How often do we enter casually into worship before and communion with God because we have not taken time to consider who we are worshipping and communing with? Understanding who God is leads us to appropriate, biblical fear and awe. But the good news of the gospel is that God does not leave us hopeless in fear of his judgment. This God who spoke creation into being and sustains entire nations and is surrounded by multitudes of angels declaring his holiness has looked upon wretched sinners and reconciled us to himself. Furthermore, once we have been reconciled, he calls us to participate in this ministry of reconciliation for others. And when we fear God rightly, we obey him completely because we fear nothing else.
If you have that Word, or somebody around you, maybe someone whoâs close to you does so you can look on, I want to invite you to open with me to 2 Corinthians 5. Feel free to use the Table of Contents if you need to and let me invite you to also pull out the Worship Guide that hopefully you received when you came in that Iâm pretty sure will be a guide for our time together tonight. This text, and studying it this week and praying through it this week and this morning, has done an unusual work of conviction in my own heart, and so Iâm going to try to get through the notes, but if we donât, I apologize in advance. Thereâs just so much here that I needed to hear and I believe we, as members of The Church at Brook Hills, need to hear.
So letâs read the text, 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:10 and as we do, letâs just ask the Spirit of God to speak clearly to each of our hearts individually, but to our life together collectively as a church as well.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 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.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 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. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, âIn a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.â
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 5:11-6:10)
As Members of The Church at Brook Hills âŚ
Hereâs what Iâm compelled to pray for The Church at Brook Hills. What I want to call us to pray for in our lives and in this church based on this text.
May the fear of God captivate us.
May the fear of God captivate us. Verse 11, âTherefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade othersâ (2 Corinthians 5:11). Paul says, âI do – we do what we do because we fear God.â One of three hundred different times the Scripture talks about fearing God. Three hundred different times where everything really begins. Psalm 111:10, âThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…â
And so, when I go to commentaries on 2 Corinthians 5:11, I immediately read commentators who say, âNow what this means is reverence and respect, just like we see all throughout Scripture. To fear God is to have reverence and respect for God.â And I have no doubt in my mind that reverence and respect are involved here. But I believe when the Bible says, âthe fear of God,â I think it means âthe fear of God.â And when I read the Bible and I see people who came in contact with God. I see people who donât just have this healthy reverence and respect; I see people who are terrified. Isaiah gets a glimpse of the glory of God and his immediate reaction is, he says, âIâm dead. Iâm dead.â Ezra said, âI canât even lift my face before you, God.â
And some people would say, âWell, thatâs just Old Testament; thatâs Old Testament; thatâs before the cross.â No, New Testament – go to the last book in the Bible, Revelation 1 to John, the beloved disciple, the disciple whom Jesus loved. John gets a glimpse of Jesus in heaven, and he says, âAs soon as I saw Him, I fell over as though dead.â And then, he goes on to write about myriads and myriads, thousands and thousands of angels who are bowing down at the throne of God in awe, in dreadful fear of God.
Iâm just convinced that if we got just a momentary glimpse of the glory of our God, we wouldnât be standing. If we knew the gravity of the One we have gathered together to worship in this room, it would not be possible for us to stand. Weâd be on our faces immediately if we really knew. I look at my life and I see such a lack of fear of God. Such a casual approach to God. In my praying, âDear God, thank you for this food. I pray that youâll bless it to nourish our bodies. Amen.â What is that? Do I realize who Iâm praying to? Do I realize who Iâm talking to? God. Iâm just going through a routine so I can get to my food? Or when Iâm gathered together with others praying – when Iâm praying with other people, my mind wanders so much. Am I alone in this? My mind wanders. I mean somebody is praying to God, and my mind is over here about this little thing and that little thing going on in my life, and Iâm not even thinking about the fact that weâre talking to God. Even when Iâm praying in public, even when Iâm praying before you, I just confess, I pray and Iâm thinking, âWonder what theyâre thinking about what Iâm praying.â Itâs just horrible. So casual with God a praying and even preaching.
âIf you have a Bible, and I hope you doâ – just to think about that. If you have the Word of God in your hand, open up the Word of God, because Iâm about to speak on His behalf. Weâre about to listen to God. And do we realize the gravity of what weâve gathered together in this room to do? I hope that we have not gathered together to hear a good speech from somebody and music by a team. Like, then weâve missed the whole point. We have gathered together to meet with God. And yet Sunday after Sunday, it just feels like there is such a casual approach to what I/we do that must not be so. It makes no sense. This is cultural Christianity, a cultural picture of church that is so casual with the God of the universe.
And so, I want us to pause before we go any further and just think about who weâve gathered together to meet with, and that may mean silence in this room; that may mean reading Scripture. So God shows us His greatness all through His Word. And so I want us to pause and spend some time in prayer, and I asked the guys, earlier this morning – they didnât know what was going on, and I didnât really know what was going on, but I asked them to put some microphones in here. There are two in the middle and two in the front. If the Lord puts a Scripture particularly on your mind, a brief passage or verse, and you want to come to one of these microphones and read it – I am talking about verses that show us Godâs greatness, so not just your favorite Bible verses. Verses that show us Godâs greatness. And we donât want to hear your opinions, so weâll cut you off if you start saying anything thatâs not here. But if we could just for the next few moments and let God remind us in this room how great He is, and us just to pause and listen to nothing but His Word and think nothing but about Him and who He is and who weâve gathered together to meet with tonight. So, you feel free to stay where youâre seated, you feel free to stand, feel free to raise your hands, feel free to kneel up front here.
I think about Nehemiah 8. There was a day when it didnât take music to get people yelling out âAmen!â and bowing down. All it took was opening and reading of the Word. So letâs just contemplate the greatness of the One that weâve gathered before, and Iâll start with reading a passage and then feel free. We can sit in silence, or if the Lord leads, you can come to one of these microphones. I just want to let you know, we could do this all night and maybe we should, but I think thereâs some other things God wants to say also. So there may come a point where I kind of have to cut things off. So Iâll start praying when itâs time to move on. If youâre in line or something at a microphone, please donât be offended. My eyes will be closed, and Iâm not trying to cut you off in particular. Okay? All right. Letâs pray. Letâs contemplate the greatness of the One weâve gathered together before.
Revelation 19:11-16:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Psalm 97:1-6:
The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
Isaiah 40:21-26:
Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
Psalm 114:7â115:1:
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Exodus 34:6-8:
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, âThe LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.â And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
Isaiah 66:1-2:
Thus says the LORD: âHeaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Colossians 1:15-17:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesâall things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Philippians 2:5-11:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Daniel 4:34-35:
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, âWhat have you done?â
Psalm 47:
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!
Revelation 4:4-8:
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, âHoly, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!â
Matthew 28:16-20:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, âAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.â
Daniel 7:9-10, then 13-14:
âAs I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened⌠âI saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Psalm 90:1-2:
LORD, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Exodus 33:20-23:
But,â he said, âyou cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.â And the LORD said, âBehold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.â
Psalm 29:
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth[c] and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, âGlory!â The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Lord, we want to hear your voice tonight. We want to see your glory, to know your glory, to glimpse your glory in greater and greater ways. We pray that you would forgive us, forgive me, for the casual nature in which we so often approach you. Lord, we pray, yes, for reverence and respect, but for a healthy fear of your greatness and your glory and your majesty and your splendor. We pray that you would free us from casual routine approaches to worship gatherings and prayer. Give us, in our moments alone before you and our moments together before you, God, awaken our hearts to have a feeling sense of your greatness. Greater knowledge of your glory that you might be worshiped and glorified appropriately by us as your people. In Jesusâ name we pray. Amen.
2 Corinthians 6 Shows Us the Importance of Fearing the Lord
Just think for a moment about the way your life changes when you realize this is who God is, when youâre captivated by a fear of God. Look back up at 2 Corinthians 5, look back up in verse 6, because down in verse 11, he says, âTherefore, knowing the fear of the Lord…â So, you know heâs building on something that heâs just said, because it says, âTherefore, in light of this…â
So, whatâs he building on? Verse 6, listen to what he said. He said, âWe are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of (second time) good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.â (2 Corinthians 5:6-9) Listen to verse 10. âFor 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.â
So hereâs where I donât think that this is just reverence and respect for Paul here. This is fear. In his own life, he knows that one day he is going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He knows what I want to remind every single person in this room. Every single one of you, every single one of us is going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You are going to stand before Christ as your Judge one day. This God, who we just heard declare who He is, one day youâre going to stand before Him as Judge.
So Paul says, âAs a result, my aim and my life is to please Him. Thatâs my only aim. My goal is to please Him; we make it our aim to please Him.â I think about that in my life and even in my leadership in this church. My aim is not to please you or anybody else. Like, I could, in this sense, care less about what you think about me. Because I am not going to stand before you as judge one day. Iâm going to stand before Christ as Judge one day, and on that day, Iâm going to be held accountable for whether or not I did what He put in my heart through His Word and His Spirit to do. This is what – so I want you to see how fear of God then takes away fear of anybody or anything else. Thatâs what Paul is saying, âDo whatever you want to me. My aim is to please Him. Iâm going to stand before Him.â
So this is where we realize the beauty of the fear of God. Itâs what Proverbs 19:23 says. It says, âThe fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied…â Whoever has the fear of the Lord can rest satisfied. Why? Because youâre free from fearing anything else in this world. You donât have to be afraid of anything else. You donât have to be afraid of death itself, we heard earlier in testimony. You donât have to fear death. You donât have to fear man; you donât have to fear anything when you fear God. And it changes your – you live with courage in this world. Youâre not afraid to speak the gospel to those around you, that you work with. Youâre not afraid of awkwardness. Youâre not afraid of rejection. What youâre afraid of is standing before Christ one day and saying, âI didnât do what you left me on earth to do.â So fear that, not what man can do to you. Man is not your judge, Christ is your Judge; fear Him.
Then think about how that compels the way we live with others. Thatâs what he says in verse 11, âTherefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.â (2 Corinthians 5:11) And heâs talking about in ministry, heâs sharing the gospel with other people. Heâs trying to persuade them to come to Christ. He does this because of the fear of the Lord. Because he knows itâs not just him thatâs going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day; theyâre going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day. Think about your friends, your coworkers, your family members who donât know Christ right now. One day, theyâre going to stand before Christ as Judge. Could be tonight. Not one of usânot one of our friends, family members, coworkersâis guaranteed to make it to tomorrow. And so, fear of God leads us to persuade them today.
Here we realize, knowing the fear of God has a huge effect on the way we live on a day-by day-by-day basis. But we miss it if we donât fear God. So if we approach church, Christianity, as a casual, ho-hum routine, then weâre not compelled the next day to go up to our co-worker and say, âYou need to hear about Christ. I want to persuade you to trust in Christ.â Why? So they can be a part of the routine with you? No, when youâre gripped by the fear of God, you see your co-worker tomorrow morning and you know they donât know Christ and you persuade them to come to Christ, because you know that any minute theyâre going to stand before Christ as Judge. Youâre compelled to persuade them.
We talk about unreached people groups. Six thousand people groups, spanning about two billion people, who donât have access to the gospel right now, and these people groups, one day, every one of these two billion individuals is going to stand before Jesus to give an account for their life, and whether or not theyâve trusted Him for salvation. Having not heard the gospel, they will have no opportunity to trust in Christ. Theyâre going to stand before Christ as Judge and be sentenced to an eternity apart from Him. People who fear God and know that judgment is coming donât sit back and use all their resources making church more comfortable for ourselves. No, we lay down our lives. We let go of possessions. We sell the things we have and we give to make the gospel known to them, so theyâll be ready on that judgment day. We start re-looking at our priorities, even where we live and say, âDo I need to be somewhere among these unreached people groups, using my gifts, my skills among them to make the gospel known to them?â This is what is compelled by the fear of God. May the fear of God captivate us.
Now, I know what youâre thinking, âDoesnât God love us? Like, why just fear?â Well, Iâm glad youâre thinking that.
May the love of God control us.
So Paul, after talking about the fear of the Lord, starts commending himself and his ministry. Heâs describing his ministry. He says in verse 13, âFor if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for youââdoing this for you. And then he says in verse 14âa great phraseââFor the love of Christ controls us…â (2 Corinthians 5:14) The love of Christ controls us. I thought about just putting in your notes here âcompels usâ but itâs more than compel. Weâre constrained; weâre controlled by the love of God. One translation says, âThe love of Christ leaves me no other option but to live for Him.â Leaves me no – like, I am chained, in a senseâcontrolled by His loveâbecause Iâm convinced, âwe have concluded this, that one has died for all therefore all have died; and He died for all. that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him and for their sake, He died and was raisedâ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
Contemplate the immensity of Godâs love for all. So âHe died for allâ, verse 15 says. Now some people take this text and immediately go into universalism and say, âWell, that means everybody is going to be saved in the end because Christ died for all.â But thatâs not at all what this passage is teaching. This passage is clearly talking about those who have died with Christ, who have trusted in Himâwhich is what weâre going to talk about in just a second when it comes to reconciliation. But we do know John 3:16, âGod so loved the world that he gave his only Son…â Like, God loves this whole sinful world. He loves all. Second Peter 3:9, He desires all peopleâall peopleâto come to repentance through faith in Christ. He desires all people.
You think about the worst terrorist on the planet that our news and our country would have you despise. The reality is God desires that personâs repentance. He created that person in His own image. Just contemplate the immensity of His love for all. You think about your coworkers, neighbors, friends, family, people who live around you. God loves them all. He loves them all. And Christâs death is sufficient for all. He loves them all; He loves them. He loves them.
Meditate on the intensity of His love for (your name). But even as you contemplate the immensity of His love for all, then take another step and meditate on the intensity of His love for – and I put in the notes here – â(your name)â. So donât write â(your name)ââlike write your name. I have âDavid Plattâ in that line, but you donât write âDavid Plattâ although you can celebrate His love for me, but Iâm talking you put your name in that line. Thatâs what I love that about Paul. He says, âChrist died for allâ this whole picture. But heâs also –
Galatians 2:20, âIâm crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, 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.â Jesus gave Himself for me. Jesus loves me.
And so just let this soak in for a minute. Just think about all the passages that we just read. That God, around whom myriads and myriadsâthousands upon thousandsâof angels, at this moment, are bowing down, never ceasing day and night. And all the time theyâre singing, âHoly, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!â This is the God who calls the stars by name, someone read. The God whoâs the consuming fire. One guy this morning, who in that time, he read the passage in Kings where the 185,000 of the Syrian troops were gathered here together against the people of God and overnight, God struck all of them down. This is the God who strikes down 185,000 troops like that.
This is the God who spoke and all creation came into being. He spoke a word and you got light and darkness. He spoke a word and you got oceans and mountains. He spoke a word and you got animals. This is a God who right now is sustaining seven billion people in the world, and on top of that number billion people, Heâs sustaining animals and plants and weather and insects. Heâs sustaining every single detail and this God loves you. Just let that hit you right where youâre sitting. And not just the person beside you or in front of you or behind you. Right where youâre sitting. This God loves you. He loves you and you and you and you.
Just meditate for a moment on the intensity of His love for you. And when you do, itâll take control of you. It will take control of you. It will leave you no choice. This is whatâs so interesting; it goes so against the self-esteem culture that we live in. What we think love means is we need to think more about ourselves. The love of God for Paul causes him to think less about himself and more about living for Christ and others. May the love of God control us.
May the gospel of God connect us.
Now, what Paul does is he goes into a picture. Well how do we know God loves us? Next, may the gospel of God connect us. So this is the main part of this passage, verses 18-21. Weâre going to come back to verses 16 and 17 in a minute. Verses 18-21, he starts talking about reconciliation and he uses that word five different times in 18, 19 and 20, âbe reconciled to God; be reconciled to God.â And the whole picture is not just reconciliation to God but reconciliation to others.
If you remember the context, Paul has experienced conflict with the church at Corinth, and so heâs trying to write to bring about reconciliation with them, but he knows that reconciliation with them is based on reconciliation with God and understanding of the gospel. Thatâs what brings us together as the church, right? So connect us. This is what makes the church the church. The gospel of Godâa gospel of reconciliationâas God reconciles us to Himself, He reconciles us to each other. It brings us together. What unites us in this room is not gender or ethnicity or socioeconomic status or this kind of background or that kind of background, or this kind of political position or that kind of political position. No, we are brought together solely by the fact that we have been reconciled to God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 6 Shows Us that Sin Separates Us from God
So think about what this means. Just return to the gospel with me for a second for us as a church. In our sin, we were separated from God as His enemies. So members of The Church at Brook Hills, in our sin, we were once separated from God as His enemies. That was all of our problem. We were enemies of God. James 4:4, âIf anyone is a friend with the world, he has set himself up as an enemy of God.â Alienated from God, separated from God, alienated from God (Colossians 1:21). Because we all have sinned against God, every single one of us in this room has rebelled against this God, this God Who is holy, holy, holy. Every single one of us has said, âYou are not Lord of my life. Iâm doing things my own way.â Every one of us has said it. We have all turned aside from His way to our way. This is the God who speaks and ocean waves obey. This is the God who speaks and the clouds go out and come in according to His word. This is the God who speaks and everything in all creation responds in obedience to Him until you get to manâyou and meâand this God speaks, and we have the audacity to look Him in the face and say, âNo.â And in our sin, as a result, we have been set free from God as His enemies. So what has this holy God done?
Through our substitute, we have been reconciled to God as His friends. Just unpack this. Even in verse 14, when it said that One has died for all, that preposition âforâ means âin the place of.â â…[W]ho for their sake died and was raisedâ (2 Corinthians 5:14). In their place, He died and was raised. The same thing down in verse 21, â…for our sake (in our place) [God] made him who knew no sin to be…â (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is where through our substitute – hereâs the reality: We see from the very beginning of the Bible, because of our rebellion against God, we deserve to be separated from Him forever. The payment for sin is death, eternal death. All of us in this room meritâby our sin against Godâmerit eternal death. This is the reality of the Bible; it teaches from cover to cover. Sin leads to death, eternal death.
So what has God done? He has sent His Son to come to us and verse 21, âChrist had no sin in Him.â Had no sin. He lived the life that none of us could ever live. He lived a perfect, sinless life. But then, He died. Well, if death is the payment for sin and Christ had no sin, then why is Christ dying? Heâs the substitute for sinners. Heâs dying in the place of others. Heâs taking the payment of sin, due you and me, upon Himself so that we can be reconciled to God as His friends. And I emphasize that there.
Think in James 2:23, ââAbraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousnessââand he was called a friend of God.â Same kind of language that we see here in verse 21. We become the righteous of God, friends of God. And the reason thatâs so important – we talked last week about sanctification and justification in particular. Justification, in which God declares us, by the work of Christ and the cross – declares us ânot guiltyâ for our sins.
But that is not the end of the story. The beauty of reconciliation is that it takes us just another step further. One writer sums it up best. He said,
Justification is a judicial term thatâs used in the law courts. A judge may acquit an accused person without ever entering into any personal relationship with him or her. He just announces the verdict: Not guilty. The accused hardly expects to be invited over for dinner by the judge and probably hopes he will never see that judge again and the judge the same for him. But here the Judge enters into a personal relationship with the accused, which is necessary, because the Judge is the One who has been sinned against as the focus of the personal hostility. God does not simply make a bookkeeping alteration by dropping charges against us. Instead, God gives Himself to us in friendship.
How is this possible? Verse 18, âAll this is from God…â
So follow this; weâre going to go through this really quickly in your notes. So just get this. God is the author of reconciliation. God does all of this. William Temple said, âThe only thing that I contribute to my redemption is the sin from which I need to be redeemed.â Thatâs the only thing we bring to the table, is the problem.
Thatâs the beauty of this whole metaphor of reconciliation. Every time reconciliation is used here for a verb, it is a passive verb. Like: âWe are reconciled to God,â which begs the question, âWhoâs the subject whoâs reconciling us?â Itâs God who is reconciling us to God. Godâs the author of reconciliation. So follow.
Heâs the giver of the gospel. You donât reconcile yourself; youâre reconciled by God. Only God can do this in us. Weâre running from Him. Itâs only God who can make this possible. Then, Heâs the gift of the gospel. So what is the gift that God offers in reconciliation? Himself. God reconciles us to Himself. God gives us Himself. Verse 21, â…his righteousness.â In the gospel, God gives us Himself which is why we completely turn aside from contemporary teachingâpersuasionâin the church that says, âCome to Christ to get health and come to Christ to get wealth and come to Christ to get prosperity and come to Christ to get your best life and come to Christ to get this and come to Christ to get that.â No, we come to Christ to get God, and Heâs the One we want. Heâs the One we need. Take all of these things. We donât need all – we need God! Heâs the One weâre created to know and enjoy and worship and glorify forever and ever and ever. We want and need God, and He is the gift of the gospel. In the end, He is the goal of the gospel. The One who gives all this grace gets all this glory. God glorifies Himself in reconciling sinners to Himself. How does He do this?
Christ is the agent of reconciliation; reconciliation is only possible through Christ. Verse 18, â…who through Christ reconciled us to himself…â Verse 19, â…in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself…â Verse 21, âFor our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin (Christ) so that in him (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God.â So what does this mean? In our sin, we were separated from God as His enemies. Jesus came as our substitute. And what did He do? He suffered our separation. Meaning, He took our place as enemies of God. This is why in the darkness of the cross of that day, Jesus looks up into the sky and cries out, âMy God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?â In a mysterious picture of the Son becoming sin and taking the payment of sin upon Himself.
You think about the sins youâve committed in your life. Not that we can think of them all at once but think of the first ones that come to your mind. Think of those things that youâve thought or done that you would shudder to think of anybody else in this room knowing that youâve thought that or done that. Things that, if your sins are put on the screen right now, that you would just go running out of this room. And then realize those sins have been put on Christ. Thereâs payment for those sins, and He stepped in between you and that payment and took it. Suffered our separation and in so doing He secured our salvation.
So that He takes our sinâthis is the glorious, great exchangeâHe takes our sin, and we get His righteousness, so that right now, Christian, you stand before God and He looks at you, and He doesnât see all that sin. He sees the righteousness of His Son. This is glorious truth! He secures our salvation. And thatâs why – this is where Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. Now how does that become – how does that happen? How do we become reconciled to God? Now thatâs what Christ did on the cross. We talked about this; itâs not universalism – that for everybody, this just automatically happens. How is this appropriated in your life? How does this become a reality in your life?
Listen to James 2. âAbraham believed God, and that was credited to him as righteousnessâ (James 2:23). Romans 4 says the words that were accredited to him were not written for him alone but also for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered from death for our sins, and He was raised to life for our justification. In other words, God is the author of reconciliation, and Christ is the agent.
We are the acceptors of reconciliation. What do we bring to the table? We are simply the acceptors of reconciliation. You say, âHow can I be reconciled to God?â Believe 2 Corinthians 5:21. You say, âThatâs all?â Yeah. Believe. I know there are people here tonight who are not Christians. Youâre not a Christian; maybe you know youâre not a Christian and youâve come here just kind of exploring. Maybe others of you have grown up in some ways in the church, and youâve come in here maybe thinking youâre Christian, but maybe itâs more religious routine. You realized that you donât know God.
Tonight, I bring you good news. He knows you, and He has brought you here to hear Him say He loves you. I know the Word of God for you tonight. He loves you. And He is offering you, tonight, reconciliation to Him. And thatâs not an offer filled with lists of things to do. It is an offer that is free for you to receive, to accept and to believe tonight. To trust in what Jesus has done. To pay the price for your sin. To trust in who Jesus is as the Lord of the universe. I invite you. I urge you. I plead with you. I will persuade you in any way by the power of Godâs Spirit. Tonight, right now, even in this moment, would you accept His offer of reconciliation? Would you believe?
Now, like, can we even just pause – can we just pause and pray? And if you know youâve been reconciled to God through Christ, would you just pray now for people who may not know theyâve been reconciled to God through Christ? And if youâre one of those people, would you, in your heart, even right now, say, âGod, I want to receive this.â Would you trust in Him? Would you believe in 2 Corinthians 5:21 tonight, right now in this moment? That God made Christ who had no sin to be sin for you in order that you right now could be made righteous before God and reconciled to Him. Can you say that in your own heart? Say yes to God. 2 Corinthians 6:2, âToday is the day of salvation.â Donât wait any longer.
God, we pray that it would be so. We pray that across this room you would be reconciling people to yourself. That people right now would be trusting in you, knowing that they have been saved from their sins, and they would know the security of salvation in you now and forever. We pray these things in the name of Christ, our Reconciler. Amen.
When this happensâif this has happened in your heart tonightâfor all who have had this happen in your life, when that happens, we have an entirely new identity. Thatâs the beauty. Now backing up. Verse 17, âTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.â New creation. New heart. New spirit. New wants. New desires. New will. New life. Itâs what happens when we accept reconciliation; when weâre reconciled to God. Weâre now reconciled to the One whoâs created us to have life and enjoy life now and forever; transformed us from the inside out. An entirely new identity. Thatâs why Paul says in Galatians 2:20, âI have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. (I donât live anymore; Christ lives in me) The life I now live I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.â It all comes together. This is your identity. Christian, you are in Christ. Christ is in you. This is what defines you.
You are not ultimately a husband or a wife, a mom or a dad, single or married, widowed or divorced. You are not defined by how you look, by what you wear, by what you do for a living, by how much you make, by where you live, by who you cheer for. Your identity is not found in your gender, your ethnicity or your socioeconomic status. You are not defined by your past as an addict or an alcoholic or a victim of abuse in this way or that way. You are not what counselors would say you are defined byâyour genetic make-up or your past history. You are not what bosses might tell you you are defined byâyour present performance. You are not what parents and teachers might tell you that you are based on your potential in the future. No, you are in Christ. Christ is in you. He is your identity.
Do not let this world steal that away from you. Christ in youâChrist in you now and Christ in you forever. This is your identity forever. You have an entirely new identity, which leads to an entirely different perspective. Verse 16, âFrom now on therefore we regard no one according to the flesh.â Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, regarding thus no longer. This is what Paul is saying. We donât view the old from a worldly perspective anymore. It kind of goes back to what we said earlier about not boasting about outward appearance but itâs in the heart. We have an entirely different perspective on people. When we look at people, we donât see them mainly in terms of socioeconomic status, or ethnicity, or this, or that or how this world would define people by. We look at people. Theyâre either in Christ or without Christ.
If theyâre in Christ, we have an entirely different perspective on each other in the church. We love and we care for, we serve each other in the church. We lay down our lives for each other in the church. Thatâs what Paulâs saying here. He is saying, âChurch, be reconciled to God; be reconciled to each other.â
And then, an entirely different perspective of others in the world. You look at people around you. You look at your coworkers. You look at your neighbors and you see them. Are they without Christ? When you see them that way, it leads to the last part here.
May the mission of God consume us.
Church at Brook Hills, may the mission of God consume us. Now it makes sense. Verse 20, âTherefore we are ambassadors for Christ…â (2 Corinthians 5:20) Oh, what an image. Weâre ambassadors for Christ. Think about an ambassador from this country living in another country. Youâve got an ambassadorâa citizen of the United Statesâheâs living in another country. Heâs a citizen of the United States, but heâs living in a foreign country, and in that country, he represents the United States. In that country, he speaks with the authority of the United States. And this is where we remember, Christian, members of The Church at Brook Hills, this is not our home. This is not our country. What defines us? Itâs not American. Weâre in Christ. Christ is in us. This is not our home. Weâre strangers here. We belong to another city, another Kingdom. And weâre here as representatives of that Kingdom, with the authority to speak for that King.
2 Corinthians 6 Reminds Us that we are Ambassadors of Christ
We have been authorized to speak for God. Do you realize that we have been authorized to speak for God? This is exactly what Paul says. We are ambassadors for Christ. God is making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Think about it. We have been authorized to speak for God, to persuade people to be reconciled to God through Christ. Weâre persuading othersâthatâs what he said in verse 11ânot just giving information. Weâre working with persuasion. Weâre working to lead people to Christ. We donât just say, âTake it or leave it.â No, weâre persuading.
Not just persuading, weâre to plead for people to be reconciled to God through Christ. God is making His appeal. We implore you. 2 Corinthians 6:2, âIn a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.â Now is the time; now is the day of salvation. Thereâs some urgency here.
I remember sitting in preaching class with Pastor JimâDr. Shaddix at that moment. We were talking about – he was talking about persuading people to come to Christ, and he said, âIf I walk into a room and I see somebody I love or even somebody I donât love – I see that person in that room with a gun pointed at their head.â He said, âI donât look at them and say, âItâs your decision. Hereâs what I think but just do whatever you think is best.ââ âNo,â he said, âI get down on my knees and I plead for that person to not do this. I beg that person, âDonât do this.â I do everything I can to keep this person from doing this.â
So is this the way you approach your neighbor, your co-worker, even a casual acquaintance that you meet, who either you know doesnât know Christ or may or may not know Christ? Itâs not just, âWell, Iâll throw the gospel out there and hopefully maybe theyâll get it.â No, itâs that I want to plead with people to come to Christ. Are you pleading with people around you to come to Christ? Youâve been authorized to speak for God.
We are now privileged to work with God. 2 Corinthians 6:1, right after he says this, âWorking together with God, then, we appeal to you.â What a phrase! âWorking together with God…â How has God chosen to make this message of reconciliation known? You think about it. God could, right now at this moment, in the sky, in lights, in all those stars that He calls by nameâHe could write my name. He could write out 2 Corinthians 5:21 over Birmingham and over all these unreached people groups, and He could say, âHereâs the gospel.â He could spell out the whole Roman Road. He could write – tonight, He could get every single person in Birmingham, every single person in one of those unreached people groups, and He could give them all visions tonight where they see the gospel clearly; they could hear it and they have an opportunity to respond to it. He could do it. God has the power to do that. But Heâs not doing that. Why not? Because Heâs chosen to work with you; Heâs chosen to work with you. So let this hit right there in your seat too.
I was talking earlier about what an awesome thing it is to speak for God in preaching, but letâs not gather together here every week to hear one man speak for God and then move on with our lives. Weâve all got the Holy Spirit of God in us; weâve all got the gospel in us; weâve all been authorized to speak for Him. So you go this week and you speak for Him. Plead. Persuade. Weâve been privileged to work with God with Christ-like joy in a world of suffering.
Thereâs so much here that weâre not – Iâm just going to give you the blanksâthereâs so much more we could talk about. For those of you who just get annoyed if they donât have blanks filled in, here they are: With Christ-like joy in a world of suffering; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. With Christ-like purity in a world of sin, verses 6 and 7. Willing to do whatever we can for people to be saved by His grace. This is what I love about what Paul says in verse 3: âWe put no obstacle in anyoneâs way, so that no fault may be found in our ministry.â (2 Corinthians 6:3) Thatâs not Paul saying, âHey, I just want to be kept on the clear. I just want to make sure youâve got good ideas about me.â This is Paul saying, âIâve done everything I can to keep from being an obstacle to people coming to faith in Christ.â
So can you say that? Can I say that? Can we say that about people in our sphere of influence? Have we done everything we can to make sure that the only reason they have not trusted in Christ is because theyâve rejected Christ? Weâve made it clear. Weâve persuaded. Weâve pleaded. Weâve done everything we can, and so itâs out there, and the only thing thatâs keeping them from coming to Christ is their rejection of Christ. May it not be said that theyâre not coming to Christ because theyâve never heard it from us. Paul said, âIâm going to do everything I can do to make sure itâs clear.â Weâre going to do everything we can for people to be saved by His grace.
Then, finally, we need to be willing to sacrifice whatever He requires for people to know His glory.