2 Corinthians chapter 5, and let's
begin reading again in verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. All things have passed away.
Behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God,
who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given
to us the ministry of reconciliation to which that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. For God hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." We looked somewhat this morning at the office of
an ambassador dwelt mainly upon his message and his attitude
and so forth. I want tonight to dwell mainly
on the ministry of reconciliation itself, the ministry of reconciliation. When you and I think that our
Lord has ordained this office in His church of ambassadors
to go out and proclaim reconciliation to this world. When we think
of reconciliation itself, the word and the whole concept of
it, it suggests some things to our mind. That's what I want
to confront you with this evening for a few minutes. What does
the whole concept of reconciliation suggest to our minds? First of
all, does it suggest this? When we think of reconciliation,
does it suggest to us that man has fallen from favor
and from friendship with God? If there is no war with heaven,
then why in the world would heaven send out ambassadors of peace
to this world? The very ministry of reconciliation
is foolproof. that there's a war going on between
heaven and earth. And this ministry hasn't come
in lately. The ministry of reconciliation
came in at the very fall of Adam and Eve. It was there that they
offended, and it was there that God Himself became the first
ambassador. It was Him that sought out Adam
and Eve, haul them from their offense and clothe them with
the skin of those animals. This ministry entered at the
fall of man and it will never cease until the Lord Jesus Christ
comes again. We have the ministry here. It
is a ministry of reconciliation. But we won't need that ministry
there. Here is where we have ambassadors
of peace. But that will be a perfect place,
a perfect state of peace and tranquility and friendship with
God. There will be no need of ambassadors
there. Ambassadors, the ministry of
reconciliation, is here. And why here? Because here, heaven
and earth has a controversy. And this very ministry suggests
to our minds that even today, I mean, I'm standing in this
pulpit, and that is proof enough that the controversy between
heaven and earth still exists. Why? Because I've been called
to proclaim this gospel of reconciliation. And if there was no controversy,
if there was no war with heaven, I assure you the Lord Jesus would
never have called me or anyone else into this ministry of reconciliation. So the first thing this suggests
to our mind is this. Earth is at war with heaven.
Things aren't like they were in the beginning. Man indeed
has fallen into sin. He's offended God. That suggests
that to our minds. And secondly, the ministry of
reconciliation suggests this. Doesn't it suggest Sovereign
mercies? I mean, when I talk about sovereign
mercy, I'm talking about undeserved mercy. I'm talking about higher
than heaven mercy. I'm talking about mercy that
you and I cannot imagine. Sovereign mercies. When we think
about the ministry of reconciliation, think of this, that God would
reconcile after such a willful and deliberate and hateful fall
that Adam was involved in. One man suggested if the whole
world would mourn the fall of Adam, that would not be sufficient.
The fall of Adam was such a dreadful, willful, deliberate fall. Consider
this with me just for a minute and see if we do not see the
mercy of God in this. You look at the man Adam. when
he came from the hands of his Creator, was he not a perfect
man? The Bible tells us of that. That
his mind was so clear, he had understanding of the will of
God, he was able to resist any temptation, no power of darkness
was able to overthrow this man. He knew the one thing that God
forbid him to do, just one thing. Just one thing that he was forbidden
to do, not eat of that fruit in the midst of the garden. He
was told of the consequences of it if he did. He was a holy
man. He was a happy man. He had God
not only as his creator, but God is called his Father. God
was his friend. He fellowshiped with God, and
he was in this garden, a perfect place. A place where nothing
was lacking for his well-being to sustain him forever in that
happy life. And all his posterity, all his
descendants depended upon his being obedient to this simple
command of God. And you take all of this that
this man had going for him, and yet it seems to me that no sooner
had God made him And this commandment, Thou shalt not eat of this fruit,
was still fresh in his mind, and yet deliberately, when the
smallest of temptations came his way, for which he could have
easily resisted, he yielded deliberately in a most hateful, willful way. I mean, that's why the Bible
calls it an offense. It was an awful offense to God,
an hateful offense, one to which He did not have to commit. And
yet when you think of that and all that Adam was involved in,
in sinning against God, isn't it amazing? Isn't it an evidence
of sovereign mercy that after such a sin as that, that God
would have a ministry of reconciliation? That he would be willing and
desire reconciliation after such a fall as that? Oh, that's mercy,
brothers and sisters. That's mercy. Only sovereign
mercy, unheard of mercy, could find a way to reconcile after
such a hateful and deliberate and willful sin as that. And consider this. The fact,
not only that God brought in this ministry of reconciliation
and the whole concept of it at the fall of Adam, but isn't it
a mercy that He's continued this ministry of reconciliation? Aren't
you amazed that He didn't stop a thousand years ago and say
no more? Man's sin has reached the apex. It's reached the climax. Look
at the wars. Look at the bloodshed. Look at
the blasphemies. Look at the crimes of man against
heaven. Look how they continue in their
sins. You consider your sin and my
sin. How long have you and I continued
in sin? I am 62 years old. I can't remember
when I began actually to sin against God. And can any of us
say here today that we've reached the state of perfection, that
we don't sin anymore? We've sinned a decade. How long have we sinned? And
yet to think that God has continued this ministry of reconciliation
among us. That's mercy that's greater than
our sin. For sin abounded, grace did much
more abound, that God would continue this ministry. Aren't you glad
He did? Aren't you glad that He didn't
say 62 years ago, that's it? I'm withdrawing my embassy. I'm
withdrawing my ambassadors. No more treaties of peace. But
why has He continued it? I think it's owing to His sovereign
mercy that He's done so. And to think that I'm up here
this afternoon still talking about the ministry of reconciliation,
peace being made between rebels and the eternal God, is owing
to God's mercy and to God's mercy alone. Fourthly, it also suggests something
that should be astonishing to our minds. Because the apostle
tells us here that God hath reconciled a world of humanity to himself,
and not angels. Isn't that astonishing? Those
excellent spirits sinned only one time, and no mercy was extended
to them. Not one finger was lifted of
God to make reconciliation. to restore those to his favor
and to make peace with those angels. As soon as they sinned,
we are told that they were reserved to the day of judgment to be
punished. They were held in everlasting
chains from which they could never break loose. waiting to
be punished for their crimes against heaven. And I suppose
that angels would have been much easier to redeem and reconcile
than you and I, don't you? I doubt it would have cost the
Son of God what it cost Him to reconcile you and I to God, and
it would probably have been much quicker. But the angels, they
rebelled and they offended God, and they remain to this day enemies. of God. And brothers and sisters, are
we any better than they? We weren't near as high as beings
as they are. Their sin was great, but isn't
ours great? Why then would God extend, why
would He reconcile the world of humanity to Himself and pass
by angels? I think the only answer to that
question was our Lord Jesus' word, even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in Thy sight. Aren't you astonished then that
those excellent spirits have been reserved to the day of judgment
and you have been restored? They are still God's enemy and
now you are God's friend. Oh, how astonished then you and
I should be. When we think of reconciliation,
it suggests to us a necessary inquiry of how we can be reconciled. When we think of God who is holy,
when we think of ourselves who have sinned and caused the offense,
this, to hear the word reconciliation, should cause an inquiry into
our minds. Can you and I be reconciled? If it rested wholly upon the
terms of mercy, the world could understand that. If you say reconciliation
rested wholly upon the grounds of the love of God, of the grace
of God, the world could understand that. If I say that God reconciled
us unto Himself because He's so merciful, That God has come
to us and He said, I'm such a merciful God, so I'm going to remove all
the offense. That's what the world believes.
But mercy is not the grounds of reconciliation. Neither is
the love of God. That may be the motive, but that's
not the grounds. There have been situations where
some husband has offended his wife by his unfaithfulness. by his infidelity that she cannot
bring her mind to be reconciled to that man again. No matter
how much he apologizes, no matter how much he promises, no matter
how much he humbles himself before her, she cannot bring her mind. Her mind has been so offended
at his unfaithfulness That there is nothing He can do, there is
nothing He can offer her to remove that offense against Him. Well, let me ask you this question.
What is it in God that has been so offended that there is no
price that you and I can offer Him to remove that offense? That we have so offended Him
That our tears won't do it. Our promises won't do it. Our
Reformation will not remove this offense. What is it in God that
has been so offended that you and I cannot remove that offense? You know what it is. It's justice.
It's justice. God is a just God and God has
been offended. How can God, who is just, be
freely reconciled to poor sinners and at the same time be so fully
satisfied that He can say, fury is not in me? Now, brothers and
sisters, if we can find out that question, we will know the gospel,
won't we? And that is why when we hear
this whole scheme of reconciliation with God, War between these two
parties, ceasing, friendship where there was enmity, it provokes
us to inquire how this can be brought to pass. What have you
and I ever done or ever could do to satisfy offended justice? What can we do to so remove the
wrath of God that it will never be felt towards us again in the
least degree? There's nothing we can do. That's
the mystery. This is what the world does not
understand. It would be a mercy if those
damned souls in hell had the message of reconciliation proclaimed
to them, and they were told after they've suffered a thousand years,
they'd be reconciled to God. Wouldn't that be a mercy? Can
you imagine going to the rich man in hell and saying, listen,
after you've suffered a thousand years, that will remove the offense
of God and his mind can be toward you. His justice will be satisfied. What a mercy! I think he would
shout in the flames of hell. But believers are reconciled
without paying one jot or one tittle. what they owe God to
justice. I think Paul tells us that in
verse 21 of our text. Here is the way this offense
in the face of justice can be fully satisfied towards you and
me who have sinned. Here is the way fury is removed
against us. Look what he says in verse 20. Verse 21, For God hath made Christ
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. Here's the way reconciliation
is accomplished. It's accomplished by somebody
else, some able person. The cost is not passed on to
us. or it would be death. We are
not able to bear the cost, the penalty. What you and I could
suffer or provide on our own behalf could not satisfy offended
justice. And until justice is satisfied,
the mind of God cannot be forged. Now, what does verse 21 mean?
God hath made Christ to be sin. Paul is saying this is the way
the offense was removed. Well, let me give you my understanding
of this verse. And I won't get in your conscience.
If you don't see this exactly like I see it, and some don't,
I won't drag it in your conscience. But this is my understanding
of what this verse teaches. We're told here one thing about
Christ is this. He knew no sin. He knew no sin. That's very important, isn't
it? When we interpret this verse, we must be careful to interpret
it like Paul reveals it to us. Jesus Christ was not born in
sin. He had no actual sin, and He
had no inherent sin. He did not inherit any sin from
Adam as you and I did. He did no sin in His life. And
on the cross, He remained holy, harmless, and undefiled. That
is the first thing. must be a holy sacrifice. But he says this, God hath made
him to be sin for us. Now what does that mean? Here's
what I understand of that. On the cross of Calvary, God
as only He can do, He took all the sins of every elect soul
from the first elect soul to the last one no matter where
he lived, male or female, old or young, all the sins of his
elect, God in heaven, who is all-wise and almighty, gathered
those sins up and put them into the body of his own Son. Now, you'll find that all through
the Scriptures, don't you? All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way, and God hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all. Peter said, He bore our sins
in His own body upon the tree. Then what happens? Then what
happens? Our sin is gone from us. Why
is that important? What caused the offense? Was
it not our sins? What offended justice? It was
our iniquities. Now those are taken from Wayne
and put on Wayne's substitute. Now Jesus Christ must stand responsible
for those sins. They become His and all the consequences
of those sins become His. What consequences am I talking
about? How about guilt? How about guilt? You think Jesus
Christ felt guilt? Psalm 69, 5, Thou hast known
my guiltiness. He felt the guilt. What about
the weight? What about the load? If they're
His, He felt them. My sins are too heavy, as them
heavy burden. They're too heavy for me. What
about the curse? He was made a curse for us. Listen
to this. What about corruption? Isn't
sin a corrupting thing? But listen to what he says, my
wounds stink and are sore corrupt. What about death? The wages of
sin is death. Christ died. When Paul says here
he was made sin, I think his meaning is that he took our sins,
he made them his own, and he suffered all the consequences
of those sins, whatever they be. In three hours upon the cross,
he suffered the equivalent of eternal damnation. Only he could do that. Only he
had the merit to do that. And the worth to do that. And
what's the consequences of that? What's the consequences of God
making him sin for us? Well, since he took everything
that belonged to us. The sin and the consequences.
We take what belongs to Him. And what is that? Righteousness. God hath made Christ to be sin
for us who knew no sin. Look at this, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. He's taken everything
that caused the offense, and He's given us everything that's
wonderful and beautiful. Even His righteousness. And now,
By this righteousness, by His worth, we are accepted and blessed
with God's reconciling favor. There is no fury in God. Jesus
Christ removed it all. In Jesus Christ, God's mind is
towards us. He is not like the woman who
cannot be reconciled to her husband. She has been so offended. The
price was great, but Jesus Christ paid it. And now, God's mind
is gorgeous. Justice is not offended. He can
look upon each one of His children, even in their poor condition
that they are yet in today, and He said, there is no fury against
you. There are no hard feelings in
my heart. I can't hold a thing against
you. and freely reconciled and satisfied. Look over to your
right just a minute. And I'll just give you another
minute. Look over at Colossians chapter 1. You can find all kinds
of scripture about reconciliation. You can find it in Romans 5 and
Ephesians 2. But look at this one. Look in
Colossians chapter 1. Look in verse 20. This is what
we're talking about. God making Christ to be sin upon
the cross. Reconciliation by Christ. Look what he says in verse 19.
It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell,
and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him,
by Christ, by His cross, by His death, by His blood, 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
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight." Now, brothers
and sisters, you look at that verse, you just drank it in your
soul, and you look at it and you consider it till it dawns
upon your heart that you were the enemy of God. But now you've
been so reconciled that there's no fear at all in the heart of
God against you. And in His sight you're holy
and you're perfect, as amazing as that is, in Jesus Christ. who reconcile you to God. Now,
in conclusion, consider this. Somebody might ask the question,
what if we go rebelling again? What if we revolt again? What
if we so offend God again as we did in the beginning? What
if we leave Him and cause a great offense? Some people think they can ask
the question God's never thought of, don't they? That's what amazes
me about free will. You talk to them and you run
up on one sometime and they think they've got a question that's
never been asked before. Yeah, but what if? What if? What if? You think, as though God didn't
think of that. What if? What if they leave Him? What if they offend again? Well,
God has fixed that potential problem. two ways, and I want
you to turn to true scripture with me. This is very important.
Look in Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32. What's going to keep us from
revolting again? Look in verse 37. Jeremiah chapter
32 and verse 37. Behold, I will gather them out
of all countries where I have driven them in my anger, and
in my fury, and in my great wrath. And I will bring them again into
this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall
be my people, and I will be their God." Sounds like reconciliation,
doesn't it? But look in verse 39. I will give them one heart
and one way, that they may fear me forever. for the good of them
and of their children after them. And here it is, I will make an
everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from
them to do them good. Doesn't that sound like a complete
reconciliation? I will never turn away from you. I'm going to do you good. I'm
never going to be angry with you. If I chasten you, as the
hands of a father, I'm never going to turn away from you.
Never going to turn away from you. You're never going to offend
me to the point that I'm turning away. I'm satisfied. Well, what
about you, Bruce? Yeah, he is, but what about you?
Well, look at this. I will put my fear in their hearts
and they shall not depart from me. I mean, there's the covenant. God's pretty much fixed it, hasn't
He? When He brings us to hear this message, He puts a heart
in us, prone to wonder, yes, I feel it. But you don't leave
Him, do you? You don't apostatize, do you?
And neither will you. He's fixed that problem. Let
me show you one more. Look over in Hebrews. That's
the first thing, the covenant. The covenant. That's what keeps
you from leaving Him. That's why you'll never so offend
again. He's put his fear in your heart. His grace is there. And
look in Hebrews chapter 9. And here's something else. The
intercession of Christ is going to keep you from doing it. Look
what he says in Hebrews chapter 9. And look in verse 28. Let's read
this backwards. If you want to know how to read
Paul sometime, read him backwards. Read him backwards. Look what
he says in verse 28. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many. That's what we just looked at.
That's the grounds of reconciliation. Look in verse 26. For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sins. by the sacrifice of Himself.
See why I read that backward? He was offered to bear the sins.
Verse 26 says, When He bore them, He put them away. Now look up
here in verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. He bore our sins. He put away
our sins. And where is He now? In heaven,
in the presence of God for us. Look what He says in chapter
7, verse 25. Wherefore, He is able
to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever liveth, to make intercessions for them. If any man sins, we
have an advocate with the Father. You've got someone pleading your
cause in the presence of God. Peter, I've prayed for you. Satan
has desired you. He wants to sift you. But I have
prayed for you. And that's what kept Peter. Is
it not? And that's what will keep you.
That's what will keep you. So this is the ministry that
every Local church has. And if we don't have the ministry
of reconciliation, I doubt, as I said this morning, that you
and I are a church. We have the Word. We have the
Word. But you know we need more, don't
we? You say, Bruce, we need more than the Word? Yeah, we do. I've
been preaching to you the Word today. But I assure you this,
it won't do a bit of good if you don't have the Spirit of
God to accompany it. That's the difference, isn't
it? One old man said, it's like a trumpet. He said, you take
a beautiful trumpet and hang it on the wall, it won't do anybody any good.
It may be pretty like myself to look at, it won't do anybody
any good. What does it take for a trumpet
to be effectual? It takes somebody breathing in
it, doesn't it? We're the trumpet. But you know
who we need to breathe in us? The Holy Spirit. When the Holy
Spirit comes and breathes upon this Word, then men begin to
cry out, What must I do? Oh, what must I do? That's when
we tell them, pile up your weapons. You've been a rebel against heaven
long enough. Give yourself to Jesus Christ. Give yourself up to Him. He's
made reconciliation. And there's where you'll see
the smiling face of God. Reconciliation. Reconciliation. May God bless His Word. Let's
pray.