The Controlling Love of Christ: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Amen. I'd ask you to please remain standing and turn in your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. We'll be reading through verses 10 to 15, focusing this morning on verses 14 and 15. Here now, the inspired word of God.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God, and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.

We are not again commending ourselves to you, but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God.

If we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. And he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you again, and we ask you, just pray that you would be pleased to bless the preaching of the word. Lord, that you would speak your truth to your people, and Lord, that it might even be those today who become your children through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We thank you and we praise you in the name of our savior and king, Jesus Christ, and all his people said, Amen. Please be seated. When I was a teenager, I was dating a girl whose grandfather was a member of a moose lodge.

I don't know if you're familiar with the organization, but a moose lodge was and is a social club that was created back in the late 1800s, initially meant for men to gather and drink and form business relationships.

Even in the beginning, it had a veneer of religiosity. Membership required a belief in a supreme being. A Bible was required to be present, and even in an elevated position, and prayers, though generic, were routinely offered.

And over time, this social club evolved. They began to engage in various charitable efforts, especially addressing the needs of youth and the elderly. The club also began to incorporate more and more family activities.

Today, the moose lodge looks very different than it did back in the 1800s, but yet even in our modern times, some things remain the same. They still have the Bible present, they still offer prayers, and membership requires still a belief in a supreme being.

Of course, one look at their diversity statement makes it clear that that supreme being is not necessarily the God of the Bible, even the Bible that they require to be present. And even the membership itself is somewhat arbitrary.

From their website, it said this, membership can mean different things to different people. You are the one determining what you want to get out of the organization and what you want to give back. Sweet, right?

Ultimately, it's all up to you. Sure, you're under the auspices of that organization, but really, you get to decide what that means to you. You decide what you want to get out of the whole thing, and what, if anything, you want to contribute back.

Sadly, that's how many view Christianity today. I don't know how many of us would say it outright in so many words, but our conduct often betrays our convictions. We make a profession of faith, we claim our belief in the core tenets of Christianity, but then left to ourselves, how often do we live as though what membership means is up to us?

We decide what we need, and what we want to contribute, and then we assume that God agrees with us, or at least understands. But is that what Christianity is? Is it just the best of all social clubs? The one club that can grant you access to eternal life?

But while you're here, on this side of eternal retirement, you just live in a way that seems best to you? After all, we're not under law, but grace, right? That's not genuine Christianity, but it seems to be the Christianity of many.

And when we are confronted with what the scriptures, that are always hopefully present, require of us, expect of us, we balk and cry, that's legalism. When we hear preaching, or teaching, or counseling, that exhorts us to do the difficult thing, we say, I can't do that.

But why? Why can't we do what God tells us we should in his word? Because our perspective is wrong. We're always focusing on the wrong thing. We're looking at the obligation, but not at Christ. We're looking at the challenge and how we feel about it.

We aren't thinking about Christ, and how he has loved us, and enabled us to overcome that challenge. You know, sometimes in ministry, we think that people just don't know their obligations. And sometimes they don't.

There are believers who still don't realize, don't appreciate, just how comprehensive the word of God is, and how it does truly speak to every area of our lives. Other times, we do know, but we forget, because we're a forgetful people.

But many times, the real issue is, we have lost sight of what's supposed to be motivating us every day of our lives. Now what should be motivating us is, the love of Christ. My three points here today are the heart, the doctrine, and the application.

And they kind of spill all over each other, but I'll try to give you something orderly. I titled the sermon this morning, The Controlling Love of Christ. And as it relates to our text, the purpose is to demonstrate how the love of Christ is to impact us.

Many people hear, controlling love, and think, I don't like the sound of that. To a world that still follows the prideful desire of our first parents, that desire that says, we want complete autonomy, we want to be like God, it makes sense that we would respond that way.

Some might think, controlling love sounds toxic, sounds like a bad afternoon after school special, if you remember those. Jennifer and Brad, tune in next week. But to a world that has seen the abuse of control, and to a world that has seen the abuse of love, yeah, it sounds suspect, it sounds scary.

But this controlling is of the most virtuous kind, because it stands in relation to Jesus Christ, the sinless son of God. The one who came voluntarily, humbling himself, taking the form of a servant, and lived to accomplish what we fail to accomplish, and died to take the judgment we deserve.

His love truly is the most virtuous example of love. And it's a love that brings the ultimate blessing and benefit. It's perfect. It's complete. And we, we are the objects of his love. If we're like, yeah, maybe we don't know ourselves as well as God does.

And yet his love for us is not some mere, empty profession. No, Christ has proven his love, in the most incredible and undeniable way. And not only has he proven his love, his love has accomplished something.

It has accomplished a change in our very reality, as we know it. We, the people of God, are a new creation, as the Bible tells us, are a new creation. He has changed us. And his love for us has brought about our love for him.

It's life-changing, and it ought to be a controlling factor in our lives. It certainly was for the Apostle Paul. You know, here in this passage that we just read, he's alluding to his opponents, right?

And he says that you may be able to give an answer to those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. He's showing the contrast between him and them. And he's providing an explanation for what motivates him and his fellow workers to do what they do.

He does this for a reason. There's a reason he's bringing this up. It's because he's concerned about the souls of the Corinthians. He's concerned that they're going to be led astray, that they will claim Christ, but not the real Christ.

Because as he reveals later on in 2 Corinthians here, his opponents were really proclaiming another Jesus. They were of a different spirit. They were offering a different gospel. His opponents made themselves out to be super apostles.

And Paul says, but they're false apostles. They focus on the outward appearance and they ignore what's in the heart. They were filled with pride and arrogance. They were self-seeking rather than self-denying.

And he was afraid that they would lead the world astray. And that's another example. But Paul says, the love of Christ controls us. And how deeply Paul recognizes this. Because Paul knew what it meant to be zealous.

He had been zealous before. His life work had been to eradicate the early church. If you're familiar with his story, he goes from town to town with arrest warrants. He's looking to scoop up any converts to this cult, the way, these early Christians, and throw them in prison.

When they're put on trial, he votes against them that they would be executed. This was the zeal of Paul. And then as he was busily going about his life, going on his way, heading down the highway, seeking to rain more terror on the church, Christ comes and reveals himself to Paul.

And everything changed. What would change a man so radically that he would forfeit the prestige and comfort of being a well-respected Pharisee? All the status that goes with that. All the respect that goes with that.

And instead, he would forego it all to live a life of continual hardship and persecution, just pouring himself out every day that others would know Christ. What would change a man so radically that he would go from killing Christians to eventually becoming martyred as a Christian?

Because the love of Christ controlled him. Because he concluded this, being convinced by God himself, that one died for all, and therefore all died. He finally recognized that Christ was a representative that he and I and you so desperately needed.

For him, Christianity was not a social club, where he could arbitrarily decide how much he wanted to put into it and get out of it. And unlike the false apostles, he knew it wasn't a means of self-promotion or self-seeking.

For Paul, Christianity was identifying with Christ, his Lord and his Savior, and responding to the love that Christ had shown him. Paul, who had studied the Scriptures for years, an expert, finally recognized that they pointed to Jesus Christ after all.

The love of Christ, the heart of Christ, that's the foundation. Now let's talk about the doctrine. Let's talk about the meaning of it. When he says that one died for all, therefore all died, he's alluding to one of the core tenets of the Christian faith.

The things that he had told the Corinthians and countless others time after time after time in all his journeys and all his preaching, he says Christ died as our representative. Each one of us stands guilty before a holy God.

The Scriptures testify against us. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And here's a case where all means everyone. All of humanity has sinned. And the Scriptures also inform us that the wages of sin is death, hell, eternal damnation.

But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We stand guilty and we deserve hell. No matter how good you are, the law says guilty. And God is a righteous judge. And the penalty for sin must be paid.

The only way to escape the judgment is for someone else to take your place. So who do you know who would take your place? Who do you know who loves you so much that they would cast themselves into hell forever so that you could go free?

How many people would you do it for? But even if a parent, a spouse, a sibling, some other loved one, a close friend was willing to sacrifice themselves for you, they're not eligible. Because they have to pay for their own sin.

And they can't pay for two debts. So the Lord saw our helpless estate and he sent his Son. And the Son of God came willingly. He was motivated by love to be our representative and to take our penalty and to give us his righteousness in exchange.

He took our identity and gave us his. And our identity he had to take all the way to the grave, to the cross, and to the burial ground. It was our sin that nailed him to that cross. It was our sin that he had to take the wrath of God poured out on him.

Because he had taken our identity and all the sin that went with it. And when he died, we died with him. When he rose again, we rose with him. So that we might now live, Paul says, not for our old self.

Our old self was enslaved to sin. Our old self was good for nothing except storing up wrath. All your accomplishments, apart from Christ, everything that you're proud of, everything that you're taking with you and you would boast to others about, it's kindling.

It's meant to be burned. You're storing it up so it can be ash. You may have earned the admiration of others, but the admiration of others is no consolation to those in hell. It doesn't comfort you in the slightest.

No. But for love, Christ died for all. And therefore all died. Our old self, if you're in Christ, is dead. You know, the same idea is conveyed, that is conveyed in 2 Corinthians 5 here, just briefly, just alluded to, is given in greater detail in other places.

In Romans 6, verses 5 to 11, you can read a lot in Romans to dwell on this. But he says,. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

For he who has died is free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death is no longer master over him, for the death that he died, he died to sin once for all.

But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. He says the same thing, essentially, in Galatians 2, verse 20, more condensed. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. Again, the same concept, over and over and over again. This is part and parcel of Paul's message, everywhere he goes.

And what is expressed corporately in 2 Corinthians 5, 14, 15, that one died and therefore all died, is expressed here in Galatians personally. He died for me, because he loved me. He gave himself up for me.

I have been crucified with Christ, who loved me and gave himself up for me. I've got about a thousand more of these. No, I'm just kidding. This doctrine of the atonement is not something cold and clinical.

It's not just a matter of writing off a debt, and offering forgiveness for nothing. Christ has demonstrated his love for us by dying in our place. Taking the fullness of the punishment we deserve, and now his identity becomes our identity.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. What's the scope of this?

Some might ask. What does he mean by all? I feel it's important to mention this, even if briefly, because the question comes up, well if he died for all, well then aren't we all forgiven? If he died for all, then our punishment is taken away, and we're free to go.

It's a topic many people wrestle with. Did he die for everybody? But notice the personal perspective of Galatians chapter 2. He died for me. I was crucified with him. And in Romans 6, there's more of a corporate view with references to us and we and our.

And in 2nd Corinthians, we have the most scaled down version of this doctrine of atonement. Because right here in 2nd Corinthians, he's not trying to explain the whole thing again. He's using it as a reference point to make his real argument.

So the all that he uses here is just a reference to a previously established category of people. Namely, all those to whom it applies. Not all people universally. In his epistles and his letters to the churches, he's generally speaking to how Christ relates to not all people, but to his church.

His bride. The fact that Christ didn't die for everyone is seen in a number of passages. I'll just mention one for the sake of time, but it's so clear if you read it for what it's saying. In the Gospel of John chapter 6, verses 37 to 40, it says this.

Jesus says, All that the Father gives to me will come to me. And the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

This is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me, all that he has given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone, everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him, they will have eternal life.

And I myself will raise him up on the last day. So the question, does the Father give everyone to the Son? If he did, and his will is that the Son would lose none of them, that would mean everyone would be saved.

And if we take a cursory view around the world, we see that's not the case. Not to mention the fact that scripture testifies, Jesus himself talks about hell and judgment, more than anyone else in scripture, because there are people who are going to hell.

Later on in chapter 10 of the Gospel of John, we see Jesus talking to the Jews, the religious leaders, and telling them, you do not believe me. They keep asking, are you the Christ? He's like, I've told you, and you don't believe me.

Because you're not my sheep. He doesn't say, you're not my sheep because you don't believe me. He says, you don't believe me, because the nature of you is that you are not my sheep. When he talks about sheep there in chapter 10, he says that the sheep know the voice of the shepherd.

He says he calls them by name. This is how personal salvation is. On the one hand, we have this corporate. He died for all. And in other places, he makes it clear. He died for you. He died for you. And he called you by name.

And that's when you finally realize that he was the Savior. Christ did not die to make salvation merely possible for an unnamed mass of people. No, he set his love upon a people predestined before the foundation of the world.

And it was all according to his sovereign will. It wasn't because any of us deserved it. We were his enemies, the Bible tells us. And Christ died for us. And it's not that we were any sort of great thing.

In the beginning, the very beginning of 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he says, consider your calling, my brethren. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble. He says, God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

And he's chosen the weak things to shame the strong. Well, don't you feel important now? You're an object lesson. None of us were worthy of being given to the Son. And yet he gave us. And the Son loved us.

And gave himself up for us.

Died for us.

Not to mention living for over 30 years as a servant. Being scorned and rejected. Dealing with all the hostility that he might live the righteousness to give to us. Everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life.

And I will raise him up on the last day, Jesus says. Some people may struggle with this. But it's all in the realm of the sovereignty of God. Some may think, well how do I know if I'm chosen? How do I know if I'm one of those who have been given to the Son?

Can I tell you? That's the wrong question. Look on Christ. Behold the Son of God. Do you believe in him? Do you believe that you're a sinner? Do you believe you deserve judgment? Do you believe Christ came for sinners?

Do you believe that he's Lord? That God has set him above all power and authority and dominion? Do you believe? Then call on his name and be saved. You don't have to worry about the inner workings of all the theological concepts from A to Z.

Just embrace the spiritual reality that is Paul's mantra in all his epistles. Here in 2 Corinthians 5, in Romans 6, in Galatians 2, in Colossians 3 that we read earlier. Recognize that Christ died for you.

He died in your place. And you share in that death inasmuch as your old self was crucified with him. And now that the life you live is lived not for yourself, but for him. And so Paul reminds us, believe these things.

Embrace this reality. In Romans 6 he says, consider yourself dead. Here in 2 Corinthians 5, he says, having concluded this. Why does he have to tell us to like think about it? Shouldn't we just experience it and feel it and know?

Shouldn't it be just a feeling that overcomes and takes us? He tells us because we still struggle with the flesh. And we don't always feel what is true. And if you're aware of a famous Scottish preacher, what does he say?

Don't ask me what I feel. He goes, ask me what I know. Because our feelings will mislead us. Paul lives in light of what is true. Not what he feels. What is true is the knowledge that motivates him. And that knowledge, the love of Christ, the accomplishment of Christ is objectively true.

It's true for him. And it's true for you. And just as it was a controlling factor for Paul throughout his life. Since Christ stopped him on that road. It ought to be a controlling factor for us. From here until we see his face.

So what's the application? Exactly. Say it for those in the back. What's the application? Well, we've already said it, haven't we? These points are so closely connected, so interwoven. It's hard to mention one without tripping over the others.

We have the love of Christ as the foundation of what he has accomplished. And what he has accomplished. The death of our old self. And new life in him. Has major, major application for us. Our life is not our own.

If I was one of those celebrity pastors, I'd say, tell your neighbor. Our life is not our own. Don't do that.

Good grief.

Our old self has been crucified. And has been crucified so we might no longer live for ourselves. Living for ourselves, by the way, if we've forgotten already. Was just on the path to hell. Living for ourselves was just storing up wrath.

But he died for all so that we might live for him. Who died and rose again on our behalf. The love of Christ compelled Christ. To come and to set us free from the death that we deserve. And to set us free from the futility of our old ways.

Our old way of thinking. Our old way of acting. He came to set us free. The life that we have in him is real life. Real living.

True freedom.

People think Christianity, that's the religion of no, isn't it?

No.

Alright, that one time.

Christianity.

Freedom in Christ is freedom from the tyranny of our sin. That we're a slave to our every whim and desire. Our selfishness that gets in the way of all our relationships. That makes us miserable because we want what other people have and we can't have it.

Is that what you want to hold on to? Christ gives us freedom from all of that. All the heartache it brings with it. The life that we live in him ought to be lived in light of the love that Christ has shown us.

Lived in light of the spiritual reality he has accomplished for us. Now the question is, does the life, the love of Christ control you? Do you live for yourself or for the one who died and rose again for you?

To live for Christ does not necessarily mean that you have to be a missionary like Paul. But you are called to live for him wherever you are. One of the reasons I decided to preach a sermon was we're going through J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism.

And we're going through a brief study with Ligonier. J. Gresham Machen lived a hundred years ago. And he faced some of the same stuff we're facing now. And he had a stand for truth in the midst of the liberalism.

In his own seminary. And his own denomination. It was spreading like a plague.

Right there in the church.

A false Christianity. Another Jesus had somehow crept in. And was being embraced. And leading people astray. For Machen the controlling love of Christ meant upholding the truth. Even as he was shoved out of the seminary.

Shoved out of the denomination. He stood for truth. And he spent the remainder of his life exposing the deadly errors that were creeping in. And proclaiming the true gospel. And sound doctrine in keeping with the gospel.

Most of us. Most of us aren't going to have a platform like the Apostle Paul. We're not going to even have a platform like J. Gresham Machen. Our calling will be in the trenches of everyday life. Where most of the world doesn't even know we exist.

Most of the world is not going to see how you live. But that doesn't mean your obligation to live for Christ is any less significant. Than Paul's obligation.

Why?

Because while the whole world may not see how you live. And whether you're being obedient or disobedient. Living for yourself or living for Christ. You know who does? Jesus. The one who died for you. The one who bled for you.

The one who experienced everything we deserve to its fullness. He's watching you. And also the people that he has placed you in the midst of. That you might represent him to them. So your life is to be a life of obedience.

And obedience that is joyfully, cheerfully offered in light of the love that Christ has shown us. We should be grateful to obey him in every area of our lives. But living for Christ means self-denial.

We have to say no to our flesh and yes to Christ. So will you live for him? Even if it means risking your reputation. Your status. Your comfort. Will his love control you when you need to overlook an offense?

Or when you need to lovingly confront an offense? Will his love control you when you need to consider others more important than yourself? When you need to show love when you don't want to. When you need to show respect when they don't deserve it.

Will the love of God, the love of Christ control you? When you need to inconvenience yourself. And sometimes in major ways. When you realize that living for him, will you live for him? Even if you come to realize that it means that all your plans that you had for your life are going to be disrupted.

Just tossed out. Will his love control you? Even if it means major changes. Major changes in your outlook and in your life. Because the consummation of all things has not yet come. Though we live in the light of this new reality.

We'll still struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil. But the life that we live ought to be in growing conformity to his life. To his image. Do we love as he loves? Do we obey the father as he does?

Do we search the scriptures to learn how we ought to live? And then do it? Or do we make excuses? Do we avoid making ourselves aware of the obligation by reading his word? We just, we don't have time.

So we can't know everything that's in there. As we fix our mind on this truth. That one died for all. Therefore all died. And he died for all that they who live. Might no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.

May we remember the love of Christ. And the love that he has shown us. And may it motivate us to love and to live for him. May we remember what he has accomplished on our behalf. And that he has set us free from our slavery to sin.

From our old self, our old ways. May we rejoice in these truths and live in light of them. As we've considered this brief little text this morning. We're confronted with several things. Christianity is not another social club.

It's not an organization that calls on you to decide how much you want to participate. To decide what you want to get out of it. And to decide what you want to contribute. Christianity means that Christ died for you.

He took away your sin. He saved you from the very pit of hell. It's life changing. He died so that you might no longer live for yourself. Are you getting that? I don't know if I've said it enough. We don't live for ourselves.

But for him. May the love of Christ motivate you to live for him. And for those here who don't know him. Perhaps you've heard the gospel message time and again. Maybe you're sitting in a reformed church like, but am I elect?

Am I chosen? Did the father give me to the son? Look at yourself. Do you recognize you're a sinner? Look at Christ. Do you recognize he's the savior? He's the only one who can save you. He's the only one who can deliver you from the eternity of hell.

That you are rapidly approaching. Don't put it off. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. Call on the name of Christ. And be saved. And may the love that he has shown you. Create in you a love and a devotion to him.

Let's pray.