At the end of each year, it is common to take inventory of the events of the previous year and to think ahead to the New Year. Unfortunately, as we think back over the last year, there has been a lot of bad news. A quick google search of top stories of 2013 revealed mostly tragic events such as the Boston Marathon bombing, over 1,000 dying in a Bangladesh garment factory collapse, typhoon Haiyan ravaging the Philippines and killing over 5,000 people; and government failures such as the NSA spy scandal, the Obamacare rollout debacle, and the Syrian government killing its own people with chemical weapons. It seems we are bombarded with bad news every day. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear some good news? As believers in Christ, we know that there is hope for the future and the coming New Year and that there is good news. But, I do have to tell you there is more bad news. So which would you rather hear first, the good news or the bad news? Well I’m going to tell you the bad news first; because we must understand the bad news, before we can even understand the need for the good news.
The bad news is the dire situation in which a person who is not “in Christ” stands. 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). 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.” 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. All the other stuff I mentioned at the beginning, that’s not the really bad news. This is the really bad news and we must understand and acknowledge this really bad news, before we can understand the good news for the New Year, all of time, and eternity that I am going to share with you today. So are you ready, the good news is that our lives can be transformed by a new creation that brings reconciliation to God and we have been given the privilege of ministering and sharing this message that can transform lives, and therefore culture, and give us hope for the future. So, let’s look at our text.
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.
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 be “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.” And with a new creation or 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.
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). And being “in Christ” makes us a new creation where we can begin bearing fruit for him and doing the good works that he has prepared for us to do.
Now the Greek word translated “new” in verse 17 is kainos (kahee-nos') which means fresh or of a new kind. According to Jamieson-Fausset -Brown, “New in the Greek implies a new nature quite different from anything previously existing, not merely recent.” 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.” 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). He elaborates on this further in Eph 4 and Col 3. Paul 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 part of the good news, you might say, “on one side of the coin;” 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 “the other side of the coin” of 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 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), 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 also initiates in our reconciliation.
Reconciliation is obviously a major focus of this passage as reconciled/reconciliation/reconciling are used 5 times in 3 verses. The Greek word is katallassō (kat-al-las'-so)/ katallagē (kat-al-lag-ay'). According to Thayer it means 1) to change, exchange, as coins for others of equivalent value 1a) to reconcile (those who are at variance) 1b) return to favor with, be reconciled to one 1c) to receive one into favor. 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.”
Just as in strained human relationships, we often need someone to mediate between the offended parties, 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.
So how did God reconcile us through Christ? Verse 19 of our text, says that God did this by not counting our trespasses against us. How can he do this? 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.” Is 43:25, “"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. John Calvin points out the contrast between sin and righteousness in verse 21 of our passage. “Let us now return to the contrast between righteousness and sin. How are we righteous in the sight of God? It is assuredly in the same respect in which Christ was a sinner. For he assumed in a manner our place, that he might be a criminal in our room, and might be dealt with as a sinner, not for his own offenses, but for those of others, inasmuch as he was pure and exempt from every fault, and might endure the punishment that was due to us — not to himself. It is in the same manner, assuredly, that we are now righteous in him — not in respect of our rendering satisfaction to the justice of God by our own works, but because we are judged of in connection with Christ’s righteousness, which we have put on by faith, that it might become ours.” 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 sides of the coin, so to speak, of the great exchange, the good news of the gospel. On one side is the good news that 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. On the other side of the coin is the good news that we can be reconciled to God through double imputation—Christ took our sin upon himself and gave his righteousness to us.
So, what do we do with this Good News, that we can be regenerated and reconciled to God? Well Paul tells us in verses 18-20 that we are given a ministry and a message 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 to our culture. Listen to John Gill, “Since God has made reconciliation by Christ, and the ministry of it is committed to us, we are ambassadors for him; we come with full powers from him, not to propose terms of peace, to treat with men about it, to offer it to them, but to publish and proclaim it as made by him: we represent him, and God who made it by him.”
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 hope for today, 2014, 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 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, myself, your parents or someone else you know who believes in Jesus.
2) If you are reconciled to God, will you be a minister, 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 give you boldness and will open the doors to share the good news with them. Make it your New Year’s resolution to share the message of reconciliation with them. In 2014, let’s fill the year with good news!