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God Reconciled Us to Himself
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Introduction: To properly appreciate the text before us, we need to begin with 5:14-15 – “For the love of Christ controls us.” Paul is not talking about our love for Christ, but the love Christ has demonstrated for us. I do not believe there is a biblical principle that is more important than this one. It is indeed true that we must obey God. God will not tolerate disobedience. But what is to be the motivating factor behind our obedience? It is the love of Christ. In the Luke 7 story of Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman, it was the woman who was justified, not the “obedient” Simon. Jesus said, “She loved much because she was forgiven much.”
When we examine ourselves as disciples, it is easy to evaluate our response to the love of Christ. Does the love of Christ control us? Or as verse 15 states, to what extent do we no longer live for ourselves but for him who for our sake died and was raised? Stated another way, how much do we appreciate the love of Christ?
Our text will help us grow in our appreciation.
“God Reconciled Us to Himself”
Throughout this text there is a repetition of reconciliation. Of course, reconciliation is the bringing of two enemies together so that there is a renewed relationship and the hostilities have ceased. That is a definition, but that is not the primary point. Two people might very well sit down and iron out their differences, but that is not what is happening here.
Notice the beginning phrase, “All this is from God…” And then in verse 19, “God was reconciling the world to himself.” We can get the wrong idea about this particular reconciliation as if we had something to do with it. No, the text says, “All this is from God…”
Isaiah 59:15-16 explains the point well.
Notice what God saw. He saw the wickedness of man. He saw how evil they were and their transgressions are multiplied against him (vs. 12).
Therefore, what was God’s response? What would anyone’s response be when others have multiplied evil attacks against them. How God responds is not the way anyone would respond. God saw all this wickedness against him, and it displeased him. What displeased him? It is not simply the sinfulness of man, it is that there was no one to intercede and bring about reconciliation! In fact, God looked and “was appalled (NIV) that there was no one to intercede.”
Therefore, since there was no one to intercede, God’s “own arm brought him salvation.” Verse 20, God promises that he will send a Redeemer to Zion. Just as Paul said, “All this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself.”
Do we appreciate the fact that we are the offenders? We are the enemies? We are the ones who made ourselves enemies by disregarding our Creator and the fact that he had done nothing but good for us. He never did one bad thing. He never offended us or hurt us in any way. As for what was bad, it was all us!
Have you ever tried to fix a relationship in which the other person had done nothing but multiplied evil against you and you had done nothing but good toward them? We would consider it hopeless. Why would we attempt reconciliation with someone who openly hates us after we have done nothing but good? But that is exactly what God has done. Our condition breaks his heart.
Now, let’s be impressed with what God did. Note the phrase, “God in Christ was…not counting their trespasses against them.” Take a moment and think about all the sins you have committed against God. Just start from when you were a teen and count them. I’m afraid it would be like counting the stars.
But please carefully consider, this forgiveness did not come with out cost. Now who will pay the cost to bring about reconciliation, the offended or the offender? Indeed, the offender is the one who should pay the cost. The offender is the one who is in debt. But in this case, it is the offended who pays knowing full well that we cannot pay for the magnitude of our sins. And the cost to God was huge!
That cost is explained in verse 21.
First, I do not want to take away from the import of the text, but we do need to understand the text. Translators admit that “made him to be sin” can either be translated “sin” or “sin offering.” In fact, the same word is twice translated “sin offering” in Hebrews 10:6, 8. “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure… When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offering and burnt offerings and sin offerings,’ then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will…’”
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).
“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3 NASB). The NIV, CSB, and NLT reflect the same reading. However, the word “offering” is not in the Greek just as it is not in 2 Corinthians 5:21. But it is assumed by the context.
The OT principle is an offering for sin, which is exactly what Jesus was. In fact, the LXX uses this same word over 50 times and translates it “sin offering.” The idea of the offering becoming sin is foreign to scripture. Jesus becomes “the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.” He is the perfect, sinless, sin offering – not a sinful, sin offering!
That said, the import of the text is what God paid in order to make it so he could justly not count our sins against us. God paid this extraordinary price to make reconciliation possible. But we, the offenders, did nothing to make it possible!
Notice the final words, “That in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Here is the positive side of God not counting our sins against us. God paid this price so that we could become righteous. Paul said in Romans 3:11, “There is none righteous, no not one.” Not any more. Through Christ, God has made us righteous.
The Message of Reconciliation
Now we switch gears to understand how God brings that reconciliation to each individual. After all, though God has done all to bring about reconciliation, each individual must still accept the terms of reconciliation. Therefore, Paul is reminding the Corinthians how the terms of reconciliation are delivered. It doesn’t happen by some direct message from God. The apostles and prophets have been “entrusted with the message of reconciliation.”
It is astounding today how many people base their reconciliation with God on what they believe are direct messages from God into their mind. In Col. 2:18, Paul said, “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” Indeed! Through the apostles and prophets we have been given the message of reconciliation.
Further, notice how God characterizes this message: “God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
How should we understand the scriptures? It is God making his appeal to us. The apostles are prophets are no different than Moses or the prophets of old. They are ambassadors. What they say is what God is saying.
Then look at the words, “We implore you…” NASB states, “Beg you.” CSB: “We plead on Christ’s behalf…” If Paul and the others who are inspired are begging and pleading on behalf of Christ, then it is Christ begging and pleading. After what Jesus has done to bring about reconciliation, he shouldn’t have to beg us! We should be running to him.
And then we hear people say, “What kind of God sends people to hell?” Really! What kind of person refuses to be reconciled to a God who pays the payment for the offender so that we could be reconciled?
Our final lesson is this: Though the apostles were ambassadors in a very special way having directly received the message of reconciliation, in a secondary way, God has called us to be lights to the world, the offspring of Abraham through whom the world receives the blessing of Christ. When we bring the same message as Paul, we also must act as ambassadors for Christ. Throughout 2 Corinthians Paul has stressed three traits of good ambassadors:
A character that fits the message
An unoffensive, humble and gentle way of delivering the message
A knowledge of God and God’s word
As in 5:11, “knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.”
We now come back to Paul’s statement in verse 14: the love of Christ controls (constrains) us. When we see this love, we must be motivated and controlled by that love to no longer live for ourselves, but to live so everyone can have the opportunity to be reconciled to God.