Now, our lesson this morning
begins in verse 18 of 2 Corinthians 5. Just four verses in the lesson,
but they are very, very important verses. They're important for
us to understand. They teach us how God is reconciled
to sinners and how sinners, like you and me, can be reconciled
to God. Very important verses. So Paul
begins in verse 18 and he says, In all things, are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. All things are of God." Now,
we know from reading Scripture, God is sovereign. And because
God is sovereign, we understand that all things are of God. Everything that happens according
to the will and purpose of God, because all things are of God. In creation, all things are of
God. All things were made by Him and
they were made for Him. They were made by Him and for
His glory according to His purpose. And from the time of creation
up till now, every event that's happened over the course of human
history has taken place according to the express will of God. All things are of God. Now, that
includes big things or things that we think are big and important
and little things, things that we don't even notice. All those
things are of God. The path of the ant on the ground
and the path of the whale in the ocean and your path and my
path across God's creation are ordained of God. All things are
of God. I'm telling you the truth. You're
here this morning because it was ordained of God. All things
are of God. Things that we think are good,
things that we think are blessings, we say, oh, that's God. Well,
things that we think are bad are of God. The children of Israel,
when they were down in Egypt, I guarantee you thought it was
a bad thing that Pharaoh had so much power over them. But
that was of God. Look back in Romans chapter nine. I'm telling you, all things are
of God. There's nothing left out that's
not of him. In Romans 9 verse 16, verse 17,
for scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Why is it Pharaoh
was raised up and had all this power? for God's purpose. That was of the will of God.
Now, the context that Paul is speaking of here in 2 Corinthians
5, he's speaking of salvation. That's the context. Last week,
we looked at these verses where Paul had been speaking about
the substitutionary death of Christ and that there are two
necessary results of the substitutionary death of Christ. Regeneration,
which we looked at last week, and reconciliation, which we'll
look at this And this new birth that Paul's been talking about,
they talked about there in verse 17, therefore, if any man be
in Christ Jesus, he's a new creature. That new birth is of God. Look over at John chapter three.
This new birth is of God, it's the will of God, it's the work
of God, it's the purpose of God. In John three, verse five. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Now marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
So is everyone that's born of the Spirit. That which is born
of the Spirit, you can't tell where that came from. You can't
tell when the Spirit's going to move. You just know the sound
thereof. You just see the evidence thereof
that he's blown through. But that's the work of God, the
new birth. Election is of God. In eternity past, God chose a
people unto salvation. That was all of God. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. That's the purpose
and will of God. Christ coming in the flesh as
a substitute for his people. That was the will and purpose
of God. Christ was chosen as the mediator of the new covenant.
That's of God. The father ordained that he'd
be the mediator of the new covenant. The father ordained the son to
be the savior of his people. The preservation of God's elect.
The calling of God's elect. The final glorification of God's
elect. That is all of God. Salvation
from beginning to end is of God because all things are of God.
And in these verses that we're going to look at this morning,
we see these great truths that tell us how God is reconciled
to sinners and how sinners are reconciled to God. And that is
all of God. The preaching of the gospel.
Paul says he's given unto us this ministry. Well, that preaching
is of God. God calls men. He equips men
and puts them in the ministry. He gives them his message. He
sends them out to the place he'd have them go, and then God's
the one who makes that preaching effectual, makes the preaching
of this ministry of reconciliation effectual. All things are of
God. Now, he's given unto us this
ministry of reconciliation. God has reconciled us to himself. But he keeps talking about this
reconciliation. Well, that reconciliation is
the will of God, it's an act of God, it's the purpose of God,
because all things are of God. But now, if there's a need for
a reconciliation, Paul repeatedly talks about this reconciliation.
If there's a need for reconciliation, then that tells me at some point
there's been a war going on. There's been a separation that's
been caused between two parties that must be mended. And there's
a war going on. There's a war that man's sin
has caused. Man has declared war on God. When Adam rebelled, that's what
he did. That was a declaration of war on God's throne. Man caused the war. Man's sin
caused this separation. God said your sins have separated
you from your God. And we know a holy God cannot
have fellowship with sinful men. There's sin and hatred that fills
the heart of man. So that sin has created a gulf
that man cannot and will not cross. But God is willing to
be reconciled. He's the offended party, yet
He's the one who's willing to be reconciled. He didn't wait
on sinful man. to sue for peace because we never
would have. Dead men don't sue for peace
because dead men don't do anything. So God reconciled his people
to himself. Now that is an astounding act
of mercy and grace. In a war that we have here on
earth, the stronger side is never the one that sues for peace.
Never. They just keep pouring it on
until the weaker side begs for peace. The majesty on high did
everything that's necessary to reconcile his people to himself. He did everything that's necessary
to appease his holy justice and his righteousness. And he made
peace. God made reconciliation. Well,
how did he do that? Well, Paul tells us, by Jesus
Christ. That's how he reconciled his
people to himself, by Jesus Christ. God sent his son into this world,
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. Christ came as a representative of his people
to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He came as
our substitute to bear the sin of his people. And Christ came,
he worked out a perfect righteousness, that in a life he lived as a
man, and he freely imputes that righteousness to his people.
And in exchange, the Lord Jesus Christ took the sins of his people
and put them away through the sacrifice of himself. And God
says, that sacrifice is enough. I'm pleased. He looks at that
sacrifice. He looks at the blood of that
sacrifice. He looks at that burnt offering
and he says, my justice is satisfied. I'm reconciled in that sacrifice
and God's not angry anymore. He's reconciled. His anger was
poured out on his son. The moment that Christ died,
when he said it's finished and he gave up the ghost, God's anger
was fully extinguished on his son. And he was reconciled. Now, reconciliation is of God. God did what was necessary for
both warring parties to be reconciled. But before God did anything for
you, me, for sinners, he had to do something for himself.
He had to satisfy his holiness. He had to satisfy his justice.
And the Lord Jesus Christ did both. He satisfied the father
and reconciled the father. And when God gives a sinner like
you and me, eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ, we amen the Father
and say, he's enough. And we're reconciled to God.
We're reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. Now, all things are of
God. Natural man would never have
conceived of God's great act of reconciliation. We never could
conceive of how God could reconcile sinners to himself. We would
never figure that out. So God gives men the treasure
of the message of reconciliation. He sends men out into the world
to tell sinners that God is reconciled to sinners. Now you be reconciled
to God. He's given us this message of
reconciliation to call out his people. And in verse 19, here's
our message to whip that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world and himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now to wit,
namely, this is our message. Our message declares the author
of reconciliation, it declares the objects of reconciliation,
it declares the means of reconciliation, and it declares the consequences
of reconciliation. Now all things are of God. God
is the author of reconciliation. Paul says God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. The Lord Jesus is God. He has all the attributes of
God. He is God. Yet he's a man. In order for
God to be reconciled, there must be a lamb for the sacrifice.
That's why the Lord became a man. So he could be the land for the
sacrifice. God provided himself as the land
for the sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. He's the lamb of
God who taketh away the sin of the world. And when that sin
is taken away, God is reconciled. So God's the author of reconciliation. Now, who are the objects of reconciliation? Who is it that's been reconciled
to God? Well, Paul says here, it's the world. Now, you know
that that does not mean every son of Adam. You know that. You
know, the famous John Owen quote, if Christ died for all the sins
of all men, then all men will be saved. But if Christ died
for some of the sins of all men, then no man will be saved. But
if Christ died for all the sins of some men, those some men will
be saved. And though some men are men from
every nationality, from every language, from every culture,
from every background on the face of this planet, throughout
the history of this planet, they're sinners from throughout the whole
world. Not just the Jews, but throughout
the whole world. And I promise you this, that's
enough sinners to fill this world. It's a world of people that our
Lord came to reconcile to himself. Now, how did God reconcile his
people to himself? Well, he did it through imputation.
He says, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Now, how can a holy
God do that? How can God be holy and not impute
their trespasses to them? God can't overlook sin, right? He must punish sin because he's
holy. Well, he did. He did punish sin. by imputation. That's how God
reconciled his people, by imputation. Instead of charging the sins
of God's elect to them, God imputed those sins to his son, Christ
our substitute. And we'll see this in a minute.
Where the Lord does not impute sin, he imputes righteousness. Because sin was imputed to Christ. And he takes that righteousness
of Christ and imputes it to his people. Where God does not impute
sin, he imputes righteousness. That's how he reconciled sinners
to himself, through imputation. Now, what are the consequences
of Christ's death? What are the consequences of
reconciliation? Well, all those for whom Christ
died are reconciled. They are reconciled to God. They
have peace with God. They have fellowship with God.
Those who at one time were enmity against God, who were enemies
of God, are now friends. I mean, bosom friends. They have union with Christ.
They're reconciled. But Paul says here they're reconciled
unto himself. We're not reconciled to the right
doctrine. We're not reconciled to a changed
life or changed conduct. We're not reconciled to religion.
and religious activity. We're not reconciled to an idea
at all. We're reconciled to a person
unto himself. We're reconciled to God, to the
Father, the Son and Holy Spirit in friendship and union and peace,
fellowship. And Paul says this is our message. Christ is the message that God
has given us to preach. Well, then we must preach Christ. If God's given us this message,
woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. If God's given us
this message, we preach Christ. We love to preach Christ, our
righteousness. And our message is quit trying
to produce a righteousness of your own. Receive Christ by faith. Our message is we cannot make
satisfaction for our sins. But sinners can rest in Christ
who already has made reconciliation. It already made satisfaction.
Our message is that sinners are accepted in the beloved. You
can't do anything for God. Quit trying to do anything for
God. Rest in Christ. You'll be accepted in him. And
our message is the word of reconciliation. Now, our message is not controversy. Our message is not division and
warfare. Our message is the word of reconciliation. Now, without question, the gospel
will divide the sheep from the goats, won't it? It will. The
gospel divides. But that's God's work. Our command
is the word of reconciliation. Our command is to tell sinners
how sinners can be reconciled to God, and you leave the making
of that message effectual to God, he'll divide and he'll call
his sheep. You just leave that to him and
preach this word of reconciliation that sinners are reconciled to
God in Christ. Now, verse 20, he says, 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. Now, what are preachers called
throughout Scripture? They're called voices. They're
called servants. They're called bond slaves. They're
called messengers. And here, they're called ambassadors. Well, none of those titles indicate
that the man has any power in himself, does it? The only voice
we have is the voice God gives us. The only work that we have
to do is the work that the master assigns the servant to do. The
only message we have is the message that God gave us. And an ambassador
doesn't have any power in himself. An ambassador is a representative
of the king in a foreign country. And when he's in that foreign
country, he's promoting the interest of his king. He is simply saying
what the king has told him to say. He's not coming up with
his own ideas. He's not coming up with his own
message. The ambassador's not over there setting policy. The
king sets policy. The king gives the message for
these foreigners to hear. Well, that's what God's preachers
are exactly. We represent God in a foreign,
hostile country and we don't set policy. We don't preach ourselves
or our own ideas. We preach the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ for the glory of Christ our King and for the good
of the subjects of Christ our King. Our message is thus saith
the Lord. But I tell you, we'd be wise
to listen to God's preachers because the scripture says they're
speaking to men in the place of Christ Himself. If they're speaking according
to God's Word, they're speaking in the place of Christ Himself.
And we don't come speaking in the name of Christ to propose
the terms of peace. We're not here to negotiate the
terms of peace and try to get people to do something. We're
here to proclaim peace has been made by the Lord Jesus Christ.
We beseech men, we implore men, you be reconciled to God. God
has reconciled himself to his people. God's not angry anymore. Now you surrender. Now you lay
down your arms. You quit your hostility and kiss
the sun and you be reconciled to God. You know, there are times
a defeated army, they're finally forced to lay down their arms
and surrender. Simply because they've lost their
power to make war. They're out of ammunition. They're
out of men. They're out of power. They must
submit to the terms of peace. And they signed the peace treaty.
But hatred is in their heart. And the first moment that they
ever think they're strong enough, they're going to mount an insurrection
because hatred's in their heart. That's not how a sinner is reconciled
to Christ. You're not forced to. You're
reconciled to him willingly. You surrender in peace and become
loving friends. God is reconciled. He's not angry
anymore. Now you quit your anger and your
rebellion and be reconciled to God in peace and love. And the
great reason for a sinner to be reconciled to God, the thing
that will melt our hearts and cause us to be reconciled to
God is what Christ did for sinners. All things are of God. Look at
verse 21. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Now the very reason God can be
reconciled to sinners It's substitution and satisfaction. And here's
how God can reconcile sinners to himself without violating
his character, without violating his holiness and his justice
and his righteousness. It's by imputation. The father
made Christ the son to be sin for his people, and then God
makes sinners to be the righteousness of God in Christ. That's what
Brother Hap Yates called the great exchange. This is the great
exchange. Now, I still remember the very
first time I really heard Henry make this statement, it shocked
me, but I thought about it and I said, that's true. There is
a sense in which at Calvary, Christ became the greatest sinner
who ever lived. Now that's so by imputation. The Lord Jesus Christ knew no
sin. He did no sin. There was no guile
found in his mouth. He never committed a sin in thought,
word or deed. Yet scripture says he was numbered. He was counted with. He was identified
with. He was put in the mass with.
the transgressors and he made his grave with the wicked. He did that by imputation. God imputed the sin of his select
to his son and the holy perfect son of God became guilty. Just as guilty as if he was the
one who actually committed all that sin. Now all things are
of God. God had to be the one to do this. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
only one who could be made guilty. You and me are born guilty. He
had to be made guilty. He's perfect. Yet that's the
very attribute of his that made him be the one who could bear
our sin because he's perfect, holy. He had no sin of his own. If he did have any sin of his
own, he never could pay for the sins of someone else. He never
could have paid for the sins of his elect, no matter how much
he loved them. He had no sin, and that's what
let him become our sin bearer. And even though the Lord Jesus
never committed a single sin, he died because of sin. He died
under the wrath of his father against the sin that was his. Now the cross is an act of justice. If God's holy, then the cross
must be an act of justice. If Christ was only pretending
to be guilty, then God wouldn't have killed him. The only way
a holy God could kill his son is if his son actually became
guilty. of sin. So God made him guilty. And then God killed him for it.
Injustice. Now listen. Nobody is nobody
with a mind. Nobody with the mind of God is
saying that Christ was made a sinner. Nobody's saying that. Scripture
says God made Christ to be sin. One of the writers said this,
that might be worse than saying he's a sinner. God didn't make
him to be a sinner. He made him to be sin. He made him to be a mass of sin. Now, how can that be? People
say, I don't understand that. That can't be, so I just won't
believe it. Well, now, wait a minute. How can the Holy Son of God be
made sin? Well, the answer is in our text
this morning, because all things are of God. God can do this.
Let me ask you this question. How can God's son, God, be made
flesh? Isn't flesh the opposite of God? It is, isn't it? Yet he was made
flesh. He was made flesh and never ceased
to be God. You may can't understand that
either, but it's so. This is the same thing. God made
the holy son of God to be sin. Sin is the opposite of holy,
just like flesh is the opposite of God. Yet God made him to be
sin. And just like Christ never ceased
to be God, he remained the sinless sacrifice, even though God made
him to be sin. Don't spend two seconds trying
to figure that out. That's what God's Word says.
Just be reconciled to God and believe it. Just love it. Just absolutely love. Be amazed. Be reconciled to God because
God in mercy and grace would do that for you. My soul. Why would we try to figure God
out? Just worshiping, believing, loving. God made His Son to be
sin for us. And in exchange, God's elect
are made righteous, made the righteousness of God, made as
righteousness as Christ himself. Not someday. It's not you'll
be made the righteousness of God in Christ someday. Right
now, in Christ Jesus, you are as righteous as God himself. And you're made righteous the
exact same way Christ was made sin. By imputation. By an act of God. By an unspeakably
merciful and gracious act of God. By imputation. Christ knew no sin. Yet by imputation, God made him
to be a horrible mass of sin. Well, God's who knew no righteousness
by imputation are made the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. God made Christ to be what he
was not. So you and I can be made what
we're not. Now that's such an amazing act
of mercy. How can you not be reconciled? to God. Be ye reconciled to God. All right. Lord bless you.