2 Corinthians 5:13-21

Let's look again in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. Last night we were focusing on the judgment seat of Christ in verses 9 down to about 12. So we'll start reading at verse 13 down to the end of the chapter. 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 13.

For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the flesh.

Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.

And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ.

As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now, I did draw attention in the last couple of nights to some of the threads running through the epistle, and one of those threads is this sad undercurrent of distrust and misunderstanding that some in the assembly had towards the Apostle Paul.

And it would seem a very, very strange thing for any of us in writing a letter to an assembly to talk about being beside ourselves, and to have to talk as though assuming, or worrying, or being concerned that you think that I'm crazy. And so he says, if we be beside ourselves, if we be sober, so what is he really getting at? Well, it's just that some had been misunderstanding and perhaps even listening to some malicious slander about his motivations, about his spirituality, about his sincerity, his genuineness, and so on. That's hinted at in chapter one.

It comes out more clearly in the later chapters where he actually warns that there are those who are false apostles, who are actually messengers of Satan, who are trying to beguile them away from the simplicity and sincerity that's in Christ. And so he's deeply concerned for them. And I'm sure that probably any of us who have tried to serve God sincerely have been sometimes confronted with attitudes of other believers that is very, very detrimental to us.

Where they either think we're just so extreme, so fanatical, that we're unreasonable, we're crazy, and so on. And so he's, it's interesting that as he answers this, he really touches on two of the essential motivations of the Christian life. He says, if we're beside ourselves, if I'm crazy in your eyes, well, it's actually unto God.

I am living to please God. That's what I'm living for. Whether you approve, whether you acknowledge it or not.

And then whether we'd be sober, whether you recognize my life as being soberly realistic and genuine, let's be clear, it is for your sake, your cause. And so these two things, to please God, and to be living for the benefit of God's people, that's really the foundation of our Christian life. And so what he gets at in the next, really the rest of the chapter, is really unfolding these two basic premises.

And so he says in verse 14, in explanation of why he's living his life the way he is, he says, for the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, well, then we're all dead. So I want to sort of pick this apart and try to identify just how wonderful this verse is, how foundational it is to our whole spiritual understanding of the Christian life, and of our labors for him in the world. And so when he says, for the love of Christ constrains us, now, what does that really mean? I have listened to messages on this topic a few times in life.

And quite often when I've heard it, it's taught as expressing it in this way, that it is the love of Christ that is in me, and working through me to others, towards others. Now, that's very, very true. I'm not sure that that's the interpretation of the verse.

I would call that really the implication of the verse, or the application of the verse. And let me just try to express how I understand it here. Rather than Paul speaking immediately as to God's love or Christ's love flowing through him, and motivating him, he's really looking more as an observer, standing back and looking at that life and that death.

And he is saying that, as I observe that one singular life and death, measured by his death for all man, all mankind, all humanity, it is, it overwhelms me by the enormity of that love, the vastness of that love, the power of that love. And so he's really contemplating what you could call this supreme love in the whole universe. There is nothing that can come into comparison with it.

And so everything else that flows out from that is what is implied from it. And so he is saying that this love of Christ, so it's not, first of all, my love for Christ, or even his love working through me, so much as that singular life, lived out, expressing the divine love, without any hindrance, any handicap, any restraint, and being poured out in death for the sake of the world, to bring the world back to God in reconciliation. And so, as he says, this love constrains me.

Now, this same word, I believe, is used in Philippians 1 and 23, that concept, at least, where he says, I'm in a strait between two. That is, it's the idea of being hemmed in, and being pressured and compelled to a certain pathway, because every other avenue is eliminated, and you've only got this one channel to follow. And so he's really saying here that this love of Christ hems me in.

It doesn't permit me any other way of life than the way of life that I'm living. And so that's a tremendous thing for him to say. And so basically, we could come down to this, is that the love of Christ, his love, is really the final reason for all of life and for all service.

And so it should be our focus and our meditation. So focusing on the love of Christ, then, and understanding its implications for us and for the world, would focus our lives. It would constrain our lives.

It would lift us out of self-centered thinking and man-centered thinking. And it would give great depth to our spirituality. And so let's just think about what he's really saying here.

For the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that if one died for all. Now, as I've looked at this passage, it's really astounding to me how this summarizes and focuses our attention on the supreme doctrinal fact, you might say, of the New Testament Revelation. And that is, of course, the ultimate revelation is that Christ is God manifest in flesh.

But the reality that he has come from God, not just as a messenger of God, but the very heart of God brought out into manifestation, coming into manhood for the purpose of giving his life at the cross and being crucified. And so this Lord of glory, humbling himself, taken by men and crucified. But here's what it says.

One died for all. Now, let's just think about the importance of this. First of all, the fact that Christ died is an observed historical fact.

That's acknowledged in other historical records besides the scriptures. But this is more than just a historical fact. It's a supreme, foundational, doctrinal fact that Christ died for our sins.

And he did this for all of humanity. Now, one implication of this that just came to me just recently, especially in view of some of the recent social movements that have been working its way through our cultures of like Black Lives Matter and other social activist movements like this. If we could see this wonderful reality, Christ died.

One man died for all humanity. This eliminates racial prejudice. This dispels any kind of discrimination based upon either ethnic background, based upon language, based upon social or economic distinctions.

It levels us all. And it opens the avenue of the care of God, the love of God. The salvation of God is made equally available to all.

And so what is the doctrinal impact of this? A very, very important doctrine. And that is what we call unlimited atonement. Now, I'm aware that those who are, especially in what's called the Reformed theology, who seem to be having such significant influence in the evangelical realm today, as well as in many other mainline denominations, they teach what is called a limited atonement.

This is otherwise known as Calvinism, or sometimes called hyper-Calvinism, where the insistence is, is that God did not intend to save everyone. That God does not want all to be saved. And he's not working to save all.

He has only a select few that he has chosen to deliver. And Christ only died for those people. Well, this one statement absolutely denies and dispels that thinking entirely.

One died for all. And the expression for all is really on behalf of all. And so these are very important foundational doctrines for us to be clear on and to appreciate, not only for our own spiritual understanding, but also for the gospel that we would uphold and preach.

So when it says it's for all, this teaches on one hand, that there's a universal need. He wouldn't have died for all if everyone didn't need it. And so he died for all.

Then he says, then we're all dead. So there's a universal need. But thank God, there's also a universal provision for that need.

And so then he says, if this is true, that he died on behalf of all, then the very first implication is, then all were dead. Now, what does that mean? Now, literally, the phrase is, then all died. Now, we can look at other passages like Ephesians 2, and some other passages that speak about spiritual death, the fact that through sin, mankind is alienated from God and in a spiritually dead condition.

And that certainly would be embraced in this concept here. But I would just suggest that this maybe goes one step beyond just saying that everybody's spiritually dead. It's really looking at a judgment that took place at Calvary.

He didn't just die accidentally. He died deliberately. He died as a sacrifice.

He died with sin being accounted to him. He died under judgment. And that's brought out at the very end of the chapter.

And so when it says, then we're all dead, it's implying clearly that all are under condemnation. So not only dead spiritually through sin, but the outcome of that is that we are under judgment or under condemnation. And then the other implication that is brought out in the next verses that follow that is simply that there is no one in this world today in their natural state that has any status before God.

We're all dead before him, all under his judgment, and so on. And so when we could put it this way, when Christ died, he died representatively for all men. It was really the judgment of God towards the whole world.

And so it testifies that God is finished with men and Adam. He's finished with the old creation. And he is now, as we see in the verses that follow, he is beginning a new work, a new work of creation through grace, through that second man, who's also called the last Adam.

And so when it says here that, that he died for all, then we're all dead. That's the termination of relationship between God and man under the terms of the old creation. And then it says in verse 15, and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again.

And so we could see verse 15, just summarize it this way, that the purpose of his death is to change our purpose of life. And you could also say that implied in this statement is that he's really telling us here that the fundamental root of human sin is contained in this expression, that they who live should no longer live unto themselves. What is sin in its essence? Well, you can look at it as far as Godward, it's rebellion against God.

It's disregard for God. But as far as related to ourselves, it's actually the corruption of self. From a God-centered life, corrupted now to a self-centered life.

It's life turned inward, desire turned inward. And so we have this root of human sin that is being described here. And that is self-absorption, self-glory, self-fulfillment, all these self, self, self, that is so commonly given to us today in philosophy, in our culture as being really the foundation of life.

Love yourself. And this is really teaching us that to love yourself first is actually the corruption of self. And one interesting analogy that I sometimes think about is just in the very fact of our physical creation, the earth that we live on and derive our life from is totally dependent for every, all its functions upon being part of something else.

The earth is not a universe to itself. Our earth orbits around the sun. It's part of a solar system.

And our security, our safety, and our well-being, and our balance, and everything else is dependent upon that system that we're just a part of. And so just as it is physically in the universe, so it is true spiritually. Yes, we have a relationship to ourselves.

We have a responsibility for ourselves. And we are supposed to care for ourselves. But that cannot be the only thing or the supreme thing, or else we're desperately in trouble.

And so when it says that he died for all, it is to bring to an end a kind of lifestyle, a life, life focus that is self-destructive and damaging, that they should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. Now, so we could just ask the question very simply, am I living a Christ-centered life? Is he the greatest reason for my life? Or is it really just my own interest, my own desires, and my own fulfillment? Do we gravitate to Christ, or just to ourselves, and so on? Now, I'm not going to get into Romans chapter 6-8, but a lot of that section of the Book of Romans is taken up with this foundational struggle with indwelling sin. And the fact that we are called upon in Romans 6 to respond to God as those who are alive from the dead.

I think that could very well fit with what is being taught here. And so what is characterized as sin over and over again in Romans 6-8, or the flesh, is actually given here as as described or defined as being living unto ourselves. And so the message of Christ, the message that comes to us from God through Christ, is not just another start, where we start all over again, like Adam did, but it's a new creation in Christ.

And so he says in verse 16, wherefore henceforth know we no one after the flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. So again, he's pulling back into this framework, which comes about because Christ died for all men, all mankind.

Because Christ died for all, God is finished with men in the flesh, according to the flesh. He's finished with the old creation. He has no ongoing relationship to it, except as a faithful creator to a perishing creation.

But he is reaching out to us, desiring to establish a new relationship to us through Christ. And so Paul is saying, I am going to let this be my framework of understanding. And so my, again, the way I look at other people now, is not as a Jew to Gentiles, or a Pharisee to the other Jews.

I am not going to judge people according to their clothing, according to their money, according to their personality, or their nationality, or to their position in society. I am not letting any of these natural, or earthly, or worldly aspects determine my attitude and activity toward them. Rather, I see them as those who are perishing under the judgment of God, who are on their way to judgment, on their way to hell, but they're not there yet, and who may be rescued, and who may be able to be reached with this love of Christ.

Now one thing that this, if we truly grasp the greatness of this truth that is being taught here, it would completely take away intimidation in our hearts. We wouldn't be afraid of anyone, or anyone in any position, because we would simply see them through eyes of compassion, of pity, and of a desire to see them rescued. And then he goes further to say, even yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.

And this may be a little bit more challenging to understand, but I think it's not simply, he's not saying that I knew Christ before he died, but rather it's this changed viewing, or rather saying, Paul now looks at Christ with different eyes. At one time, he had looked at Christ as a rabbi who made spiritual claims, who claimed to be from God, but along with the nation of Israel, Paul had agreed with the crucifixion of Christ, and he thought, he believed, that he ought to blot out the name of Christ, and to battle against anything relating to Christ. And so he had viewed him as a blasphemer, as a false messiah, but now he understands.

Now he sees, he looks at Christ, and he sees God's love. He sees God's redemption, and God's plans and thoughts, and so he has tremendously changed appreciation of the Lord Jesus. So this again brings a challenge to me.

Do I let my true spiritual relationship with God, through Christ, determine my relationship to the world around me, to govern my life, and to govern my attitudes? And does it establish my sense of responsibility to the people that are around me? So verse 17 then, he says, therefore, in view of all of this, if anyone has come into this relationship with God now in Christ, he's a new creature. Nothing less than a new creation has taken place. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new.

Now it's, you probably remember Revelation chapter 21, where after the creation itself is dissolved, and the heavens and the earth pass away, and there's a new heavens, and a new earth, and the one that sits on the throne makes this wonderful proclamation, behold, I make all things new. That's going to be when it comes into effect physically for the whole creation, the whole universe. For now, it is only spiritual, but it is still irrevocable, and it is eternal in its effect.

In other words, as Christians today, as a Christian, I am now in Christ. That is, I have a relationship to God. I belong to God in and under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I would suggest that this headship of Christ, standing in contrast with Adam as head over the creation, this begins in resurrection. The Lord Jesus came into the old creation. He took his place among us, and he died representing humanity.

And then through that death for us, he has enabled us to escape from the old creation and his judgment. And through his resurrection, he brings us into a new relationship with God, with new promises, with eternal promises, and blessing, and favor with God. And so he's head over a new creation.

And then, of course, those of us of the present time in the church, we have an additional beauty of relationship in that we are part of his body. We have a union, a life union with Christ. Not only is he head over us as those redeemed and going to spend eternity in the presence of God, but as being part of the body of the church, he's head of us as head to a body.

And so a new creature, a new creation. And this, of course, is drawing attention to the great reality that this is something far, far greater than the old covenant. That wonderful revelation of God to Israel at Mount Sinai, which must have been such a tremendously wonderful thing to them.

And which was their glory as a nation, that God, the eternal invisible God, had manifested himself to them, had taken up relationship with them. And through them, he was going to reach the rest of the Gentiles and so on. All of that has been superseded.

And even though Calvary would seem to be the absolute contrast with Mount Sinai, yet it's the beginning of the new creation. It's the foundation for eternity. And so God's power and glory are involved in salvation in a way that transcends, that supersedes the old covenant.

And so it uses this word, a new creation, because it links us back with the original creation as being a direct work of God, the creator. And so my salvation and your salvation is an act of God, of new creation, life and power. So it's interesting that these concepts are picked up in the New Testament.

In Ephesians 4 and 24, Colossians 3 and 10, our true identity is given as a new man created in righteousness and true holiness. That's Ephesians 4 and 24. According to the image of him who created him.

And so we need to really treasure this and enjoy this reality that our salvation is so absolutely secure in Christ, because it's an act of God in creative power. And so when it says old things are passed away and all things have become new. Again, as I remember, listening to exhortations and ministry on this passage, when I was a young Christian, it was nearly always given in the form of a challenge to us to be done with the past, be done with the alcohol, be done with the drugs, be done with the cigarettes, be done with the immoral habits and so on and so on and so on.

Now that's good exhortation and it's valid exhortation, but this is actually a spiritual reality to enjoy, not actually a command to try to follow. When it says old things are passed away, this is God's declaration. It's the end of all rights and responsibilities of the old creation in relationship to God and Adam.

God is finished with it. Old things are passed away. None of it has any validity and it's very similar to what would happen in a country, and I'm thinking even of Ukraine right now because of what's going on there.

Those citizens of Ukraine, if the Russians completely overtake that country and establish their government over it, and make it part of their empire once again, the Ukrainian citizenship is something that would be just simply worthless. It would have no meaning, no value. It would only be whatever they could become under a new government, a new kingdom, and so we have a new citizenship.

We have a new relationship in Christ with God. All things are become new and this is, again, it's because God has brought this into being. He has given to us eternal life.

He has given to us relationship to himself as our father and he has made us part of this new creation, but it also means, and this has great implications for the rest of the chapter, when it says that all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and given to us the ministry of reconciliation. This sets the terms for God's relationship with people who are not saved, and that is this, that God is interested in people. He is long-suffering to people, but he will not and cannot tolerate anything that belongs to the old to become part of the new.

The old has to be renounced. It has to be left behind, and so first of all when it says all things, how does it put it now, therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away.

All things are become new and all things are of God, and so just as the creation in the first place came into being perfect from the new creation is perfect, but the distinction between the first creation and the new creation is that the new creation will never, never experience contamination. It will never experience corruption of sin, and there is something that is new and distinct in the new creation from the original creation. That is, there was innocence in the beginning of the first creation, but there is righteousness at the beginning of the new creation, and so we share in that just as Ephesians 4 teaches.

We are created in righteousness, and so we have in the core of our being a new life that is holy, that is righteous, and that corresponds to God, and so perfection is assured in the new creation, and so then this links us with the in-between God and the present world. It's this great thing called reconciliation, so I want to spend a bit of time thinking with you about what it really means, what reconciliation is, and what is taught here in the passage. Now, if you look up the word for reconciliation in the New Testament, there's actually three words that are used, translated as reconcile or reconciliation.

The base word is the same in all of them. It's different prefixes. Now, the first two are very similar to each other, and they mean to change or to exchange, and it's interesting how this word came into being.

It was used, first of all, of money, and the idea of exchanging money, whether it's exchanging different currencies and or reconciling accounts, and it's interesting that in accounting, if you have an accounting software, it will talk about reconciling the account, and I used to always wonder, well, what does it mean to reconcile your accounts? Well, it's to bring them into harmony, and so this is an aspect of reconciliation that I think in some ways we have missed in our general teaching of reconciliation. We generally think of it in simply in the sense of changing from enmity to friendship, and that's obviously a primary sense in which it's being used, but in changing enmity to friendship, Romans chapter five says, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. It means more than just becoming friends when we were once enemies.

It also means being changed so that we are now in harmony with God, so that the causes of enmity are removed, and that's even better than just patching up after a fight, because you can patch up after a fight and decide to be friendly again, and yet you are still really very distinctly different between yourselves and opposed to each other, whereas I believe that the concept of reconciliation that is taught to us in the New Testament goes beyond that to this idea of being brought into oneness or unity of harmony with God, and so the words that are used, the words used here in 2 Corinthians 5, as well as in Romans 5, is that same word, which means to change, to exchange, and then there's another word that's used in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 2, that's the very same word with an additional prefix that just simply intensifies it, and it has sometimes been translated or expressed as to reconcile completely, and in Vine's dictionary, I think he says to change from one condition to another so as to remove all enmity and have no impediment to unity and peace, and so that's a beautiful idea of the of this intensive form that's also used in the New Testament. Those two are very much in harmony with each other, very similar to each other. There is one other word used, I think it's only used once in the New Testament, and that's in Matthew 5 and 24, when it speaks about if your brother has something against you, you know, leave your sacrifice at the altar and go and first go be reconciled to your brother.

That word is different. It has the same base, but the prefix added to it means mutual hostility, changing or yielding to mutual concession, and so while I'm pointing out to go into all this, it's just to just to emphasize this. When we're talking about being reconciled to God, it never uses this word.

It never implies that God had to change or that there was any change in God toward us. God always loved us. God was always faithful towards us.

He always desired our good. All of the problem was on our side, so we have this beautiful expression here. All things are of God who has reconciled us, and so we have definitely here God taking the initiative.

It is God who moves toward us to reconcile us to himself, and so then so verses 18 and 19 then bring this into focus, and so the reconciler is God himself, and so we can say this very, very simply. God is always eager to save, so 1st Sympathy chapter 2 in verse 4, in contradiction to the teaching of the Calvinists who want to limit the love of God, who want to limit the will of God, the desire of God towards all of mankind. The scriptures say God our Savior who desires, who will have, it's a sense of desire, who desires to have all men to be saved, and then on the other side of the coin in 2nd Peter 3 and 9 where it says he's long-suffering.

He's not willing. He does not will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and so the very desire of God, the eagerness of God is emphasized in all of these verses, and I love to link with this Luke chapter 15, the story of the parable of the prodigal son. That father, just if you just remember the story, when he was a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion, ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and so there's that eagerness in the heart of the father that we see revealing the very heart of God.

So when we think about reconciliation, I've come to appreciate reconciliation as really answering the deepest questions that sin has raised about God. And again, I don't want to pick on the Calvinists too much, but they don't come out very well in a passage like this, because they also claim that God determines every sin that takes place in the universe, that even though he will judge it, and just quoting one of them, he says that God decrees the very sin that he will judge. That's simply not true.

God is not the author of sin. He did not desire sin. He did not make man sinful in order that he could show his grace.

Sin came out from the heart of a creature who wanted to be a rival of God, and who raised others, including us as human beings, into rebellion and revolt against God, and to deny God, and to war against God. It is God who in his love, in his goodness, has reached out to us. God could have crushed all rebellion by supreme power.

He could have reigned supreme in his universe, and he would have had perfect right to do so, but it would never have shown him as he fully is, and nor could we have loved him as he is in all his fullness. So in reconciliation, he has chosen this costly way in which both his righteousness and his love are fully displayed and vindicated. And so as we look at the cross, and this brings us back in the verses that we started out with, it's the love of Christ that was the focus.

Now it's really the love of God, and they are equal. They belong together. They are in harmony.

And so it is so utterly humbling and melting to look at the cross, and to think of that expression from Colossians, he made peace through the blood of his cross. That there's something so melting in that, that we can't hardly grasp it. That it took his death to make a righteous peace for me to shelter in, so that I never have to face the wrath of God against my sin.

And so in reconciliation then, God has moved toward us, and that's what's emphasized in verse 19, where it says, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. And so what does that mean then? I don't think when it says God was in Christ, that this is referring primarily to the concept of incarnation. We could say truthfully that God was in Christ, that Christ is God manifest in flesh.

That is clearly the truth, but I believe this is really saying that God was at work in and through Christ, to reconcile the world to himself. And so it is in Christ, and by means of his sacrificial death, that God was effecting reconciliation. God himself is the peacemaker.

And so as you look at this, then I think we could appreciate that reconciliation is more than just something that happens on our part. It's something, it's, there's something more than just what takes place in the heart of a sinner, who has a change of heart towards God, who instead of being opposed to God and sinning against God, now turns in love and sincere appreciation and faith towards God. But it takes into account this whole issue of what sin has caused.

Sin and the law combined together, combined to make the throne of God a throne of judgment. And God must reckon lawlessness as trespass against him. And so sin reigned, as Romans chapter 5 says, sin reigns unto death.

But now through Christ, through the sacrifice of his son, excuse me, sin is dethroned. And now we can say, according to Romans 5, that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. And so again, as I see this passage, God has taken the initiative, and God has taken care of all of the issues between us, so that we can be appealed to without any hindrance, without any other conditions being attached, that we would be reconciled to God.

So included in that is this interesting expression. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. So what does this mean? I don't think that it means, I mean, I could say with certainty, it does not mean that everybody's saved, or that no one is going to hell because there's no more sin to judge.

What does it mean? This is really expressing the attitude that God is taking towards the world today, and it is this. He is not now holding court against men. He is saving men.

Now I know that some Christians, and I remember a dear brother who was trying to reconcile all these concepts in his mind, and he had this amazing theory about two judges, and that all of God's judgment was exhausted by Christ, so that God has nothing more to say to men about sin, and that now Christ is the judge, and that it's between us and Christ now, and if we don't accept Christ, well, then he holds us accountable, but if we do accept him, well, then his death holds for us, if we're God, and it just, it's just one of those logical knots, as they call them, that human reasoning cannot untie, and so it's not that God is now satisfied, but now Christ has to be satisfied in some way. No, this is really saying that God, in his attitude towards humanity today, he's holding back his judgment. God is taking up relationship to man today as Savior.

He is God, our Savior. It is only when that is exhausted, and men refuse his salvation, refuse the offer, the terms of peace, the terms of reconciliation, that ultimately men will come into that place where they must face the judgment of God, and they will find that in that day he will impute their trespasses unto them. He will judge them according to their works, and hell tragically is being filled, and the lake of fire will be filled with those who have rejected what God has offered them at the cross.

But I believe that through what God has done, and through this wonderful truth of reconciliation, both God's goodness and his justice will be vindicated forever, and there is no one will be able to ever stand before God and to be able to blame him for where they are and what happens to them. So we have this reconciliation that has been made possible for us. So then we have further expressions called the Ministry of Reconciliation in verse 18, and then in verse 19, the Word of Reconciliation, and they're almost saying exactly the same thing.

The ministry is this mandate that has been now entrusted to us who have been reconciled, whose hearts have been changed from enmity to love and affection and closeness. We have experienced this reconciliation, and now we are entrusted with this same gospel to carry it to to others. And then it's called the Word of Reconciliation, or the Message of Reconciliation, which would describe the terms of the gospel, the terms of peace between God and men.

So now then he talks about being ambassadors for Christ. Now some believe that this term ambassadors is limited, that it is limited to the apostles, it would be limited, we might say today, to full-time workers and to those who God calls to be evangelists and so on and so on. I'm ambivalent about that.

I couldn't say dogmatically one way or the other. The one thing that could convey some of that is that the very word ambassador is very closely linked to the idea of the word elder, and refers to someone who is aged, aged, and it suggests maturity and dignity and so on and so on. And so there are some who have very strong convictions that that's what that means, and I'm just going to leave that, and in some ways I would just assume not restrict it, and just leave it to this reality that we who have been saved, we have this wonderful privilege of not only experiencing reconciliation, but also being those who have the privilege of speaking on behalf of Christ, speaking for God, as though God, he says, did beseech through us.

And that's just a wonderful thing to think about, but it's a tremendous responsibility at the same time. And so I would just point out in verse 20 that twice where the word you is used here, it's actually italicized, and it doesn't belong to the original, and probably isn't really intended in the sense, because Paul is not here in verse 20 appealing to the Corinthians to be reconciled to God. As Christians, they have already embraced the gospel, they have been reconciled, but he is saying that as towards the world we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God himself is beseeching through us.

And he says we pray, we plead in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. So this is the attitude that we are called upon to have towards those who are around us. So then the basis for that, verse 21, is given an explanation of that.

For, he says, why is reconciliation effective? Why is this whole thing possible? What is the foundation of it? For, he, that is God, has made him, Christ, to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made, or we might become the righteousness of God in him. Now, in both cases, made him, and that we might be made, both of those are used in the sense of imputing something, reckoning something, putting to account. To put it very simply, the sin did not belong to Christ.

When it says he was made sin for us, Christ never became sin. He never became sinful. That is carefully guarded in this verse.

He never, never experienced sinning, but he was made accountable for it. He was treated as though he were sinful. Our sin was placed upon him, and he was made answerable for it.

So this is not referring to imparting some quality or character to a person, but what is held to that person's account. So, on the one hand, on our behalf, he died, taking our place, representing us. From God's standpoint, God made him sin for us.

God put sin upon him, put it to his account, and he endured it for us. So he was judged and punished as sin deserves. And then, when it comes to us being made the righteousness of God in him, again, this is not directly talking about imparting righteous character to us, but rather counting us righteous.

This is the truth of justification, as taught so clearly in Romans 3 and chapter 4 as well. And so the righteousness of God that we have, as expressed here, is not our own, but it's in him. Because he died for us, he cleared us, and he made us righteous before God.

And so it's not here talking about righteous character imparted to us, but that through his justifying work for us, we are permanently, eternally cleared from all sin and declared righteous through faith in him. And so, as now are standing before God in Christ, we express the very righteousness of God in him, and God is glorified in this. And so this goes back, right back to Isaiah chapter 45, where we have God calling out to the world, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.

And as that chapter comes to a close, it says, surely shall one say in the Lord, have I righteousness and strength. And so, yes, our righteousness is in God. So may the Lord encourage us to contemplate, first of all, that love of Christ, that act at the cross of giving his life, paying the cost, bearing the judgment that belongs to us.

He did it for us. And as Paul contemplates that life, he says, this gives me no choice as to how I'm going to live my life. I must live it in harmony with that, not only towards sin in my own heart, but towards my attitude towards people around me.

And so the ministry of reconciliation flows out from this appreciation of the love of Christ and of that grace of God. So may God grant us to appreciate it. Let's pray.

Our Father, we draw near. We are conscious that as we look at these verses that they are so much greater than our hearts can truly embrace. We pray that we might be filled with love and appreciation, but also with confidence that this work is a work that is valid both now and forever.

And that as we convey the word of reconciliation to those who are still in darkness, who are still enemies, who still despise and reject the name of Christ, that there may be some that we can reach, that we can be able to plead with them on your behalf, that we might see them saved. Our Father, we would long for this, and we pray that the Lord's hand may not be shortened, that it cannot save today. We acknowledge your faithfulness.

We acknowledge your grateful, your greatness. And we pray that before this world is convulsed in judgment, that there might be many yet saved. So we give thanks and trust ourselves to you in our Savior's precious name.

Amen.