Let us turn again tonight to
2nd Corinthians chapter 5. This evening we're looking at
the last few verses, last four verses in this chapter. 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5 and beginning with verse 18. And all things are of God. who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation,
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 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. 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. It's easy tonight to see the
subject of these four verses, and that is reconciliation. We have three forms of reconciliation
in these verses, five times. You notice in verse 18, who hath
reconciled us to himself, and then at the end of the verse,
the ministry of reconciliation, and then in verse 19, reconciling,
and at the end, reconciliation, and then again at the end of
verse 20, reconciled to God. Now I can't think of any truth
in the word of God that is more dear and more precious to the
hearts of God's children than the subject of reconciliation. To be reconciled to God means
at least these two things. It means that the problem which
caused the need for reconciliation has been removed. And secondly,
it means that peace has been restored between God and those
who are reconciled. I can't think of anything more
sweet to a child of God than to know that we have peace with
God. Peace with God. That's basically
what the word reconciliation means. In Isaiah chapter 45 and
verse 9, the Lord said, woe unto him that striveth with his maker. Woe unto him that striveth with
his maker. Now, it is this striving, this
enmity between God and man that must be removed. If you notice
the word itself, the prefix re-, reconciliation. Re-, when you add that on to
conciliate, reminds us that this variance This variance between
God and man has not always existed. There has to be a reconciliation. There was a time when there was
a conciliation between God and man, between man and his maker. That is, there was perfect peace. When God created Adam and placed
him in the garden, this peace We do not know for how long it
existed, but we believe it was for a very short time. A very
short time when there was peace between God and man. But as soon as man disobeyed
his maker, just as soon as Adam disobeyed his maker, in the place
of peace, we have enmity. in the place of peace, the peace
in which Adam was created in the image of God, and there was
peace between God and Adam. But just as soon as Adam strove
with his maker, that is, this striving produced enmity. Enmity. In Romans chapter 8 and
verse 7, the apostle Paul, he makes it clear. He makes it clear
that this enmity between man and God, it is true of every
man. Every man. And we want to quote
this verse quite often wrongly because we like to say the carnal
mind is at enmity with God, but there's no at. The Apostle Paul
didn't say that the carnal mind is at enmity with God. He said
the carnal mind is enmity with God. Man striving with his Maker. The peace in which he had been
created has been removed, and it has been removed because of
man's sin. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. Every person who comes into
this world, we all come into this world inheriting a carnal
mind from our father, who inherited it from his father, who inherited
it from his father, traced all the way back to our common father,
Adam. A carnal mind. is enmity with
God, for it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. Now I know that people do not
like to hear this. I'm not talking about those of
you here tonight, but generally people in the world do not like
to hear that all men, we are all born enemies of God. That's an awful charge, isn't
it? But it is a true charge from the Word of God. We are all born
enemies when a baby comes into this world. So cute, so innocent
looking, but yet we know that the seed of depravity is in the
heart of all of Adam's children. And we inherit a carnal mind
that is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So all men by nature, are enemies
of God. This is what the Apostle Paul
said, I believe, in Ephesians chapter 2 about this enmity. In verse 1 he said, And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. Children of disobedience. We
bring with us into this world a carnal mind, which is enmity
against God. Now there are three truths, if
you have your Scripture still open here to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. There are three truths about
reconciliation that I want to mention tonight, that I want
us to see. And actually, they're all in
verse 18. But we're going to look at all
four of the verses. But all of these three truths
that I want us to see tonight, they all are in verse 18. First, reconciliation is of God. The Scripture here says, for
all things are of God. All things are of God who hath
reconciled us. Now when the Apostle here says,
all things are of God. All things are of God. You say,
well he's talking about natural creation. The animal life. The plant life. The universe. All things are of God. That's
true, but that's not what he is mentioning here. That's not
his point here. The point is, all things are
of God. It's in the change in verse 17
when he said, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. He's speaking about this change,
this radical change that takes place in the heart of an individual
when that individual is born again of the Spirit of God. How
radical is it? Well, it's the difference between
death and life. Being dead in trespasses and
sins and being quickened and made alive in Christ. That's
radical, isn't it? That's radical. Death to life. All things becoming new. All
things passing away. And this is all the result. What
Paul is saying here, all things are of God. This radical change
which is wrought in the heart of those who are born of the
Spirit of God, those who are in Christ. This is all the result. of God reconciling men unto Himself. Now, God is a reconciler. Man
never makes reconciliation with God. He never does. He can't. Man cannot make reconciliation
with God. Now, we are exhorted to be reconciled
with one another, aren't we? If you bring your gift to the
altar and you remember that Your brother has something against
you, leave your gift and go to him and be reconciled unto that
person. Yes, we can reconcile ourselves
to other individuals, other men and women, but we cannot reconcile
ourselves unto God. This is God's work. All things
are of God in this matter of reconciliation. Now second, Reconciliation
is of God by Jesus Christ. Look at the verse. And all things
are of God, who God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. It is by Jesus Christ that God
accomplishes the work of reconciliation. Now I said that to be reconciled
means at least these two things. First of all, the problem which
has caused the need for reconciliation has been removed. And secondly,
peace has been restored between God and those who are reconciled. If you notice in verse 19, The
Apostle says, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. We must recognize here that the
term, the world, God was in Christ reconciling the world. We know
that doesn't mean every single individual in this world. You
say, how do you know that? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
clearly told us that some people leave this world unreconciled
to God and spend eternity in hell. So we know that the term
the world here is not referring to every single solitary person
who is born into this world. Isn't it easy to pick up the
Bible and start reading and You read the word world and just
that old Armenian mind just automatically thinks that means every single
solitary person. But you just take your concordance
and you look up the word world, and especially in the Gospel
of John, and you find out that world doesn't always mean every
single person who's born into this world. And it doesn't here. Because this scripture clearly
tells us God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. And he
says not imputing their trespasses unto them. Well you say, well what does
it mean then the world? Jew and Gentile. Jew and Gentile. God has his people among both
the Jews and the Gentiles. to whom he does not impute their
trespasses. Look with me, if you will, in
Romans chapter 4. David, Paul is teaching here, writing
rather on the subject of justification. And you know, first of all, in
Romans chapter 4, he gives the example of Abraham. And he asks,
was Abraham circumcised when he was justified? Or was he justified
and then circumcised? And of course the answer is he
was justified when he believed God. And then later God gave
him the sign of circumcision. And then he comes to David and
shows what David said about this same matter. In Romans chapter
4 and verse 6. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without 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. There are those to whom God does
not impute their trespasses. But he does, to those same individuals,
he does not impute iniquity unto them, but he does impute unto
them the righteousness of God. To reconcile men to himself,
God must remove the problem. Their sin, which caused this
need for reconciliation, it has to be removed. Now how is that
accomplished? Well, look down to verse 21,
back in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Their iniquities. God does not
impute their iniquities unto them, but He does impute their
iniquities unto someone. And that someone is the one who
knew no sin. That someone is The Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, 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, their iniquities, which
are not imputed to them, are imputed to him who knew no sin. And I've already said that, of
course, refers to the Savior. Now, you say, is that the only
verse in the scripture that teaches this? No, no, not hardly. But I love to think about that
53rd chapter of Isaiah, which speaks to us of substitution,
don't you? What a beautiful picture there.
And I was thinking about the fact that that Ethiopian eunuch,
when he was crossing the desert, And Philip was commanded to go
and join himself to the man's church. You remember what part
of the scripture was he reading? He was reading what we call Isaiah
53, wasn't he? Which speaks to us of the Lamb
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the substitute. But in that place,
in verse six, we read, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. This verse here tells us, for
He hath made Him to be sin for us. The Lord hath laid on... How was He made to be sin? By
imputation. The same way that we are made
the righteousness of God in Him. How are we made the righteousness
of God in Him? By imputation. By His righteousness
being imputed unto us. That is, unto them that believe.
unto those that are referred to here in this passage as the
world. The Lord hath laid on him. I've
read another translation of that which is, I think, Well also,
it says the Lord hath made to meet on him the iniquity of us
all. Made to meet. It says, oh God
took all the iniquity, all the sin, all the transgressions of
his people and made them to meet on the head of the sacrifice. The Lamb had to be without blemish
that was offered in sacrifices in the Old Testament. But the
man who brought the lamb or the goat or whatever kind of sacrifice
it was to be, he would lay his hands on the head of the animal. And that showed there was an
imputation, a transference of sin. The man was guilty that
brought the sacrifice, but his guilt was laid upon the head
of the animal. It was a picture. It was a picture,
but it was a good picture, wasn't it? And that's what God did. He made to meet upon Him the
iniquity of us all. And then in another verse, in
that 53rd chapter of Isaiah, it says, For the transgression
of My people was He stricken. Have you ever noticed that? My
people. He didn't say He was stricken
for all the people, for my people. I remember a message the Lord
gave me several months back now and I remember that we went through
the scriptures and we looked at the text which speak to us
where God declared my people, my people. And I remember now
what gave me the idea for that message. A friend of mine, a
pastor, had someone visit his church and asked him this question,
said, Why do you folks always preach about my people, my people? Because the Bible talks about
God's people. That's why. That's why. For the Transgression of my people
was he stricken. Christ was stricken. By his stripes
we are healed. He was stricken for the transgressions
of his people. In Romans chapter 5 and verse
10, you're familiar with this verse. The apostle said, for
if when we were enemies, and that's what I said at the beginning
of this message, that by nature We have a carnal mind, which
is enmity with God. And Paul said, for if, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God. When we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much more, don't you love those
much more's in Romans? Much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life. His life of intercession. He
ever lives to make intercession for all who come unto God by
Him. Well, notice back in the text,
in the same way, and I've already said this, but let me say it
again. In the same way that He was made to be sinned by God
imputing the sins of His people to Him, That's the same way that
we are made the righteousness. We are declared righteous, justified
before God, and we have peace with God. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. Sin removed and peace restored. Reconciliation. Look at these verses one other
place in Colossians chapter 1. In Colossians chapter 1 and verse
19, the apostle said, For it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, and having
made peace, reconciliation, peace, 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, you that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled." So, first of all, reconciliation
is the work of God. Secondly, reconciliation is the
work of God by Jesus Christ or through Jesus Christ. And thirdly,
reconciliation. Look back to our text now, 2
Corinthians 5 and verse 18. Reconciliation is the ministry
of God called men. Men who are called of God. What's
our ministry? It's a ministry of reconciliation. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, hath given to
us the ministry of reconciliation. The us, of course, refers to
the apostles, and after the apostles, the men that God has called to
preach down through the years, were given the ministry, the
word, to them the word of reconciliation. Verse 19, to wit that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed, committed unto us
the word of reconciliation. What is the word of reconciliation?
It's a gospel. It's a gospel, isn't it? The
gospel of Jesus Christ. Now in verse 20, Paul uses the
title of an ambassador of Christ. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. Those to whom the word of reconciliation
is committed, we are referred to here as ambassadors for Christ. Now in this light, there are
two truths that I want to bring out about an ambassador. Just two things. But first of
all, an ambassador, he is a messenger. He is a messenger. When our country
sends an ambassador to another country, he goes there with a
message. He doesn't go there and make
up a message. He doesn't go there and tell
them what he thinks, how he believes things should be done. No, he's
given the message. He's given the message from the
State Department and he carries that message there to the head
of that state or country, however it is. He's a messenger. He carries
the message of him of whom he is an ambassador. The message
that he is to convey It's not his own opinion. Well, I think
it ought to be like this. Well, we really don't care what
you think. We want to know what the president
thinks, what he says. You are his representative. It's
not so much what you think. It's not your opinion. You are
an ambassador. You represent the head of your
government. He's commissioned, the man is
commissioned, the woman, if she's the ambassador, she's commissioned
to say exactly and no more than what the head of her government
tells her to say or tells him to say. The importance of the message
or its trustworthiness is not derived from the person who is
the ambassador, but it is derived from the person for whom he is
an ambassador. So first of all, an ambassador,
a preacher, that's what Paul says. He's committed this word
of reconciliation unto us, to the apostles and men that he's
called down through the ages, and he says that we are ambassadors,
we are messengers. I remember years ago when there
used to be a Western Union and someone would send a telegram
and they'd receive the telegram at the station and then someone
would carry the telegram to whoever it was going to. And people sometimes
would get mad at the messenger, get mad at the man who brought
the telegram. He didn't write the telegram.
He didn't send the telegram. He just delivered the telegram.
People sometimes get mad at preachers, but preachers, if they are worth
their salt, all they're doing is carrying the message that
God has committed to them. This message of reconciliation,
it has been committed to us. And it's very important. It's
imperative upon those of us who preach the gospel that we transfer
the message to the next generation as we have received it, whole,
intact, without changing it. We're not to, as one old preacher
used to say, we're not to take out our file and start filing
the rough edges off the gospel. A lot of preachers try to do
that. They try to make it smooth. and palatable, prophesying to
us smooth things. That's not the place of the messenger. And secondly, an ambassador,
he's also the representative. The U.S. ambassadors in foreign
countries represent the president. They are the personal representatives
of the president, and any offense Any offense done to an ambassador,
it's just like they committed that offense against the President. Very serious thing. If some other
country, some foreign country, were to do something bad, harm
one ambassador from our country, it would be just as if they had
harmed, done something bad to the President of the United States. That's a serious charge. serious thing. You know, you
can, you can commit a crime against just an average citizen like
you and I, and the penalty is so much. But you commit that
same crime against the governor of the state, and the penalties, it escalates. You commit that
same crime against the president, and it's even the penalties even
greater. An ambassador. That's the reason
the Lord Jesus Christ said, he that receiveth you, speaking
to his apostle, he that receiveth you, receiveth me. And he that
receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. When Christ, when his
ambassadors preached the gospel saying, be ye reconciled unto
God. Notice that in verse 20. Be ye
reconciled unto God. He doesn't mean reconcile yourself
to God. The word is passive. Be ye reconciled unto God. In other words, embrace, embrace
the reconciliation that Christ has accomplished by His death. Be ye reconciled unto God. Sometimes it's spoken of in these
terms, lay down your arms. Lay down your arms and surrender
to Him as your Lord and as your Christ. Be ye reconciled to God. You don't reconcile yourself.
you receive, you embrace the reconciliation that he has accomplished
by his death, by his blood shedding. Well, I know this is an old subject
that we've heard messages on many times, but as I began tonight,
I don't know of any subject that is sweeter to the heart of a
believer than to know that we have peace with God. We've been
reckoned. We come into this world enemies,
fighting against God. And then by the grace of God,
God takes us who were by nature enemies, and he doesn't only
forgive us our sins, but he adopts us into his family, and we have
peace with God. We cry, Abba, Father. We'll ask David, if you will,
to lead us in a couple of verses of a hymn.