Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Reading of Scripture

This is God’s Word, Amen!

II.

Introduction

A. Introduction to Text

The Holy Spirit preserved this word in 2 Corinthians through the writing hand and ministry of the Apostle Paul.

As an “apostle,” he is a special messenger appointed and sent by Jesus Christ, to proclaim the Gospel of grace and peace in Jesus’ name.

But Paul had a particular challenge ministering among the Corinthians and getting his message through to them.

He was a victim of a comparison trap.

Because there in Corinth, some apostles, called “super-apostles” (2 Cor 11:5) had invaded with all the outward adornments.

They had letters of recommendation.

They were skilled in oratory.

They boasted in their abilities.

But Paul calls them what they are — false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ (2 Cor 11:13).

I can’t help but to ask us:

Who are we listening to?

What voices are we listening to?

If you are inclined to reject this message about Jesus, why is that?

What voices are you listening to instead?

Who are they, and why are they credible to you?

If you are inclined to receive this message about Jesus, why is that?

What voices are you forced to ignore in order to hear the truth about Christ?

Why is Christ’s message more precious to you than what others have to say?

There is a difference between what is old and what is new.

What is old is what is seen.

What is new is what is unseen.

What is old is transient (or temporary), what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 speaks of Christians by saying:

This is why we approach God’s Word with a prayer: “Give us eyes to see.”

If we look only at what we can see, at outward things, we have not been made new in Christ.

As the Apostle Paul expounds the depths of the Gospel in this letter, which is written to a church —

As he explains what Jesus has done in coming to this earth, living a sinless life perfectly in God’s will, dying on the cross as a sacrifice for sin in our place, being buried and raised again to life — to give us a new life — Paul realizes that a new life in Christ leads him to see everything and everyone in a dramatically different way (LCC:NT).

A new way.

He makes five observations about a new life in Christ.

See if these five things are true of you.

III.

Exposition

The first observation has to do with the way a Christian views other people.

A. The “new you” knows people in a new way (5:16).

To “regard” someone is “to know” someone.

The “new you” knows people in a new way.

The “new you” sees someone differently than what you used to.

Your attitude toward people is new.

Your point of view is new.

The “old you” regards people according to the flesh.

But when we are made new, something changes forever.

Fleshly distinctions are removed.

2 Corinthians 5:16a (ESV)

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

To regard someone according to the flesh means to know them from a human point of view (NET).

To know people by what can be seen outwardly.

This leads to all kinds of problems for us.

In our flesh, we judge people by their outward appearance and we sin by showing partiality, and by creating distinctions.

But all of that goes away in Christ.

This means that as Christians who are made new, we do not see people from a human point of view, but we see people as God sees people.

We see the work of God that is done on what is unseen, on the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7b (ESV)

For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

As a new creation, we see people through the eyes of Christ.

The new way of knowing people is seen supremely in Jesus Christ.

During the Christmas season, we display nativity scenes.

Images of the baby Jesus — in the flesh.

But what have you done this past week?

You’ve likely packed up that nativity scene, and that image of baby Jesus in human flesh.

And you don’t see him in this way any longer.

Jesus did not stay human on Earth.

And while for a time, he could be seen walking the earth in human flesh, only those who were alive and with him in that small moment of history saw him that way.

What about the rest of us?

What about you and me?

We still see Jesus, but not from a human point of view.

We see Jesus with eyes of faith.

The “new you” knows people in a new way.

God’s Word then explains how this can be in verse 17.

B. The “new you” is a new creation in Christ (5:17).

Highlight that phrase “if anyone.”

That is an invitation for a new life, for anyone.

If you are hearing this message, you belong to that group of people.

“If anyone.”

And anyone is becomes known as a new creation based on one relationship: being in Christ.

Your life will have a moment of change.

When the old passes away, and the new comes.

Just as when you walk through a door, you leave one room, and enter into the next room.

You don’t leave part of yourself in the other room.

All of you enters the next room when you pass through the door.

In the same way, when God makes you new in Christ, your relationship in Christ guarantees that you are made new completely.

Your nature changes.

So much so, that the old things are no longer attractive to you.

This is something God did not do for his people, Israel, that God now does for us, in Christ.

God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, but God did not make them new when he brought them out.

Because in Numbers 14, and in other places, it records that they want to go back to Egypt.

Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and the old things have passed away.

So what does it mean to be “in Christ?”

What has happened to make make us a “new creation” in Him?

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 tells us, by telling us that

C. The “new you” has been reconciled to God through Christ (5:18-19).

Being those who are “in Christ” means something has happened between us and God “through Christ.”

And what has happened is this word “reconciliation.”

The “new you” has been reconciled to God through Christ.

The word “reconciliation” is a word that means “to exchange.”

One thing has been exchanged for another.