2 Corinthians 5:13-21 — Bruce Rodgers

The Love of Christ and the Ministry of Reconciliation

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.

Distrust Toward Paul and the Motives of Christian Service

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 and misunderstanding that some in the assembly had towards the apostle Paul and it would be it would seem a very very strange thing for any of us in writing a letter to an assembly to to talk about being beside ourselves and to have to talk as though assuming or 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 have 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 he's deeply concerned for them and I'm sure that probably any of us who have tried to serve God sincerely have have been sometimes confronted with with attitudes of other believers that is very very detrimental to us where they they either think we're just so extreme so fanatical that we're unreasonable we're crazy and so on.

And uh and so he's it's interesting that as he answers this he really touches on two of the essential motivations of this 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 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 of God's people that's that's really the foundation of our of our Christian life.

And so what he what he gets at in the next really the rest of the of the chapter is really unfolding this 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 and of our labors for him in the world.

The Meaning of the Love of Christ

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 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 how I understand it here rather than Paul speaking immediately as 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 and he is 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 is what is implied from it.

And so he is saying that 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 for the sake of the world to bring the world back to God in reconciliation.

And so as he says this 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 straight 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 is eliminated and you've only got this one channel to to follow.

And so he's really saying here that the 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 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 our focus in 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 and man-centered thinking and it would give great depth to our spirituality.

Christ Died for All

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 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 of course the you know 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 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 the importance of this. First of all the fact that Christ died is is an observed historical fact that's 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 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 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 it levels us all and it opens the the avenue of 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 this one statement absolutely denies and and dispels that thinking entirely one died for all and the 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. And 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.

Universal Death and Condemnation

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 and the fact that through sin mankind is alienated from God and in a spiritually dead condition.

And that certainly would be embraced in this 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 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 when we could say put it this way when Christ died he died representatively for all men it was really the 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.

Living for Christ Rather Than Self

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 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 that is so uh commonly given to us today in philosophy in our 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 our security our safety and our well-being and our balance and everything else is dependent upon that system that is 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 to 8 but a lot of that section of the book of romans is taken up with this 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 to 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 again he's he's pulling back into this framework which which comes about because christ died for all mankind because christ died for all god is finished with men in the flesh according to the flesh he's he's finished with the old creation.

Seeing People Through the New 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 uh or earthly or worldly aspects determine my attitude and 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 one thing that this if we truly grasped the the 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 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 hence for know we have 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 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 kind of a challenge to me. Do i 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. 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 for any christ 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 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 is standing in in contrast with adam's 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 as those redeemed and 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.

New Creation, New Covenant, and Justification

And this of course is 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 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 the 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 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 these concepts are are picked up in the new testament in ephesians 4 and 24 and 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 we need to really treasure this and 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 are 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 in the form of of a of a challenge to us to to let 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 if the russians completely overtake that country and establish their government over it and and take you know 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 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.

Reconciliation as Harmony With God

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 in 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's a new creation all 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 mind of god so everything in 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 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 is assured in the new creation. And so then this links us with 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 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. Reconciliation uh the base word is the same in all of them.

It's it's different uh 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 use 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 you you will if you have an accounting software it will it will talk about reconciling the account. And uh i used to always wonder what this what does it mean to reconcile your accounts you know.

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 to friendship romans chapter 5 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 are used here in second 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.

Now 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 to 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.

God's Desire to Save All People

And so then so verses 18 and 19 then bring this into 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 first sympathy chapter 2 and verse 4 in in contradiction to the teaching of the calvinists who 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 second 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.

So the very desire of God the eagerness of God is emphasized in all of these verses. And I and I love to link with this Luke chapter 15 the story of the parable of the parable of the 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 and 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 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 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 men 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 and they are 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.

God Reconciles Through Christ

And so in reconciliation then God has moved toward us. And that's what's emphasized in verse um 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 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 and sinning against God now turns in in love and sincere appreciation and faith towards God.

But it 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 sin 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.