Alright, if you would, turn to
2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Pick up in verse 18. Paul begins by saying, And all
things are of God. And when I read that, the weight fell off my shoulders. All things
are of God. All things in creation. Everything
I'm looking at right now, this is all my Lord's. He created
all of this. He's that powerful. All things in providence. Everything's
happening right now is just His will coming about and nothing
is outside of His will. He holds you and me in the palm
of His hands. He holds all things in the palm of His hands and
everything that's happening is simply His will coming about.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
And it's all good. That providence is all good.
It's all of God. He's in all things, especially
in salvation. And that's where the weight really
falls off. All things are God. All things in salvation. That
means it's completely and utterly out of my hands. And it's in
his hands, and that's the safest place he could possibly be. Go
back reading, in all things are God, who hath. I want you to key in on that
word, hath, there. That means that what Paul is about to say
is something that is past tense. It is something that has already
taken place. It's over. And all things are of God who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. What that means is that whatever
this thing of being reconciled unto God means, and for whomever
this us is that it is done for, it's over. It's already been
done. It is something that is past
tense. Go to verse 19. Paul says, to
wit, and what that means is namely, or it means just, let's get straight
to the point. To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, if there's anything I have
an interest in, It's this, God not holding me accountable for
what I have done, and what I have said, and what I have thought,
and my natural rebellion against Him, not imputing their trespasses
unto them. I have an interest in that. I
am very interested in God not imputing my trespasses unto me.
Now look at verse 20. Paul says, now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. Now, think
of that for a second. Paul says he's an ambassador.
What does an ambassador do? He speaks on behalf of the king.
He comes with the king's words. Paul is saying here, he goes,
I'm speaking under the authority of God himself. And this is what he
says. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us. God beseeches sinners. That is an amazing thought. that
God would beseech a sinner. It's the only way salvation is
possible. Salvation was dependent on the sinner beseeching God
and every man would go to hell. God beseeches the sinner. And
here's what he says to him, Be ye reconciled to God. Why? Why can I be reconciled unto
God? Why can I be reconciled to God? Verse 21, For he, the
Father, hath made him the son, don't read the to be, it's not
in the original, sin for us the elect who knew no sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. I want to preach
to you out of these four verses this morning and I have four
points for you, four questions I want to answer. Number one,
what does it mean to be reconciled unto God? What does that mean?
Number two, Why was reconciliation necessary in the first place?
Number three is this, who is the us that Paul is talking about?
Who is the we? Who is this world that Paul is
referring to? Because for who this us is, for
who this world is, they hath been reconciled unto God. And
so, and finally, how was the reconciliation accomplished?
So let's dive right into it. Don't take too much time here.
What does it mean to be reconciled unto God? What do you naturally
think of when you think of this word reconciliation? What do
you think of? Here's what I think we naturally
think of. We think of two equal parties that have a rift between
them, some sort of contention between them. And it takes two
to tango, right? Everybody's a little wrong. There's a rift
between them. But in the spirit of compromise,
they come together, and they set up their differences, and
they reconcile. That's what most people think
when they think of a reconciliation, right? Am I about right? That is not
the reconciliation that's being spoken of here. It couldn't be
further from it. Let me be clear on this. I want
to start here. We are not on equal footing. God is sovereign. He is in absolute sovereign control.
He is the creator and man is the creature. We are in his hands
to be done with as he sees fit and whatever he does is absolutely
right, just, and fair. We are not on equal footing.
Number two is this. He does not compromise. He conquers. If I had to write on a piece
of paper, if someone asked me, what's one word that would describe
this generation, especially this generation's preaching of the
Lord Jesus Christ, this would be the one word I'd use. Compromise.
Compromise. They'll compromise the sovereignty
of God to make room for man's free will. They'll compromise
salvation being all of grace to make room for man getting
some glory and salvation. They will compromise any aspect of
the Lord's character to get somebody to come in and make a profession
of faith. But understand this, folks. He does not need us. We need
him. The reconciliation mentioned
here speaks of a dominant party who has been offended against,
has been offended against. They don't share blame in this
thing. They have been offended against, mercifully restoring
that offending party, that lesser party, back into his favor. See, the reconciliation of God,
God reconciling church to himself, it is completely one side of
the contention. The problem lies completely with us. It is completely
our fault. But the reconciliation, which
is just another word for salvation, redemption, it's all in Christ. It's all his fault in a manner
of speaking. Now, why was reconciliation necessary? We're going to talk about this.
We have to start here with the essential person of who the Lord
is. He's holy. He's absolutely holy. Now what
does that mean for him to be holy? I've heard several definitions
of what this means, and the best one that's ever been said is
other. Other, because he's not like you and me. He is completely
not like you and me. It has something to do with him
being unfathomably perfect in every aspect of his character,
but also being immutable, meaning he can't be anything but unfathomably
perfect. He's incapable of a change. He's
absolutely perfect in every aspect of his being. It also has something
to do with this. It is not that he conforms to a construct of
what is right and wrong. He does things that are right
and wrong. It's that the very definition of what is right and
what is wrong is what he does. If he does something, it is right
simply because he has done it. He cannot lie for this reason.
It's because whatever he says simply is the truth. He is the
very standard of what is right. and what is wrong and what is
good and what is just and what is fair. That is his holy character. And because of his holy character,
he cannot have fellowship and he cannot look favorably on anyone
or anything that is not just like himself, unfathomably perfect
and incapable of change. You know what that means? That
means he hates sin. And I'm not using too strong
a word there. He hates hate sin. He can do nothing with it other
than punish it. That's it. That's all he can
do with it. He can't overlook it. He can't sweep it under the
carpet. He can't so much as, and understand what I mean here,
he can't so much really forgive sin unless there is nothing there
to forgive in the first place. He must punish sin. That is his
holy character. Now we have to start where we're
at. And we have to have an honest conversation about where we're
at. And we can begin in Genesis 6-5. There's really three things
that have sparked this contention. It is my nature, it is my sin,
and it is my iniquity. Three things, and we'll start
in Genesis 6-5. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now what's
the heart? What's the heart? The heart is
the whole man. It speaks of every aspect of the man. It speaks
of the thoughts, what we think. It speaks of the actions, what
we do. It speaks of the affections, what we love. It speaks of the
intentions and the motives and it speaks to the will. The whole
man. What he's saying here is that
the whole man, every imagination of the thoughts of the natural
man's heart is only evil and that continual. That means that
all I do is sin and it's sin simply because I do it. Because
I do it. There's the first point of contention.
My nature. I'm a sinner by nature. All I
can do is sin because that's my nature. That's how I'm born
in this world. Now, what is sin? What is that? The scripture gives several definitions.
Look at this. Turn to 1 John 3, look at verse 4. The scriptures give several definitions
of sin, but here's a very simple one. 1 John 3 and verse 4. Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law. That's a very simple definition,
isn't it? Sin is the transgression of the law. I have violated God's
holy law. Now, what I'm about to tell you
is that we have violated God's holy law every time in every
point, at every commandment, in all things. We have never
once kept his holy law. Now somebody says, hold on a
second, that doesn't sound right. That doesn't sound right. Logically,
that doesn't sound right to me, because I've never murdered anyone, right?
I've never taken anyone's life in anger. So what you're saying
can't be the truth. That's not the issue. Have you
ever murdered anybody's character? Have you ever been angry at someone
without a cause? Have you ever been jealous of
your brother for maybe a prosperity he has that you don't? You murdered
somebody's character. Say, I've never stolen anything.
I've never taken anything. You ever not done your best at
work? You ever not brought your best efforts? Ever slacked off
a little bit, stole time? You ever stole glory from God? Thought more of yourself than
a sinner? In every point, what about lying? Say, I've never
told a lie. To say that we have never lied
is to prove that we are, in fact, a liar. Our nature defies the
law continually, but especially in the greatest of all commandments.
And this is the point I'm trying to get to. What is that? Turn
to Luke 10. Luke 10 and look at verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him. Now we'll stop right there. This
is a very foolish thing to do. He's going to try to catch the
Lord Jesus Christ up in his words. He's going to try to catch him
in a snare. This is a very foolish man. Behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, and I want you to listen
to what he says, what grounds he comes on, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life? Not, Lord, save me. Lord, be
merciful to me, the sinner. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? That's his question. What do
I have to do? And you know what? If you come
to the Lord on those grounds, on what shall I do to be saved,
he'll meet you on those grounds. He will. And so he meets this
man where he comes to him at. He said unto him, what's written
in the law? How read'st thou? You want to come that way? If
you want to come under what you shall do to inherit eternal life,
very simple. What does the law say? Keep the
law. He said this. And answering, he said, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor
as thyself. He's right. The greatest of all
commandments, Lord, the Lord thy God. And he said unto him,
thou hast answered right. This is due. and thou shalt live. Here's the issue, Romans 8, 7,
because the cornal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Not only do we not love
the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all
our strength, we are born in this world at enmity with God. By nature, we hate the Lord.
Now, you can't just say that without explaining that. People
will think you're insane. But here's the issue. The natural
man hates God and he can't stop. Romans 8, 7 says, Because the
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. He cannot love God. He can do nothing but hate God
unless the Lord intervenes. That's the way it is. Now, what
do I mean by that? The natural man hates God. If you would go
door to door in this town and start knocking on the door and
say, Hey, listen, I'm just taking a poll. Do you all love God?
Everybody's gonna say yes, they will all say yes The issue is
they have not been confronted with the God of the gospel the
God of the Bible. Here's who he is Let me make
it as clear as I possibly can He is that one who holds you
and me in his hands in his sovereign hands and he can do whatever
he wants with us He can save us or he can damn us and it is
right just and fair whatever he does simply because of who
he is and And if he saves us, if he saves a man, it is completely
up to him, and it is all his work and all his will, and it
will be to the tune of his own glory. He's going to get all
the glory and salvation. If a man is saved, he is nothing
but a trophy of the Lord's power and his grace. And when a natural
man is confronted with that God, he finds out he hates him because
he robs him of all his prospects of getting a glory for himself.
That's our first problem. That's the enmity that exists
between us and the Lord. It's one-sided. We're born in
this world hating God so much that we murder the Son. But it's
not the only problem. Go over to Isaiah chapter 59. I want to show you something
here. The problem is my nature, that nature that by nature hates
God. But here's another problem, Isaiah chapter 59. Paul's going to start by telling
us what the problem is not, and he's going to tell us what the
problem is. I'm sorry, Isaiah's going to. Pick up in verse one. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened that it cannot save. So here's what the problem is
not, the Lord's ability. He is able to save them to the
uttermost and come to God by Him. It's not that He is unable
to save. He's the Lord. He's capable of doing anything
He wants to do. If He wants to save a man, that man will be
saved. That's just the way it is. It's not His ability. That's
not the problem. So let's keep on reading. Behold,
the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. It's not
His ability. Neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear. It's
not His willingness. The Lord's ear is wide open to
any sinner in need of mercy. Any man who truly can say from
the bottom of his heart, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner.
I've got no claims on you. I need mercy. I need not to be
given what I rightfully deserve. His ear is wide open to that
cry. So much so this. I want to read
this to you. This is Isaiah 65, verse 24.
It says, and it shall come to pass that before they call, I
will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. Before they call, I will answer.
If you're ever brought to that place where you are a sinner
in need of mercy, real mercy, you're before a sovereign God
and you've got no claims on Him whatsoever, it is for one reason. He answered before you ever called.
He purposed to show you mercy in the eternity's past before
you were ever seeking Him, before you ever had an interest in Him,
while we were yet enemies. Enemies. We've been reconciled
unto God. He answered before we called.
It's not his ability. It's not his willingness. Then
what's the problem? Isaiah will tell us. Your iniquities
have separated between you and your God. You know what an iniquity
is? It's a very simple definition. It's our self-righteousness.
I want you to understand something, folks. It will not be your sin
that will keep you from the Lord Jesus Christ. This man is the
friend of sinners. He says, come unto me, all ye
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He
is the friend of sinners, and that's not an invitation, that's
a command. You are commanded to come. Come just as you are,
as sinful and as wretched as you are, as unbelieving as you
are. You're commanded to come to Him and find rest. That's
it. But you will come naked, and
you will come exposed, and you will come with absolutely nothing.
No claims on Him, no good works to bring before Him, no personal
abilities to bring before Him. You will come just as you are
with nothing. And the only thing that will
ever keep you coming will not be your sin. It will not be your
inability. It will be your stinking self-righteousness.
Because the natural man demands a glory for himself. And when
he sees that salvation is by grace, to the tune of the Lord
getting all the glory and salvation, he will not come. See, John 6.44
is true. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me draw him. And I'll raise him
up at the last day. Men are incapable by nature of believing God. trusting
Lord Jesus Christ. If you have faith, it's for one
reason. The Lord gave it to you. He gave it to you in the new birth.
He gave it to you before you ever asked for it. That's the truth of the
matter. We can't come. We lack the ability.
It doesn't say no man may come. It says no man can come. You're
commanded to come. The problem is men born in this
world can't. They lack the ability. But the
greater issue is this, John 5, 40, and you will not come to
me that you might have life. By nature, men don't want to
be saved by grace. And we talked about it, it's because they want
a glory for themselves. Now, let's move on for a second. Who
is this that's been reconciled? Who's this world Paul's talking
about? In verse 19 he says, to wit,
that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Who is
the world? Is the world every man without
exception? Well, let's find out. Let's view
Scripture in light of other Scripture. Turn, if you would, to John 17,
look at verse 9. Paul's talking about the world.
He says, "...to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto Himself." So, who is this world? Scripture in light
of Scripture, John 17, 9. The Lord says, I pray for them,
I pray not for the world. but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine." Is it every man without exception?
The Lord says, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. There's a people he prays for.
And I guarantee you this, anyone he prays for, that man is saved.
But there's a people he does not pray for. He prays for those
who the Father gave him in divine election before the foundations
of the world were ever built. I want to say this, the world
will make election out to be this harsh doctrine where it
says that there's a group of people that are crying out for
mercy, really need mercy. I mean true sinners crying out
for mercy and the Lord just holds them off at bay and says, no,
I just didn't choose you. That's not it. That's not at
all. If it wasn't for the Lord choosing a people, no one would
be saved because no man would ever cry out for mercy. because
the only reason a man ever comes to a knowledge that he needs
mercy is the Lord makes that man to see his need of him. Election
is a beautiful and gracious thing because if it wasn't for the
Lord electing a people before time began, no one would be saved. I'll be clear on that, off the
bat. Yet, all the same, you know who will be saved? Those the
Lord chooses. I'll show you this again. Let's
look at another scripture, John 3.16. Everybody knows this one. Remember, we're talking about
the world. For God so loved the world. Let's look at it in context.
Whoever this world is, they are loved of God. Does God love every
man without exception? Romans 9, verse 11, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." He didn't love him less, he hated
him. Now here's the truth of the matter. If a man is loved
by God, He was loved by God in Christ before the foundations
of the world were built, and he was elected by God unto salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ came and shed his precious blood for that
man. You know what that man is? He's saved. He is absolutely
secure, because if he wasn't, if God loves everybody, and Christ
shed his blood for everybody, that means the love of God is
meaningless. If God can love a man and he can go to hell anyways,
that means who cares if God loves you? What good is the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ if it can't save? Everyone the Father loves,
everyone Christ died for, they must be saved. And here's the
truth of the matter. God doesn't love every man, and
Christ didn't die from every man. And I'm telling you, this
God that I'm presenting before you today, here's the condition
we're in. We are in his hands, and he can
do with us whatever he wants. I will say it again. And if he
were to pass us by, That is right, and that is just, and that is
fair, because we have no claims on God. Now, this God I've preached
to you, does He offend you? Are you offended by this? I'm
telling you the truth. I'm telling you what the Scriptures
are teaching. Does this offend you? Go back to John 3.16. I want to show you something. It's another part of this description. For God so loved the world, the
world is those who God loved, that he gave his only begotten
son that, what is that next word? Look down at it, I want you to
see it. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. This he blacked, these people
who were chosen before the foundations of the world were ever built.
You know who they are? They're a bunch of believing whosoevers.
Let me give you a description of the whosoever. Matthew says,
Matthew 11, 6, and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended
in me. I am not offended that he is
sovereign and he is in absolute and utter control. Folks, that's
my only hope. Salvation is completely out of my hands and it's completely
in his hands. That's my only hope, that his
will trumps my will. I'm not offended that he chooses.
It's my only hope. My only hope is that he chose
a people before the foundations of the world were ever built.
Because I would have never chosen him. I'm not offended that he
gets all the glory and salvation. He deserves it. He deserves it.
I'm not offended by him in the very least. And the Lord knows
if I'm honest when I say this, if he were to pass me by, he
is still worthy of worship. And that has to be settled before
anything else. Before we view the Lord in light of what he's
done for us. Now, he died to save sinners. Don't let me rob
you of any hope on this. If you're a sinner in need of
mercy, this was all done for you. But understand this, he
has to be viewed independently of what he has done for us. If
he were to pass you by and just leave you to yourself, would
he still be worthy of worship? The answer is yes. He is worthy
of that worship. But here's the chief description
of these whosoevers. These whosoevers which God loves,
these whosoevers which Christ died for. Here's what it is.
Acts 221, and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Every believer, every elect child
of God is calling on the name of the Lord. Now what does that
mean, to call on his name? That means that you are calling
on him to save you with absolutely no help from you. There's no
bargaining going on. There's nothing you're bringing
to the table. You've got nothing. I am reliant solely on his name,
which is his attributes. I'm relying on his sovereignty.
I'm relying on his strength. I'm relying on his power. I'm
relying on his love. and his blood being effectual.
I am relying on him to save me with absolutely no help from
me to the tune of his own honor and glory." And I'll tell you
what, if you can put yourself in that boat. I'm not asking
if you think you're elect or not. Put that out of your mind.
I'm not asking if you think you're elect. I'm asking you, is he
worthy of worship? Are you offended by him? Is he
worthy of worship independently? Is he your only hope? Folks,
if he's beautiful, independent of you, if he's worthy of your
worship, And He is your only hope, that He lived for you,
that He died for you, that His blood puts away your sins. You're
the whosoever. That's talked about here. You
are the world. You're those who have been reconciled
back to God. Now, how is this reconciliation
accomplished? Look back in your text, I want
you to look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. It's accomplished in two different
respects. There's more, but I'm going to touch on two. In sanctification. Sanctification and regeneration.
Look at this. Verse 17, therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Don't stop reading. And all things
are of God. A new creature. A new creation. The Lord births men again in
the new birth. where a new creation, a new creature
is born. Not a refurbishing of the old
heart. Not a building up and solidifying of the old heart.
Something new has to be born in a man. And the Lord is sovereign
in doing that. He gives the new birth. And it
comes with a new heart. We talked about the old heart.
All it does is sin. It's a wretched, it's an evil
heart. It's dead. This is an alive heart. And you can do those
things you weren't able to do before. I'm born in this world
blind. Dead and blind. I can see now.
I can see who the Lord is. I love him for who he is. I do.
I can hear now. I can hear the gospel is good
news. I couldn't hear that before. I couldn't hear it before. I
can now. I really do love the Lord. Now, we don't feel good
about our love. I understand that. Don't misunderstand me
there. There ain't one of us who's gonna stand up and say,
well, I'm just bursting with love for the Lord and I couldn't
be more content with my love. It is nowhere near what it should
be. But yet, I'm not offending him.
I do love his character. He's my hero. He's my hero. Finally
a holy man. Finally a man who kept the law.
Finally a man with the strength to do what he wills to do. I
love that man. I do. I love him. And that's
the new man. He's the new creation. He believes
the gospel. And all things are of God. And
the Lord has to breathe spiritual life into a man. We're reconciled
in the new birth. Also this though. Let's go to
verse 21. And I'll quit. Most especially in justification.
For he, verse 21, he, the father, hath made him,
the son, sin. For us, the world, the elect,
those God loved, those Christ died for, those whosoevers that
believe on him, who knew no sin." Let me be clear about this, he
never sinned. The Lord Jesus Christ lived a
perfect, righteous, just, holy life. He never sinned in any
aspect of his character. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Now, this verse here folks, there's
not a verse that I'm more scared to talk about, there's not a
verse that gives me more hope, There's not a verse that brings
together what all my hope is, and this is it. I don't have
confidence in my faith. I don't have confidence in anything
myself. Here's where my confidence lies,
that he was made my sin. It was lifted off of me, and
he actually bore my sin in his body. You say, how real was that? How real was that transference?
It was so real that the Father, who is absolutely holy and just
and right and fair, turned his back on him and killed him. And in doing that, my sins were
put away, and they really are gone. They're not just displaced. They're not just forgotten about.
They're not in a closet somewhere waiting to pop back out and be
brought out again. Some crafty lawyer says, no, no, no, they're
right here. I've got them sitting back there. No, they're gone. They're
gone. And just as real as that, we
have been made the righteousness of God in him. And that means
the righteousness of Jesus Christ really is my righteousness. Just
as real as he was made sin, we are just as real the righteousness
of God. That means when the Lord looks at every member of the
elect, every whosoever who believes on Christ and given that ability,
he sees his son, Jesus Christ, and there is no difference. And
folks, that's all I've got. That is my only hope, that I'm
in Christ. And if that's all your hope, if that's all you've
got, I mean, if that's the only thing, if you've got anything
else to hang your head on, I've got nothing for you this morning.
But if this is all you've got, then this is for you. He hath
reconciled you unto himself. Hath, past tense. Nothing left
to do. I'm gonna stop there. It's been
a blessing being with y'all.