When you turn back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, while you're turning there, as the Lord enables you
this week, pray for the Lord's blessing on the Vacation Bible
School, that the Lord would be pleased to speak in power to
our young people, and that He would make Himself known to them. That's our desire. On what date did you say? Oh, every day there's going to
be water sports. So bring them something dry to
help out there. Second Corinthians chapter five. Almost every time I preach. I refer to 2 Corinthians 5, verse
21, because it is indeed a part of what the Christian ministry
is, the ministry of reconciliation. And if I was given one verse
of scripture that I would want to preach the gospel from, there's
two verses that come to my mind. The first one is 1 Timothy 1,
15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am the chief. I'd pick that one or I'd pick
this one. Second Corinthians 521. 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, what I'm going
to do this morning, I'm going to imagine that you have never
heard the gospel before. And I'm going to imagine that
you've never heard this scripture before. You might have heard
it many times, but let's pretend that you've never heard the gospel
before and listen carefully to this message as if it might be
the last gospel message you'll ever hear. And indeed, it may
be. Paul says in verse 18, ìAnd all things are of All things
in creation. He's the one who created the
world. All things in providence. Everything that happens in time,
he's the first cause behind. He's in control of. Especially
all things in salvation, salvation is of the Lord and in the context,
he's talking about the old things spoken of in verse 17. Therefore,
if any man being Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things are of God who
hath reconciled us to himself. Now, notice it does not say that
he's made reconciliation available, or he will reconcile us if we
do something. It says he hath. That means he's
already done it. He hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ and had given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now, this is what the gospel
ministry is. It's the ministry of reconciliation. What does reconciliation mean? It means to change from enmity
to friendship. That's what it means, very simply.
to change from enmity to friendship. By nature, we are at enmity with
God. Romans 8, 6 says the carnal mind,
the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. We're born into this world
enemies of God. People don't realize that until
they hear the gospel. That's when they find out that
they're enemies of God because they don't like what they hear.
Well, if God's like that, I won't worship him. I can't worship
a God like that. I can't worship a God, the God
of election or the God of predestination or the God of sovereign grace.
I don't like that. And you find that you're an enmity
against God. Man by nature is an enmity. Well, how do we get that way?
Well, when Adam fell, when he sinned against God, what did
he do? Did he try to get reconciliation? Did he come and say, Lord, I'm
sorry I did this. I wish it didn't take place.
No, he ran from the presence of God and hid, didn't he? He
tried to make it where God couldn't find him. He went out and hid.
He didn't try to be reconciled to God. Who came to him? God
came to him. He didn't come back to God. God
came to him. Now, we see from this that all
of a sudden he became God's enemy. He didn't like God. He didn't
want to be around God. He didn't love God. He left God. And that nature that he was given
when he sinned against God and died spiritually is given to
you and I. And that's why we're born into
this world at enmity with God. Born that way. Born that way.
And it's manifested when we hear the Gospel. And your view of
God will be seen, my view of God will be seen in how we respond
to the ministry of reconciliation. Now, God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. He's the one who reconciles.
We didn't do anything to become reconciled to God. He reconciled
us. How? Turn to Colossians chapter
one. I want you to look at two or
three scriptures. Colossians chapter one. And having verse 20. And having made peace. I love that. Have you made your
peace with God? No, I haven't. He made my peace
with God. I love that song we just sang. where it says, I can tell my
accuser's cross died. That moved me. He made my peace
with God and having made peace through the blood of his cross
by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven and you that
were sometimes alienated or before time alienated and enemies in
your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the
body that fled through death to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight." Now, this is what he did to reconcile.
He died. My sin became his sin. He became guilty of it. God killed
him. And now God's reason to be mad
at me has been removed. I'm now holy. I'm now unblameable. I'm now unreprovable in God's
sight. God doesn't have a reason to
be mad at me. Because the Lord Jesus Christ made my peace with
God. That's the ministry of reconciliation. He hath reconciled us to himself. Turn to another scripture in
Romans chapter 5. Verse 10. Notice the same thing is said. For if when we were enemies,
Enemies! If when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. When were we reconciled? When we were enemies. We were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Now when we said,
I'm sorry, Not when we said, please forgive me. And we do
say, I'm sorry, and please forgive me. But when was God reconciled? When? When we were enemies, when
Christ died. That's by the death of His Son. He reconciled us completely to
Himself, and there's no reason for Him to be angry with me because
I'm wholly unblameable. and unreprovable in his sight.
That's the gospel. That is the gospel. He's reconciled us to himself,
and he's committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. Back to our text in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. And this is what the gospel ministry is. It's the
ministry of reconciliation. Verse 19. To which, namely, here's what
it is. Here's what the ministry of reconciliation
is. This is what the gospel ministry is. 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. That's what the gospel ministry
is. It's the word of reconciliation. What does he mean when he says
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself? What is
meant by the world? And it's important for us to
deal with this honestly. Is he talking about the same
world that Christ refused to pray for? When he said, I pray
for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which you've
given me, Christ refused to pray for these people. Is this who
God has reconciled to? Is it the world that John said
don't love the world? If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him? Is it the world of which
James said whoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of
God? Is this the world he's speaking
of? Well, you know it's not. It's not even honest to look
at it that way. Well, what is meant by the world? Well, the
same world of John chapter 3, verse 16, where we read, God
so loved the world. that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever shall believe in him should not perish, but
have eternal life." The world is whosoever. That's as good
a definition I can come up with of the world. It's whosoever.
I don't care if you're Rich, poor, educated, uneducated, Jew,
Gentile, black, white, bond-free. It doesn't matter what kind of
person you are if you're whosoever. Are you one of those? Whosoever. That's who the world is. It's
a whosoever. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever. Are you a whosoever?
Listen up. He was in Christ. reconciling the world unto himself. And here's how he did it. Here's
how he became to where he didn't have a problem with the world.
He doesn't have any problem with it. I'm perfect in his sight.
I'm accepted. Here's how it happened. God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them. Now, whoever the world is, it's
the people to whom God did not impute their trespasses unto
them. and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation."
Now, the word world is a very wide word, but it has limitations. It's limited to those people
and only those people unto whom God did not impute their sin
to them and their trespasses unto them. Now, here's the fact
of the matter regarding you and I. We've got a lot of sin. A whole lot more than you understand
or realize. It's worse than you think. We
have a lot of sin. Sins we've committed against
God, breaking every commandment, putting other gods before Him,
taking His name in vain, idolatry, not resting in Him, committing
adultery in our heart against Him, and in fact, stealing, lying,
coveting, not respecting. Every commandment, we're guilty
of breaking every one of them. And if somebody says, well, I'm
not, you're just blind, then, because you have. You have. I'll
assure you that's what God's Word says regarding you. Believe
what God's Word says. We've got sin. Now, here's my
hope, not that I'm not all that sinful, but that God didn't charge
me with it. That's my hope. that God does
not hold me responsible for what I did. Now somebody says, how
can that be right? It is right. He does it in a
way that honors his justice. We're going to see that. But
here's my hope. All these sins that I've committed, God doesn't
charge me with. Does he say anything less when
he says, here's the ministry of reconciliation that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them? Do you find that attractive to
have God not charge you with your sin? Oh, I find that so
attractive. I want to be one of these people,
don't you? I want to be somebody that he does not charge me with
my sin. Well, how does that happen? Return
to Romans 4. Romans 4, verse 6. David is quoting, or Paul is
quoting David in Psalm 32, 1 and 2, when he says, Even as David
also describeth The blessedness, I love that word, the blessedness
of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
without their works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. That's the language of Scripture.
Here's my hope. that God does not hold me accountable
for my sin, but that I'm actually not guilty of it. He took my
sin and gave it to Christ, and it became His. And He takes the
righteousness of Christ and imputes it to me, so that when Christ
obeyed, I obeyed. Now, that's the gospel. That
is the gospel. That is the cross. And having
been reconciled to God because of this non-imputation and imputation,
my sin was imputed to Christ, His righteousness imputed to
me, so that I stand before God without guilt. I stand before
God righteous. Having been reconciled to God,
He has committed to us this message, this word of reconciliation. This is the message we bring
to sinners. Verse 20, now then, now then,
we, Paul and everybody else who believes, Paul and everybody
else who preaches the gospel, Paul and everybody else who believes
the gospel, This is our message to the world. Now, we are ambassadors
for Christ. Now, I'm speaking to you. Right
now, as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, he sent me
with his message, and when I'm speaking, he is speaking. That's what an ambassador is.
Did not the Lord say he that hear of you? Here is me and he
that despises you, despises me. Somebody says you're taking too
much on yourself. I'm not taking anything on to myself. This is
what the scripture teaches. When I'm preaching the gospel,
I'm doing so as an ambassador of Christ. I don't have anything
to do with the content of the message. I'm not giving you my
take on things. I'm not giving you my opinion.
I'm preaching the message of reconciliation. what he sent
me to preach. I don't have anything to do with
the content of the message. I'm not going to try to soften
it. I'm not going to try to water it down. I'm not going to try
to make it easier for you to receive. I'm not going to do
that at all. Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made in that effect where I try to make it easier, make
it easier to receive. I'm not trying to do that. I'm
bringing his message as his ambassador. But let me tell you this. That
doesn't mean I'm just throwing it out there and saying, there
it is, take it or leave it. No, I want you to believe. I
want you to believe. I want you to receive. I want
you to rejoice in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
this next phrase in verse 20 is just so amazing. Now, then
we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you. Do you hear that? As though God
did beseech you. God beseeching a sinner. What grace! What kindness! I don't even know what I'll say
about that. I don't even know what to say about it, period. God
beseeching the sinner, but that's what it says. Now then, we are ambassadors
of Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you We pray
you, in Christ's stead, you be reconciled to God. We pray you, in Christ's stead. Who's the you? We pray you, in
Christ's stead. Who's he speaking to? Who's the
you? Who's the who? Whosoever. Whosoever. Do you want God to
not charge you with your sin? Do you want God to take the righteousness
of his son and charge it to you to where you are the righteousness
of God? Is that something you want? Is
that something you desire? Somebody says, I don't want anything
like that. Well, I'm not talking to you then. Neither is Paul.
But if this is something you desire, you're the one he's speaking
to. Who is the you? Whosoever will. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." Now God says things like this,
Isaiah 1, Come, let us reason together. Though your sins be
as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. God says that. He says, if any man thirsts,
any man, I'd let that, any man, Christ didn't die forever, man,
but he sure enough died for any man, any man. If any man thirsts,
are you thirsty? He says, let him come to me and
drink. Brother Don just read that scripture.
The Lord said, come to me, not go away. But come to me. Not wait and get better. Not
do something in order to make yourself worthy. Come to me. Come to me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.
You'll find rest for your souls. You come to Christ, you'll be
received. Now listen to this statement. He's more willing
to give you mercy right now than you are to receive it. That's
the character of our God. That's the gospel. He is more
willing to give you mercy than you are to receive it. As I live,
sayeth the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn
ye, turn ye from your evil way. Why will you die, O house of
Israel? Now, listen to me, sinner. Who am I addressing? Sinners.
Sinners. Listen to me, sinner. I'm talking
about myself, too. He's the sinner's friend. He
delights in mercy. He is the sinner's friend. You be reconciled to God. Now what's that mean? You'd be,
he's reconciled. You'd be reconciled. Quit having
such harsh thoughts of God. Quit having such harsh judgmental
thoughts of the gospel. That's what, that's whatever
natural man does. He sits in judgment of God. I
don't agree with God electing a people. Why didn't he save
everybody? I would have. Huh. You say that, but you wouldn't. Let somebody sin against you
enough and you'll cut them off at some point. If salvation was
in my hands or in your hands, the only person to be saved would
be me. It was in my hands. I mean, that's the truth. And to sit in judgment on God,
that's not right for him to... It's not fair that Christ only
died for the elect. That's not right. You're sitting
in judgment on God. So you're able to judge God?
You have the moral authority to sit on judgment on what He
does and say, well, I agree with that or I don't agree with that.
That's sitting in judgment on God. You don't have any business
doing that. Be reconciled to God. Be reconciled to His providence.
Whatever He does, whatever He sends your way is right. It's
the best. You'll be reconciled to God.
Be God's friend. He's glorious. He's God. He's holy. He's good. He's just. Everything about Him is perfect.
You'll be reconciled to God. Whatever He sends your way, it
doesn't matter what it is. It's good because He sent it. You be reconciled to God. Don't be God's judge. I tell
you, it's a bad thing when a sinner sits in judgment on God. Now,
I know this. I've done it so many times, and it's so hypocritical.
It's so hypocritical for a sinner to sit in judgment on God. Whatever
he does is right. You believe that? Whatever he
does is right. You'd be reconciled to God. Surrender. Put your arms down. You'd be
reconciled to God. And here's why you're to be reconciled
to God. Verse 21. For every reason to
be reconciled to God, for he hath made him to be seen for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him." Now, there are three persons mentioned in this verse
of Scripture. He is God the Father. He has
made Him to be sin for us who know no sin. He is God the Father.
And let me say this. He is not the God portrayed by
the corrupt so-called Christianity of this day. Let me tell you
three things concerning God the Father. He's sovereign. You know what that means? That means He's God. He has a will. He has the power
to make His will come to pass, and He always does make His will
come to pass. He's in control of everything. You and I are in His hands. He's the absolute sovereign of
the universe. That's who He is. And He is just. He's just. He said, In Exodus
34, I will by no means clear the guilty. Now did you hear
that? Under no circumstances at all
will he ever clear anybody that's guilty because he's just. He's absolutely just. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of his throne, the psalmist said. He is absolutely
just and righteous. Not one sin is ever going to
go unpunished. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? He's sovereign, he's just, and
he is gracious. This sovereign God who is absolutely
just delights in mercy. He delights in showering His
favor and His grace. Now, how can that be? How can
it be that He can be sovereign, just, and yet gracious? Well, that's the truth. That's
the He, God the Father. The next person in this verse
of Scripture is God the Son, for He hath made Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ, God the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ, whatever
you can say of God the Father, you can say of God the Son. Is
God the Father holy? So is God the Son. Is God the
Father sovereign? So is God the Son. He said, He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father. What a statement. Whatever God is, Christ is because
Jesus Christ is God, the God-man, the second person of the blessed
Trinity. And what does it say of him?
It says he knew no sin. You know sin, don't you? You
know a lot about sin. He didn't. He didn't know what
it was like to have a sinful thought. He didn't know what
it was like to have a sinful motive. He didn't know what it
was like to have a sinful desire because he never sinned. He knew no sin. As a matter of fact, he was incapable
of sin. Now somebody says, well, how
can he be tempted if he's incapable of sin? I don't know, but he
was not capable of sin and he was tempted. Now, can I explain
that? No. But I know this. Can God
sin? Scripture says he cannot lie.
He lacks the ability to lie. He's God. He's holy. Is Jesus
Christ God? Yes. Is he man? Yes. Perfect man. The impeccability
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could not sin. He knew no
sin. And let me say this before we
go on to the next part. Even when he was made sin, he
never committed sin. He never committed sin. But he is the Lord Jesus Christ
who knew no sin. And then we read of us, for he
hath made him to be sin for us. Who is the us? What's the same
us as Romans 8, 31, where Paul said, if God be for us, who can
be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, hath not with him also freely
give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God that justifies, who is he
that condemneth? It's Christ that died. That's
the us. God's elect. Those who believe,
that's the evidence of election. You believe the gospel. You don't
try to figure out you're elect and then you can believe. No,
you believe the gospel and then you find out you're elect. That's
the reason you believe. The us is those the Father gave
to the Son. those to whom he did not impute
their sin, 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, look at
verse 21, again, for he hath made him, look at the word to
be. If you have the King James Version, you'll notice it's in
italics. And the reason it's in italics
is because it is added there by the translators, supposedly
to make it more easy to understand. But let's read this without the
to be. Leave that out. That was put there by men. For
he hath made him sin. For he hath made him sin. Now, I know that For years, people
have grappled. What's that mean? What's that
mean? And I've heard people say, well,
what it means is he made him a sin offering. He made him a
sin offering. I would agree with that. If you
could read this verse of Scripture like this. For he hath made him
to be a sin offering who knew no sin offering. It doesn't make
sense, does it? It doesn't make sense at all. It's ridiculous. He hath made
him sin. That's the language of God. He
hath made him sin. My sin all the hell and evil that's
in my heart, all the wicked things that I've done and thought and
felt. He was made. Now, he didn't sin
in this time, but he experienced in his soul everything about
sin except for the commission of it. He felt the guilt of the
commission of it. He experienced being forsaken
and the feeling of degradation and humiliation and shame of
all of it. Now, how can that be? I don't
know, but it happened because God took my sin and placed it
upon Him. He took it willingly. He took
my sins and my sorrows and made them His very own. He bore the
burden to Calvary. and suffered and died alone. That's what he did. God took
my sin and gave it to his son, and he willingly took it. And when he was hanging on Calvary's
tree, God the Father didn't look at him and say, now, son, I know
you didn't do this. You're doing it for somebody
else. This is somebody else's sins, and I'm punishing you for
somebody else's sins. No, that didn't take place at
all. He was guilty, guilty, guilty, and God forsook him. He bore
the full equivalent of eternal hell. All the hell that's in
my heart, he was made to be. God killed him, which is exactly
what I deserve. And what happened as a result?
Let's don't stay there. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God. The righteousness of God in him. Now look at me. Look at me. You
know what you're looking at? The righteousness of God. That's
blasphemy! No, God's Word says it. Every
believer possesses the very righteousness of God. Paul said, Oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in Him. not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. In Isaiah chapter 54, 17, God
says their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Every believer
has the very righteousness of God, and that's why I can come
boldly into the very presence of God and expect to be heard
because every believer is the very righteousness of God. That's
what God's word says. Now that's mysterious. It's glorious. Can I understand all this? Of
course not. But I believe. I believe every
believer is the very righteousness of God in him. I want to close
with this. How can I know he did this for
me personally? How can I know? And it's true. God chose a people
to be saved, and that isn't everybody. There are many people He passed
by. There's a hell that there's many people going to spend eternity
in. That's just... I want to say with a tear in
my eye, but it's the truth. And if somebody goes to hell,
it's because that's what they deserve. They can't say, well, I'm going to
hell because I'm not elect. No, you're not going to hell because
you're not elect. You're going to hell because you hate God. You're going to hell because
of sin. I want to say, but I want to
say that with a broken heart, but you can't say that there's
elect people, specific people. Christ died only for the elect. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep, not for the goats. Was everybody a sheep? No. He
said to some people, you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. As I said to you, not everybody's a sheep. He died
for the elect. God, the Holy Spirit, gives the
new birth only to those God elected and Christ died for. Now, that's
the truth. What I'm telling you is the truth.
Anything contrary to this is a lie. It's not of God. This is the truth. Now, how can
I know if God elected me? How can I know if Christ died
for me? How can I know if God the Holy
Spirit has given me this new birth and regenerated me? You
can know right now. Acts chapter 13 verse 48 says,
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Do you believe
the gospel? I'm not asking you if you believe
you're one of the elect. I'm not asking you if you believe
that Christ died for you. Do you believe the gospel? Do
you believe this? Ministry of Reconciliation that
we just heard. Do you believe? Then you're elect.
Because the scripture says, as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. How can I know if Christ died
for me? Well, Romans chapter 5 verse 6 says, for when we were
yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. How do you fit into that verse?
Would that be you? Without spiritual strength, ungodly. If that describes you, beloved,
Christ died for you. I guarantee you on the authority
of God's Word. He came to save sinners. If you're
a sinner, He came to save you. Well, how can I know if I've
been born again? Well, Scripture says in John 1, 12, and 13, as
many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the
sons of God, even to them which believe on his name. Do you believe his name is the
only way you'll get into glory? You believe his name, his name,
is the only access you have into heaven. Do you believe that?
When those folks were born, John 1, 12, and 13 says, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of
God. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. If you read it, take it as it is.
Do you believe He's God's prophet, God's priest, and God's king? Whosoever, whoso believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. So you see, you can know
whether or not you're one of God's elect, whether Christ died
for you, whether you've been born again of the Holy Spirit.
From those verses of scripture. Now, this is the gospel. Believe it. Receive it. Be reconciled to God. Don't be at odds with God over
this. Don't sit in judgment on God and say, I don't agree. No,
be reconciled to God. He's reconciled, 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 that is as simply
as I know how to preach the gospel, do you believe? Do you believe? Let's pray together.