Tag: reconciliation

August 3rd 2024: 202nd Anniversary Service – Adrian Brake

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2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2

Reconciliation

The fact that Penuel, Roch is still alive and kicking in these dark days is because God still has work for you to do. What is that work, that contribution? God has a message He wants people of this area to hear. He has appointed you to deliver the message on His behalf. It is a message they must hear. The churches responsibility is to proclaim it. It is a message of reconciliation for a broken world, reconciliation through Jesus Christ.

What is the message of reconciliation God has to deliver, and how will it be delivered?
What does it mean to be reconciled? The bringing together of two parties that have previously estranged, where there is ill feeling between them, a huge gulf, where’s those two warring parties have been restored to a peaceful relationship.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 we see the most wonderful reconciliation between a holy, righteous God and wretched, guilty sinners. It is tragic when we read of the beginning of scriptures when God created us to have this life-giving, soul-refreshing relationship with Him. Yet, we are at war with Him, poles apart. Why? Adam, our representative, rose up against the God who created him. He wanted to live life according to his own terms. Adam had once enjoyed perfect fellowship with God, walking with Him in the cool of the evening and talking with Him. What a picture of God, Adam and Eve, walking and talking in the garden.

In next to no time they are completely shut out of the garden because of sin, because of rejection. That beautiful relationship is spoiled. That is our relationship too; we are determined to walk away from God, rising up against Him (Romans 8), going our own way. We, who were created for a relationship with God, are the children of God’s wrath. What an awful situation. We are all born into sin. Yet, against this dark background, we read in 2 Corinthians of those far from God, restored to Him and living in fellowship with Him.

  1. Reconciliation: something God has done for us.

Reconciliation on a human level is when 2 individuals fall out, two nations fallout. Someone outside the conflict seeks to bring them back together, or the person who has caused the estrangement sees what happened and recognises what they have done, then approaches the person, asking for forgiveness.

Here, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is not what has happened. The one who has been sinned against, the one who is utterly blameless, He is the one who has made a glorious decision to settle the dispute. He has come down and reached out to His enemies who deserve nothing. He has come down to bring peace. This is an act of God. Astonishingly, in verse 20 He comes to people and pleads with people. Amazing Grace. He is utterly blameless when the other party doesn’t care, then goes further and pleads with them. He implores us to escape His wrath and enjoy His love. Incredible! He makes the way of reconciliation.

To think we were living in sin, sinning ourselves to hell at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, God comes to you and to me in grace. He brings the gospel to you and reveals that before the creation of the world, God purpose to bring you to Himself. Then, astonishingly, He takes it to another level – humbling Himself and pleads for you to come to Him.

  • Reconciliation: something God has done for us in one person (v.18-19).

This is why we must preach the Lord Jesus Christ – because He is the only one who can make this reconciliation possible. Without Him, there could be no reconciliation. He is God’s gift to us so that reconciliation might take place. The son of God comes in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to the believer. He is precious. Everything.

  • Reconciliation: a work God has done for us.

This is a work God has done for us both in His Son’s death and life. Jesus Christ had to live and die for us to be reconciled to God (v.21). There is something we have that we must get rid of, and something we don’t have that we must be given. Before we can be reconciled to God we need righteousness. God cannot fellowship with sin. He hates sin and delights in righteousness. Righteousness is when we adhere to God’s law in all its fullness. We need to be perfect, flawless law keepers. This is what God requires in a person who wants fellowship with Him. Perfection! How can we ever come to Him? We are lawbreakers.

How can we ever have a perfect record? That is where the Lord Jesus Christ comes in. He comes into the world as a real human being. He lives a perfect, utterly obedient life – the only human being to have this perfect righteousness. He lived this life for His people. Every time He obeyed God, He did it on your behalf. He loved the Father with all His heart, soul, mind and strength and did it on your behalf.

When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, all His perfection becomes ours. When God looks at you, He sees His Son and He sees perfection, and He is able to have fellowship with us, “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 5:21). If you are in Christ, you have nothing to answer to before the throne of God. Everything He did is yours. We need righteousness. We have it in Jesus Christ.

We have sin. We need to get rid of it. How? We can’t just undo them. It is sin that spoiled everything. Until it is settled you can never move on. Sin separates us from God, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). God does not count the sins of His people against them. God does not hold them against us.

How can God let us escape, cancel the record against me? He does. It is the gospel. How? “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 5:21). He sets us free and cleanses us of our sin because He has dealt with it through His Son. There, at the cross, Jesus Christ took responsibility for your sin. That life of stubbornness, rejection of God was placed on Jesus Christ and He was accountable for it instead of you. He died that death for you. God punished His own Son. How deep the Father’s love for us.

Will we ever understand how much the Father loved His Son? Yet, He did not spare His Son. Jesus Christ went to the cross willingly. He knew what was ahead, the horrors, the bitterness of the cup, yet He went willingly. We live. Far from God, in rebellion, God appoints His Son to spare us what we thoroughly deserve. He comes into this world, humbles Himself, lives a life of sorrow to establish a righteousness for us. He does all this so we can come to God, that we might live with Him forever in heaven. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through His Son, through the blood of His cross.

What is wrong with our world? People are estranged from God. True joy, life, energy, and purpose can only be found in a relationship with God. We have a message to declare to the world – God is a God of incredible love who, in love, sent His Son into the world and has made a way for us to be reconciled to God. We are the only ones, Christians, who have the answer to the world’s pain and misery. It is our privilege to bring the message.

June 24th 2018: Dave Evans

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dave evans-june18“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The Bible describes a Christian in many different ways. We are citizens of a new country, His sheep, branches of the vine. Perhaps there is no more amazing statement then to say we are a new creation. Paul is writing years after his conversion, after missionary journeys, yet he still has that sense of wonder that has happened to him and every believer. The apostle’s heart still seems to throb with wonder, surprise and the joy he experienced in Damascus, when his eyes were opened physically and spiritually. This note of surprise and wonderment spreads its way throughout the Bible (Isaiah 43:18).

There is a great promise, new things will be accomplished. The Bible speaks of a new man, a new song, a new creation, new heavens and new earth. In Revelation 21 we read of John’s great vision, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) On that final day the alterations in this universe will be beyond our imaginations. The truth is, even seeing the wonder of our universe now, will be lost in the glories of the new heavens and new earth.

There is going to be the new heavens and earth, but if we are believers, we are already God’s new creation. To be a Christian is to experience the new birth, regeneration. A Christian is not someone who has outward physical change, someone who has been air-brushed and looks better than reality. Ezekiel speaks of one heart, and a new spirit, “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 11:19).

The greatest change is the change of heart; we’re a greater wonder than ever the new heavens and earth will be. Are we believers? Have you known this alteration in your life? Old principles have been changed with new views of truth. Does God speak through the Bible to you? Your destiny is seen in a new light, a new aim of your life.

How has this change come about? “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18). All things are of God. Genesis tells us that the first creation came into being when God spoke. His divine power is the source of creation. The great tragedy is, since the Fall, all humanity is plunged into disaster. We are dead in transgression and sin. But God is still sovereign, His power is still at work. Every believer has experienced the creating power of God’s Word and grace in this life. It is God who commanded light to shine into darkness. What we could never do for ourselves, God has done (Ephesians 2).

If this is what God has done, on what basis has He done this? We are sinners by nature, hostile to God. Our sin cries out for judgement. How then can there be newness of life? God has reconciled Himself to us. The barriers that separated the sinner from a holy God have been removed.

Generally, when we speak of reconciliation, we speak of two parties coming together. Here, this reconciliation is all God’s work. Whilst we were at enmity with God, He worked reconciliation through His Son. How? By not imputing our guilt to us. That which we deserved has been imputed to another, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God has taken our sin and laid it upon the Son, and in Hs death all those who come to know Him are looked upon as having the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ rose from the dead, we how share in that newness of life. The risen Christ sends for His Holy Spirit and breathes life into those who were dead.

The challenge is how do I know whether I am a Christian, a new creation? Paul highlights just two evidences:

  1. This change has brought about in Paul a great change of attitude (2 Corinthians 5:12). Paul is obsessed by God, “For the love of Christ compels us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Now he has come to true soundness of mind and understanding. He is compelled by the love Christ has for him, a love beyond explanation, to proclaim the gospel. Does your love of God compel you to share the good news?
  2. Paul is compelled to live his whole life for Christ (v.15). Paul challenges us to consider where our first priority lies. Too many people today live for things which will ultimately destroy them. What is your first priority – work, family, possessions? These are all important but if we are living for them, then there is something wrong. We are called to live for Christ. Ever seek to maintain to put Christ first. Be like Paul who lived sacrificially.

As believers we have a change of attitude to the person of Christ and others. Paul says his view of Christ has changed (v.16). There’s a change in Paul’s thinking. How do you see Christ – just as a teacher, a moral person? Or do you see Christ in an altogether different light – as a God-Man, eternal God, the only hope for lost sinners, whose unfathomable love led Him to die so you have reconciliation with God?

Has there been a change not only to how you see the Saviour but to others? How do you see people? Do you see by nationality, skin colour or gender? Paul now views people according to this new light – those in Christ or out of Christ, those who were a new creation or those who were lost.

As you go out and stand in a queue, in a crowd, people watching, do you now look at people and think, “I wonder are they Christians or lost and need the gospel?” Paul became an ambassador for Christ, his greatest desire. Is that our desire – to be ambassadors, to proclaim the gospel? If we are those who know this wonderful change, may Paul’s experience challenge us.