reach out to. We will be inclined to lean into relationships with people who look just like us, have the same background as us with a similar upbringing as us, the same socio-economic station in life, the same level of education, or similar age. And yet our befriending initiative is not that we reach out to only those just like us and those we’d like to be friends with. But rather, we’re to befriend those who are radically different from us—those who vote differently, those who believe differently about marriage and sexuality, those who think differently—because God looks at the heart and not at external appearances.
Application #3: Do the Work of Pre-Evangelism
Today, one of the more difficult things to do is not show how people can be saved, but to convince them that they are truly lost. One of our tasks is to help those around us who don’t know Christ feel a need for Jesus (pre-evangelism). If you go out and tell people that Jesus can reconcile you to God, they will look at you with a blank stare. That doesn’t make sense to many people today. If there is a God, they’re severely disappointed and frustrated in him. So we have to be better about engaging people in relationship so that we can build relationships of trust to know what makes them tick.
The ministry of reconciliation is not calling you to be a peddler of God’s word, but first, before anything else, to be one who receives it. We have been given life that nothing can rob. We have a hope that only gets better in death. We have a glorious Treasure that shines even brighter in our weakness. We have a God who welcomes us in to participate in his mission. We have a message that brings life from the inside out. We have a hope that is sufficient for all the greatest problems in the world. We have a power that can transform the hardest heart. We have solution for our estrangement from God. And we go out as those sent by God to live for him. We don’t earn any merit to donate to any deceased individual. But we live so that others might know that they can be reconciled to the living God and become his friend.