This
week we are looking at the fifth statement that comprises our doctrinal
statement as a church. This fifth statement addresses what we believe as a
church about the concept of salvation. This statement summarizes the answer to
the question “How can we be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that
separates us from God? How can I be restored to the relationship with God that I
was created for, but walked away from?’
Yesterday
we talked about the reality that all humanity throughout history has had this
selfish and rebellious bent within us that has driven us to reject the
relationship with God that we were created for and that leads us to do things
out of that selfishness and rebellion that hurt God and others. And as a result
all humanity is in need of rescue because we reflect Adam, who serves as our
original representative.
And as
we discovered last week, that other representative, that second Adam, so to
speak, is Jesus. Jesus represented what humanity was created and designed to be
when it comes to how we are to live in relationship with God and in community
with one another. Jesus came to humanity to represent humanity and explain to
humanity what it means to be truly human. In addition, Jesus is our substitute.
Jesus is our substitute in that Jesus took our place on the cross.
Jesus
death, once and for all, provided the opportunity for all humanity to experience
the forgiveness of their selfishness and rebellion and the relationship with
God that they were created for. In other words, Jesus death on the cross provided
the opportunity for every sin that humanity would commit past, present and in
the future to be paid for.
Jesus
death on the cross provides us salvation because Jesus death alone satisfies
God’s justice and removes humanities guilt that results from selfishness, sin,
and rebellion. And Jesus resurrection and ascension provide the proof that God
the Father accepted Jesus sacrificial willingness to live the life that all
humanity refuses to live and die the death that all humanity deserves to die
for our selfish rebellion. Jesus resurrection also reveals the victory that He
accomplished over selfishness, sin, and death that was brought about by the
rebellion of humanity.
Jesus
death and resurrection provides us rescue from an eternity separated from God as
a result of our selfish rebellion. And in a section of a letter that is
recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 2
Corinthians, we see the Apostle unpack this reality for followers of Jesus
throughout history. So let’s look at this section of this letter together,
beginning in 2 Corinthians 5:14:
“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died
for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might
no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their
behalf.
The Apostle
Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the church at Corinth
by providing the motivation that drove him and other early followers of Jesus
to share the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those who were
far from God. When Paul uses the word controls here, this word, in the language
that this letter was originally written in, literally means to compel or to
motivate.
Paul’s point
was that the love of Jesus drove Paul to tell others about Jesus. The love of
Jesus compelled and motivated Paul and other early followers of Jesus to share
God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the
gospel throughout the known world. Paul then explains and unpacks the claims of
Christ and the message of the gospel to the members of the church at Corinth.
And that
message was that Jesus, as our representative and our substitute, died for all.
As our representative and substitute, Jesus died on the cross for our
selfishness and rebellion in our place. Jesus selflessly placed humanity before
Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in our place.
And the
reason that Jesus died for all, was so that all died. But what does that
mean? Paul provides that answer to that
question in verse 15, when he states that He died for all, so that they who
live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again
on their behalf.
Paul’s point
to the members of the church at Corinth, and to followers of Jesus throughout
history, is that just as Jesus placed humanity before Himself as He placed
Himself on the cross in our place, as followers of Jesus we are to place Jesus
before ourselves and live our lives in way that reveals and reflects Jesus and
that is engaged in the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus. As
followers of Jesus, the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to
live our lives in a way that places Jesus as large and in charge of our lives
and that shares that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those
around us who are far from God.
We see Paul
further unpack how the love of Jesus compelled and motivated Paul and other
early followers of Jesus to share God’s message of rescue through the claims of
Christ and the message of the gospel throughout the known world in verse 16:
Therefore from now on we recognize
no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to
the flesh, yet now we know Him in this
way no longer.
Here we see
the Apostle Paul reveal for us the reality that as a result of all that Jesus
had done to selflessly place humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on
the cross in our place; as a result of how the love of Jesus compelled and
motivated Paul and other early followers of Jesus to engage in the kingdom
mission that they had been given by Jesus, they recognized no one according to
the flesh.
In other
words, Paul and other early followers of Jesus relationship with Jesus and one
another was not simply an earthly relationship that would be confined to their
time together here on earth. And as a result, Paul and other early followers of
Jesus did not view their relationship with Jesus and one another from a human
point of view that was focused on externals.
You see,
even though Paul and other early followers of Jesus came to a knowledge of
Jesus while Jesus was here on earth, Jesus death and resurrection changed
forever how these early followers of Jesus came to view and relate to Jesus.
Paul then reveals exactly how their view and relationship with Jesus was
forever changed as a result of all that Jesus had done to selflessly place
humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in our place in 2
Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have
come.
Now to fully
understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand what
Paul means when he uses the phrase “in Christ”. With this phrase, Paul is
revealing for us the reality that the reason why as followers of Jesus we are
new creatures is due to God’s activity through Christ that results in our
relationship with Christ. We are new creatures as a result of being transformed
by God's transformational activity in our lives through Jesus.
As a result
of what God has done for us through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, we receive
a new heart and a new spirit, as the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our
lives. Now the big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word for this is the word
regeneration. That is what Paul means when he says that if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creature. As followers of Jesus we have been transformed by Jesus
so that we can experience a relationship with God through Jesus.
You see,
when God the Father looks at us as followers of Jesus, He does not simply see
us. Instead, He sees us in Christ. Right now, in a mystical and spiritual way,
God the Father sees you, in Christ, in Heaven. As followers of Jesus we are
part of the church, which is the body of Christ here on earth.
But even
now, we are mystically and spiritually a part of the body of Christ in Heaven.
Our old lives prior to Jesus are fading away in the rearview mirror of our
lives. We now have a new life that provides us a new hope and a new future with
God as a result of our relationship with Jesus.
Friday, we will see Paul reveal
this reality for us…
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