WHAT THE
CROSS DID FOR US
Reconciliation:
We have peace with God
2
Corinthians 5:17-19
Jerry A
Collins
SCC
v What does it mean to be reconciled to God?
v How is one reconciled spiritually?
v What is the result of spiritual reconciliation?
The Civil War was carnage. Then
Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy died. And Ulysses Grant of the
THE EFFECT THAT RECONCILIATION
HAD
1. A New Orientation 16
Here is the transition from the human
life organized without reference to God and His purposes to the new life we now
have in Christ (15). First, we recognize no one according to the flesh. The
world says it is all about whom you know. Recognizing other people, having an
awe of them is important. An earthly focus is too narrow a focus and not
eternal. Second, even though have known Christ in the flesh.
When Jesus was alive and walked on the earth He was actually seen and some in
this group may have. But that is a limited appreciation of Jesus. He is so much
more important than that. Third, yet now we know him in this way no longer.
Paul could acknowledge that first hand. He had had information about Jesus and
His followers and attempted to eliminate them. But He was struck by the
crucified and risen Lord Himself personally and had radically altered His life.
It’s the mistake of rabbinical Judaism for instance which emphasizes Jesus’
life on the earth, presented as Messiah. He is so much more than that. He is
crucified and resurrected Savior for Jews and Gentiles.
2. A New Identity 17
Therefore,
because Jesus died and rose again; (1) we are new creatures. When you
trusted Jesus as your Savior it is not that we have a new way of looking at
life. We are not renovated but you are a new creation. (2) Old
things passed away meaning that such things as sin and death, but especially
the power of the flesh to overwhelm you, and its viewpoint about life without
reference to God and His purposes have changed. (3) New things have come in
play. Things like living in the Spirit, denying the flesh,
understanding the Bible.
3. A New Effect 18
All of this is from God. Specifically
there are new things that have come about as a result of our relationship with
Christ and they are from God Himself. (1) Who reconciled us to Himself. So God was the initiator, the one
originating reconciliation, causing the reconciliation, and receiving the
results (us) of the reconciliation. This is the first use of this word
and it means ‘to effect a change’. Reconciliation indicates that Christ’s death
removed God’s enmity against man. Like the 1st creation God
initiates the new creation. Like the 1st creation the new creation
becomes a reality thru the work of Christ—He is the agent of both creations.
Everything of salvation is centered in and focused on Jesus Christ. He is the apex, the central figure by reconciliation can be
established and all changed.
THE MINISTRY THAT
RECONCILIATION DELIVERS
And gave us
the ministry of reconciliation 18b. Reconciliation
involves removing rebellious and sinful man’s enmity toward God making it
possible to be reconciled to God. Christ made peace with God possible so that
one can pass from God’s wrath to His rescue. Even though Christ did this work
thoroughly so there is nothing left to do, people still need to believe it and
be saved. So we take this message and deliver it in our ministry of reconciliation.
People must personally receive Christ’s payment for our sins (Jn
THE EXTENT THAT RECONCILIATION
REACHES
1. To
the world 19
God was making peace with the world
when Christ’s work was done. There is something in God as well as in man that
must be dealt with before there can be peace. God put away everything on His
side which meant estrangement. This is what makes the gospel serious business.
It is God’s condemnation of the world and it’s sin—it
is the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men (Romans
2. Our sins no longer count
against us. When people are called to receive this reconciliation in
relation to God it is not that we are no longer against Him but that He is no
longer against them. There would be no condemnation therefore to those who are
in Christ Jesus. God was putting away His own condemnation and wrath. Our sins
are no longer a barrier to God or a burden of guilt. In Christ God put away His
wrath by placing it on His Son and gave Him our condemnation so we could be
reconciled.
THE WORD THAT RECONCILIATION
GIVES
When God put away our condemnation of
us and our sin, He could send word through His apostles to declare the news to
us. Among these was no one more profoundly changed than the apostle Paul. It is
a word of deliverance from guilt, from judgment, from wrath. from
condemnation and from alienation. God has initiated reconciliation. Take it.
THE CALL THAT RECONCILIATION
MAKES
Because God has committed this word of
reconciliation to us, we are (1) ambassadors for Christ. The one constant
throughout this passage is that reconciliation was made possible in Christ (6
times). (2) God appeals through us. God has chosen in our age to make Himself and the gospel known through us, the church. Not
just our testimony of how we live but speaking the Gospel. (3) Be reconciled.
It is a person’s free will choice to receive the provision thru Christ’s death
for our sins. As ambassadors for Christ we are to beg people to receive Christ
and be at peace with God. There is no peace unless they do. (4) God made this
happen and it is a supernatural thing 21. His Son who had no sin at all, this
innocent one, like a lamb led to slaughter took all our sin on Himself and paid
the consequences of it on the cross so that we might become clean in righteousness
of God Himself thru Christ’s death. The divine exchange.
SO WHAT?
1. There is no reconciliation without
Christ. God condemned the entire world in Adam so that all of the world might
be reconciled to Him.
2. No one can blame God for their own
eternal judgment.
3. Every generation of believers must
maintain the integrity of the gospel and share it urgently. It is one ministry
we will never have in heaven.