A little over a year ago, George Floyd died while being arrested. This event ignited a powder keg that had been brewing for decades spawning riots, demonstrations, and renewed cries for justice and reconciliation. Justice and reconciliation are Biblical concepts and I think that is why this this event has touched the heart of so many people and why so many people long to see true justice and reconciliation. Today, we are going to look at a passage from 2 Corinthians that addresses these topics and provides hope, the only hope, for true justice and reconciliation. So today, I hope to give you a little education on true, Biblical reconciliation which comes through the gospel. Maybe you have heard of the 3 Rs of education: Reading, Riting, & Rithmatic. Today, I’m going to share with you, what I’m calling, the three Rs of the gospel: Regeneration, Reconciliation, and Representation. But before we get into that turn with me to:
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 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. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This passage starts with “therefore” and whenever there is a therefore, we should ask, “What is it there for?” In this case, to gain better context of this passage, it is helpful to back up a couple of therefores. In 2 Corinthians, Paul has spent most of the letter, to this point, discussing some of the hardships of the Christian life and how God comforts us in affliction. And that despite the hardships he encountered, his ministry was to remind people of the hope that we have in Christ and especially in the glory that is to be revealed. Early in chapter 5 he compares our earthly dwelling with our heavenly dwelling and the good courage that we can have because we have the Spirit, as a guarantee that we will be with Him in heaven. Paul then says in v 10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
There is true justice and Christ will judge each one of us. Paul then uses a therefore to
show his motivation of his ministry in v 11
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.
Then skipping to v 14-15.
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 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.
Paul was motivated by his love for Christ and his love for others. He knew that people
were at enmity with God and others, because by nature, we live for ourselves. He knew
that the only hope for change and reconciliation is for people to be “in Christ” and to
live for Christ.
So as we look at this passage I want us to see three Rs of the good news of the gospel
that provide hope for us in this crazy time we live:
Regeneration
Reconciliation
Representation
In v 17, Paul starts with Therefore if anyone is “in Christ” he is a new creation. Implied
in this is statement is that there are people who are NOT “in Christ.” So, before we talk
about our situation “in Christ”, we must understand our situation when we are NOT “in
Christ,” and it is not a good one.
This is the condition we were all in at one time and some here today may still be in this position. This is what scripture says: Rom 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” So we are all guilty before God and Ex 34:7b tells us that he “will by no means clear the guilty.” Rom 6:23a tells us “the wages of sin is death.” This is not just physical death, but spiritual death, for which a person will spend eternity in hell suffering God’s wrath and judgment. (Jn 3:36, 2 Pet 2:4-10). That’ the justice we deserve. But, that’s not all the bad news. Eph 2:1-3, “And you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” A person who is not “in Christ” is in a truly desperate situation. Rom 5:10 says we were enemies of God. Col 1:21, describes us as “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” John 3:18 tells us that whoever does not believe in the name of the only Son of God is condemned, and Eph 2:12 says, “ remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” There’s the need for reconciliation. This is the desperate condition of those who do not trust in Christ—they are dead in their sins and trespasses, enemies and alienated from God, guilty and condemned, and under God’s wrath. So, we must understand and acknowledge this really bad news, before we can understand the good news of the gospel that Paul is proclaiming. And that good news is: that our lives can be transformed by a new creation or regeneration that brings reconciliation to God (repeat). And that we have also been given the great privilege of being God’s ambassador or representative to minister that reconciliation to others. This is the only hope we have for our culture in bringing about true justice and reconciliation. So I hope that as we look at this passage further, you will be encouraged and motivated to be a minister of true reconciliation by sharing the good news of the gospel with others.
Verse 17, tells us that if anyone is “in Christ” he is a new creation; so this is really good news, there is hope for us. But why does there have to be a new creation and how does one become “in Christ” so that this new creation may occur? Well, I’ve already established the desperate situation of the person who is not “in Christ.” Eph 2:1&5 tell us we were dead in our trespasses and sins. A dead person cannot do anything. He must become a new creature, he must be made alive again with Christ (Eph 2:5). Jesus told Nicodemus “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3) This new birth, or regeneration, is the work of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5, “he saved us, not because of works done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
So how does one become “in Christ?” It is by grace through faith, a gift from God. Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Paul also tells us in Gal 2:16 & 20, “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. . .20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” So to be “in Christ” is to believe, or have faith, in him-that he died for our sins and that we are justified or declared righteous in him (which we will explore more in depth shortly).
Now the Greek word translated new in verse 17 is kainos (kahee-nos') which means fresh or of a new kind and it “implies a new nature quite different from anything previously existing, not merely recent.” (JFB) Because of our old condition, we must be given a new nature, one that is fresh and of a new kind. Ez 36:26, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
So what does a new creature do? Well, with new birth comes growth. In John 15, Jesus tells us he is the true vine. Verses 4&5 tell us, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Eph 2:10 tells us further that, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” This is what we are newly created for—to bear fruit and to do good works.
In an allusion to Is 65:17, where Isaiah prophesies God creating the new heavens and earth, with the old passing and the new coming; Paul tells us that with our new creation and a new heart, the old should pass away, the new comes. We begin to no longer gratify the desires of flesh and we bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-25). Paul elaborates on this further in Eph 4 and Col 3. He tells us we are to put off the old self which is corrupt through deceitful desires and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. We are to put away falsehood, anger, stealing, corrupting talk, bitterness, wrath, clamor, slander, malice, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, covetousness, obscene talk, to name a few; and, we are to put on the new self and replace these things with truth, sharing, gracious speech, kindness, tenderness, forgiveness, compassion, humility, meekness, patience, and thankfulness.
So, the good news that Paul is proclaiming, is that a person “in Christ” is a new creation, he has been regenerated. He is born again and made alive in Christ, he is adopted as child (Eph 1:4, Rom 8:15) and brought near to God and has the hope of eternal life (Jn 5:24). The old has passed away the new has come. Before we look at some more of the good news, that we can be reconciled to God, note the phrase in Verse 18 “All this is from God.” Not some or most of this is from God, but all of this is from God.
God is absolutely sovereign in all things, including our salvation-- making us a new creation. A dead person must be made alive again before he can do anything. This is only by the work of God. The new self must abide in Christ to produce the fruit of the Spirit. So we are absolutely, totally dependent upon God’s mercy and grace for the new creation or regeneration and the growth of this new creature. And because we are the ones who have offended God by our sin and rebellion against him, He is the one who initiates and defines the terms of reconciliation.
The Bible tells us that sinners are His enemies (Rom 5:10)and that He is angry at sinners and that his wrath remains on them. Jn 3:36, “ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” So we must be reconciled to him. By definition, reconciliation is needed because someone is offended. In this case, God is offended and we are alienated from him because of our sin. He is holy and cannot tolerate sin, so how can we be reconciled to Him?
Well first of all there is nothing that we can do. Is 64:6 tells us, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” Rom 3:12 says, “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Nothing that we can do can restore us to favor with God. So then how can we be reconciled to God? Again “all this is from God.” As God initiates in our regeneration, so he initiates in our reconciliation.
Reconciliation is obviously a major focus of this passage as reconciled/reconciliation/reconciling is used 5 times in 3 verses. The Greek word is katallassō (kat-al-las'-so)/ katallagē (kat-al-lag-ay'; it means to change or exchange, to reconcile, to return to favor with (Thayer). At its heart, is a change in relationship between parties from one of hostility to one of peace (RWP) As we will see, reconciliation with God involves what is often called “the great exchange”, where our sin is credited to Christ and his righteousness is credited to us.
Verse 18 tells us that we are reconciled to God through Christ. Paul elaborates further in
Rom 5:6-11, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare
even to die—8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be
saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 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. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have now received reconciliation.”
So how did God reconcile us through Christ? Just as in strained human relationships, we often need someone to mediate between the offended parties, so God the Father sent Jesus, his Son, to be our mediator. 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,” and Heb 9:15, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” So it is through the mediation of Christ, that God reconciles us to himself.
Verse 19 of our text, says that God did this by not counting our trespasses against us. How can he do that? How can God be just and excuse sins. Well, he doesn’t excuse it, he imputes it to Christ. If you have the KJV, “not counting” is translated not “imputing.” The Greek word is logizomai (log-id'-zom-ahee) meaning to take an inventory, count, impute, or reckon. Paul elaborates on this beautifully and succinctly in verse 21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Sin must be punished. When Christ died on the cross, he took the shame and punishment
of our sin upon himself. Gal 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” God poured out his wrath on him so that we would not have to suffer His wrath. As Isaiah prophesied (53: 5-6), “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquity; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God doesn’t count, or reckon or impute our trespasses against us because he counted/recokened/imputed them against Christ. Ps 32:1-2, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” An Is 43:25 says, “"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
So God made him, Christ Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin and because of this he forgives us and remembers our sin no more. What a blessing and amazing thing! But he didn’t stop there. There’s more. Paul goes on to say that he did this, “so that in him (Christ Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.” Not only did God credit our sin to Christ, he credited Christ’s righteousness to us. This is the great exchange! Christ came to fulfil all righteousness (Mt 3:15) for us. Jesus came and lived 33 years on this earth, keeping all of God’s laws perfectly for us, because we are unable to do this. Heb 2:17, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” The word translated propitiation (which means to appease or make favorably inclined) can also be translated reconciliation. One of the names of God revealed in the Old Testament in Jer 23:6 is Jehovah-Tsidkenu (tseh'-dek) which means THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jesus is our righteousness. So although we fall short of the glory of God because of our sin, and we are alienated and enemies of God; when God looks at us, he does not see our sin, it has been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. Instead God sees Christ’s righteousness which makes us acceptable to him. As Paul puts in in Rom 3:26 “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” So “in Christ,” we are reconciled to God. This “great exchange” of our sin for his righteousness, which is theologically known as double imputation, is one of the most glorious doctrinal truths of scripture and is the heart of the gospel. This is the good news!
So in this passage we see two aspects of the great exchange, the good news of the gospel. One, we can be regenerated or made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Our old sinful nature is replaced with a new spiritual nature that loves and desires to follow God. And two, we can be reconciled to God through double imputation—Christ took our sin upon himself and gave his righteousness to us. This is such good news that Paul could not just be satisfied with it for himself, he was compelled to tell others and was given the role of an ambassador or representative for Christ of this good news and the ministry of reconciliation.
Paul tells us in verses 18-20 that we are given a ministry of reconciliation. The ministry is to be ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador is someone who represents their sovereign and declares his message. Jesus said in Jn 20:21 “…As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” An ambassador is often involved in negotiating treaties, including terms of peace. Now with God the terms of peace are clear and well defined, there is no negotiation. But as ambassadors for Christ, we are to represent God and declare his truths and terms of peace and the good news of regeneration and reconcilliation to our culture.
What a privilege and honor - that God has entrusted his former enemies to this ministry. Rom 10:15, quoting Is 53:7, tells us, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” This is not just a ministry given to professional clergy or those with the gift of evangelism, but it is a ministry for all of us. We can tell others the message of reconciliation that Christ came to die for sinners like us. If we truly believe that Christ came to die for our sins and that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves, God will forgive our sins and consider us righteous in Christ. We become new creations and are reconciled to God. He loves us and adopts us as his children and we no longer have to follow our old sinful desires. We can love and serve him out of gratitude for what he has done for us. This is the good news and the only hope for our day and all of history. When people are regenerated and reconciled to God it can change our world, even turn it upside down, as believers did in the book of Acts (Ac 17:6).
So, if we want to make a difference in our culture, to bring about true justice and reconciliation, it won’t come through riots & violence, police reform, critical race theory, the Equality Act or any other human means. True justice and reconciliation will only occur through the proclamation of the gospel which has the divine power to change hearts and to destroy strongholds, arguments, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God (2 Cor10:4,5)
So two questions I have for you today. 1) Are you reconciled to God? Listen to Is 55:6-7, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” If you are not reconciled to him, God is using me today to make an appeal to you to confess your sins, recognize your hopelessness before God, and your absolute need for his grace and mercy in your life. I urge you to cry out to him and be reconciled. If you would like to discuss this further, talk to Pastor Nate, Mark, myself, your parents, or someone else you know who believes in Jesus.
2) If you are reconciled to God, will you be a minister, a representative, an ambassador for him? That is what we are urged to do in 2 Corinthians 5. Who do you know in your sphere of influence that needs to be reconciled to God? Pray that God will do the regenerating work in their hearts. Pray that He will give you boldness and will open the doors to share the good news with them. Let’s make a difference and turn our world upside down!