We Are Reconciled
Who Are We? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsGod has reconciled us to himself through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.
Notes
Transcript
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYVZKdK1pgU
Easter is a day when the resurrection of our Lord is top of mind. We sing songs focused on the reality that Jesus Christ lives. We fix our eyes upon our victorious Lord. He was, just days before, hanging on a cross, bearing the weight of our sins as he slowly died. He was rejected, beaten, marred, condemned, buried. But now, on Sunday morning, Jesus is no longer rejected but is now exalted. He is no longer beaten, but now he is beheld. He was marred beyond all recognition, but now he is the unmistakable Messiah. He was condemned, but he is now resurrected. He was buried but now no stone or guard can keep him in.
When Jesus Christ walked out of the tomb, we was not simply winning victory over death (though he was). He was providing the means whereby we can be reconciled with God. That idea of reconciliation saturates every page of Scripture from Genesis through Revelation - God has redeemed sinful man through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
But what does it mean when we say “we are reconciled to God?” What difference does the resurrection make, other than having a reason to celebrate Easter? Why does our reconciliation matter? That’s the question we endeavor to answer this morning; to do that, we’ll turn our Bibles to the book of 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians is a book written by Paul as a follow-up to another book (1 Corinthians). The church in Corinth has numerous issues, but most of them stemmed from them not living out the faith that they claimed. They were fighting over "evangelist power rankings,” some where eating in excess at meals and in Communion while others went without any food, and they proudly showed off their spiritual gifts of tongues without even bothering to interpret for those who did not understand. In a word, the Corinthian believers were worldly.
In his second letter, Paul focuses in on the difference that Christ’s followers ought to demonstrate: they must live like they belong to Christ. In chapter 5, he turns the attention of his readers to the reconciliation of God:
Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
15 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.
16 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.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 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.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Pray
In this passage, Paul zeroes in on the idea of reconciliation. Reconciliation isn’t just that your sins are forgiven. In fact, the word reconcile has two basic meanings.
Reconciliation: Conforming Us to the Standard
Reconciliation: Conforming Us to the Standard
One meaning of reconciliation refers to the idea of making something conform to a standard. You probably take time every month to reconcile your bank account, matching your checkbook and/or receipts with the bank records to make sure they both match up. You might reconcile inventory at work to account for waste or ensure that there is no theft. You might reconcile your ideas with reality as you implement a plan. In all these cases, reconciliation focuses on conforming to the standard.
When God raised Jesus from the dead, he was instituting his method to reconcile us to himself. He does that first by conforming us to his standard. We see this in several points of this passage:
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
15 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.
We have two instances of conforming here - first is at the end of verse 14. When Paul says “that one has died for all, therefore all have died,” he means that we join Christ in his death. We see this in baptism: we are “buried with Christ” as we go into the water. The symbol illustrates a conforming - as the symbol (Christ) died for sins, we also die to our sins. We are being made like him - dying to sin like he did.
Then look at verse 15. Why did he die? “That those who live (insert your name here!) might no longer live for themselves but for him...” Christ died so that we would not live for ourselves but for himself. He is conforming our will through his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, to align with his. He is the standard, and we are being conformed to his standard. That’s reconciliation! We are being reconciled like a bank account to the perfect record of God’s own Son (and not even the bank statement is this perfect)!
There’s another conforming in verse 17, a verse we should all have heard before:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Do you see the reconciliation in this verse. We used to be an old creation, marred by sin so much that God’s original image is hardly recognizable. But now we have been reconciled, and we are completely new. Look at the transformation of reconciliation: the old has passed away. The Greek word here means that it’s dead and gone - it’s extinct! Forever! And the new has now taken its place: a new creation that is born of the Spirit, washed in the blood, sanctified by the Word. We have been radically conformed to match our standard.
It’s a good time to reflect: have you had this kind of reconciliation, or are you still an old creation? God is willing to reconcile you today.
There’s another conforming in verse 19:
19 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.
The conforming reconciliation here starts with that word “not.” God, in reconciling us through Christ, not only conforms us, but he also conforms both our destiny and judgment: “not counting their trespasses against them.” Not only does he shape us to match the standard, he shapes our future to match the guiltlessness and lack of condemnation of our standard-bearer. Even us, sinful and wretched as we are! Paul goes through the anguish of dealing with the sinful nature in Romans 7: the good he wants to do he cannot manage, and he falls right into doing the bad he desperately wishes to avoid. He summarizes it all this way:
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
But then he says this:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
How in the world can these two statements be this close together? How can they be…reconciled?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
It is God who, through his Son, reconciles us to himself. Because he reconciles us, because Jesus Christ bore the burden and punishment of our sins, we no longer bear that burden nor that punishment. That doesn’t mean we don’t face consequences: we certainly do. But we do not face the wrath of God’s judgment because Christ took our place. And through faith in him, God conforms our judgment as he conforms us to our Lord. We no longer fear the “long arm of the Law” because the Law Giver is also the Reconciler!
Another conforming act happens in verse 21:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The first part is the how - God made Christ, the sinless Son of God, to become sin. He was despised and rejected. He faced the chastisement that brought us peace. But the second part, the why, shows reconciliation at work: “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Think of how much God has to conform us to take us, vile sinners incapable of any good on our own, and change us into people who not only do righteousness, but who are righteous. We cannot underestimate the grace God uses to pull this off. Even on my best days, my righteousness is dirty rags. When I do pull of good things, it’s often with bad motivations or half-hearted attitudes. I do it because I have to, or I do it to get recognized, or I do it while begrudging the one making me do it. Only God can change that kind of sinful arrogance into a genuine love for others that serves out of pleasure instead of pride, smiles with true happiness rather than bitter complaining, loves with deep compassion rather than hates with raging passion. It takes God reconciling us to make us righteous, and through Jesus Christ that’s exactly what he does.
Again I ask, have you been conformed to that kind of love - that kind of righteousness? Are you growing in the righteousness of God, or are you still living in the self-righteousness of Pharisees and hypocrites? God’s reconciliatory work can change you even today.
So a major aspect of reconciliation is that of conforming us to the standard - Jesus Christ. But there is another set of meanings in the word reconciliation. This one is almost completely relational. You can conform to a standard and it still be a somewhat cold relationship. But God is the God of warm relationship. Various places in Scripture, God states through his prophet that God works among his people, with the result that God will be their God, and they will be his people. That’s relational talk. That’s not just a cold transaction - that’s a warmth that brings us to a whole different kind of life. Not only does reconciliation conform us to the standard, it is also restoring us in relationship.
Reconciliation: Restoring Us in Relationship
Reconciliation: Restoring Us in Relationship
This idea is also common to us: we speak of former enemies being reconciled through a long process of working things out. Sometimes marriages teeter on the edge of divorce until a counselor helps reconcile the husband and wife. Sometimes reconciliation takes a very long time and great effort. Other times, all it takes is a simple apology and forgiveness. In each of these, a broken relationship is restored.
When God reconciles us to himself, he is mending a broken relationship. Our sin rips apart our relationship with God. We become enemies of God, not because he forsakes us but because we forsake him. We turn our backs to him. We alienate him. We leave him. We break the relationship. When Adam and Eve sinned, God did not refuse to meet them in the garden in the late afternoon (the “cool of the day” in Genesis 3). They hid from him. Man has broken fellowship with God.
Restoring Us in Relationship with God
Restoring Us in Relationship with God
But God takes the initiative to make things right, to restore the relationship. Jesus’ death on the cross extends God’s ofter of forgiveness. Watch it work out in 2 Corinthians 5:15:
15 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.
He died for all. Not just for some. Not just for the worthy. Not just for the good-looking or good-behaving or good-earning or good-whatever-ing. He died for all. And the relationship takes on a different form because of his death… “that those who live might…[live] for him who for their sake died and was raised.” He takes on the task of restoring a relationship that we broke:
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Get that? While we were sinners - while we were the enemies of God, he chooses to love his enemies and to actively and unilaterally restore the relationship. He didn’t have to. We didn’t deserve it. But he loved us anyway. That’s reconciliation! Look at verse 19 again:
19 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.
Do you see the relationship in that first part: “God was reconciling the world to himself?” Not just reconciling us to a standard, and not even reconciling the world to righteousness. It’s not reconciling us to a what, but to a whom. To himself. Look at verse 20, another familiar verse:
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
God not only brings us into right relationship, he brings us into his mission, making us ambassadors and using us to accomplish his will. That’s not some kind of coersive, demeaning form of slavery. That’s us having a God-given purpose for which we were built. We are hammers looking for nails, and God’s got a massive building project and boxes of nails at the ready.
Look at verse 21 again:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Do you see the restoration of relationship? He did all this for our sake. He did it so that we might become - not just be or act out, but become. You cannot become apart from relationship, and God through Christ brings us into right relationship with himself, changing us forever and giving us the meaning and value we so desperately crave. But reconciliation isn’t just restoring the relationship between us and God: it’s also restoring us in relationship with others.
Restoring Us in Relationship with Others
Restoring Us in Relationship with Others
Reconciliation puts us in cooperation and in community with fellow believers. It allows us to bridge the gaps between us and to have genuine unity among each other. Part of the reason is that, as God conforms us to the standard of Christ and develops us to commune with him, he changes the way we relate with other people. Look at verse 18:
2Cor5.18
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
When God reconciles us, he gives us a ministry - reconciliation! That word for ministry is the same word we get “deacon” from. Another translation of that word is “service.” God has called us into his army, and we serve him by being agents of reconciliation. Verse 20 reiterates this:
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
We talked about this verse earlier, but notice the last half: our service to God as Christ’s ambassadors includes us calling others to be reconciled too. We are not just beneficiaries of reconciliation, we are also Christ’s voice calling to others to come be reconciled. We extend the invitation like a kid inviting friends to a party! We love others because God has changed the way we see them. Verse 16 really drives that home:
16 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.
Regarding others according to the flesh is the old way of doing things. We used regard them according to our flesh - with our motivations and our desires and our prejudices and our grudges determining whether that person is valuable in our sight. But not any more. God has given us a reconciliation that breaks down those fleshly opinions and establishes true, eternal gospel community.
We used to regard them according to their flesh - those who mistreat us get what’s coming to them. We used to shun those who wronged us, vilify those who argued with us, and demean those who were too demanding of us. But not any more. Because of the gospel we can be reconciled with one another regardless of our race, regardless of our upbringing, regardless of our social status, regardless of our political leanings, regardless of our culture, regardless of our generational differences, regardless of all the things that divide us and group us into small cliches and circles that exclude those who are not like us. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings reconciliation that allows any man, woman, boy, or girl to have genuine love and fellowship with other followers of Jesus. In a culture that screams out for reconciliation, the only means of achieving it is through the perfect Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and through whom God has reconciled us to himself.
What a great God we serve, who would send his Son to deign to our level, translate God into human form, demonstrate the holy standard through his life, die a perfect death to atone for our sins, and rise again in glory and power - what a mighty God! What an awesome reconciliation he has brought.
Have you been reconciled? Is God conforming you to his standard? Has your relationship with the Eternal Creator been restored? Are you