2 Corinthians 5:14

Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are manifest in your conscience.

For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them, which glory in appearance and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we’re all dead.

And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth, know we no man after the flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are 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 wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has 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 has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Father, I thank You for this passage of Scripture. I thank You for the truth that it reveals—the truth, Lord, that You became sin for us.

You, Lord, were appointed to be the one to stand in the place for us, to do the work that we could never do. Lord, we recognize that only You could do it, and we're so thankful. We're thankful that, God, You have reconciled us to Yourself, restoring us to Yourself, who were once enemies, once in rebellion. And, Lord, You have made us completely new. Help us to walk in that newness of life. Help us to shine brightly with that newness of life in a dark world. Lord, may we endeavor to persuade people to come to You, to return to You, and be reconciled to the King of kings, Lord of lords, the creator of all things seen and unseen. Lord, speak to us in Your word, we pray. Transform us by the renewing of our minds, we ask in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

Because of the way that my schedule works, Sunday is my Friday, because Monday is my Saturday, if that makes any sense to you. My day off is Monday, and so Monday mornings are kind of like a Saturday morning to me. It’s very laid back; I don't plan a lot of things or do a lot of things. I try to make sure that I set aside time to rest because God has called us to rest. It's a wonderful thing, a wonderful gift that He's given to us: rest.

This last Monday morning, I was home and had just gotten the three little ones down for their naps. It was just after noon, and it's a beautiful thing when you have three kids, three and under, when they go down for a nap. They had just gone down, and Andrea was sitting at the table working on something; I don't remember what it was. Then, I heard a knock at the door. She went and looked through the peephole, still in her pajamas, and said, "I don't know who it is." So, I opened the door, and it was two wonderful people from the Jehovah's Witness Church. They had an invitation to a resurrection service. Well, they said it was an Easter service, and they mentioned that God, Jehovah, has commanded that we remember His death.

I said, "Well, that's wonderful that you're doing this. But I think He desires that we remember His resurrection." They don't believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. For about the next 45 minutes, I talked with Keith, his associate, and Doris. They were a very nice couple of people and sincere in their faith.

I asked Keith, who was the primary one speaking, "You believe in a paradise after this life, right?" He replied, "Yes, I do." I continued, "And you believe that it's going to be here on earth?" He said, "I don't believe that." I expressed my disagreement with that view of paradise after this life, but I pressed on, asking, "How are you going to get there? Can you be sure that you'll be there?" He wanted to talk about a whole bunch of other things, but I kept coming back to this question.

After about 30 minutes, he said, "Well, I realize you're a very busy person." I responded, "Keith, I'm not going to let you leave my doorstep. You knocked on my door. I'm not going to let you leave until you answer this question: If you die today, do you know for certain that you're going to be in that paradise? How do you know you're going to get there? How will you get there?"

He talked about being Jehovah's Witnesses and the importance of going door to door. I said, "Well, that's a wonderful thing, and I think it's great that you do that. You are sincerely desiring to be a witness of God, but that's not going to get you into heaven. That's not going to get you to paradise one day. The Bible is very clear: you are lost, and I am lost. There's no way that that work is going to save us."

I then asked, "Keith, have you ever told a lie?" He admitted, "Well, yes." I followed up, "What's that make you?" He replied, "Well, at that time, I guess it made me a liar." I continued, "Have you ever stolen anything, irrespective of its value?" He said, "Yeah, I guess I have." I asked, "What's that make you?" He hesitated and said, "A stealer?" I corrected him, "A thief. Yes, a thief."

I pressed on, "Keith, have you ever looked upon a woman to lust after? Jesus said that if you look upon a woman to lust after, you've committed adultery in your heart. Have you ever done that?" By his own admission, he was a liar, a thief, and an adulterer. I asked, "If God judges you on Judgment Day according to that, will you be guilty or innocent?" He said, "I think I'll be innocent." I responded, "Really?"

I said, if you went before a court of law and had broken laws in that way, do you think they would just dismiss you? He replied that he realized I was a very busy man and suggested we could talk about this again another day. I agreed.

The love of Christ constrains us. What do we normally do when someone comes to the door like that? We look through the peephole. We hide. We might think, "No one's home," or "It's in the garage; I keep it in the garage." However, I had just preached, 24 hours before, on the love of Christ constraining us. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. There was no way I could pretend that I wasn't there, and I am very thankful that I didn't.

We labor so that we may present ourselves, whether present or absent, pleasing to Him. We want to please God. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We are compelled, as Paul says, to do what we do in preaching the gospel, knowing what is going to befall sinful man in the coming revelation of God's awesome and righteous wrath. If we have any understanding whatsoever of the awesome, righteous wrath of God, it should stir us to ensure that people know the gospel.

Whether they accept or reject it, we want them to at least know the truth of the gospel because the wrath of God will be revealed, as stated in Romans chapter 1, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Knowing that, and understanding the awesomeness of God, we reverence Him. We are not fearful of Him in the context that we run and hide, but we are in awe of Him because He is, as the Bible declares, omnipotent. He is all-powerful, and no one hides from Him; He sees all things.

So, knowing the terror of the Lord, we are compelled. We do this not to receive the commendation of men, as Paul says. We are not doing this so that people will say, "Wow, that's a great thing that you're doing," but for the glory of God, as we are compelled and pushed on by the love of Christ, demonstrated by His love.

In this passage, we have five reasons for why we do what we do in preaching the gospel, and we looked at two of them last week.

Why should the Christian be stirred to the proclamation of this truth? The first reason is found in verse 9: the pleasure of God. We labor, whether we are present or absent, that we may be pleasing to Him. Some translations say "accepted," but that word can also be translated as "pleasing." We do what we do for the pleasure of God; we want to be pleasing to Him after all He has done for us.

The second reason is found in verse 11: the fear of God. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord and the awesomeness of His power stirs us. The third reason is the lostness of man. We persuade men because we know the terror of the Lord, so we preach Christ. We endeavor to carry the gospel to those who do not know the Lord or have not heard of Him, whether it's here in our own community or in the uttermost parts of the earth. This is motivated by the pleasure of God, the fear of God, and the lostness of man.

In verse 13, we find the glory of God. Whether we are beside ourselves, it is for God. The world may look at us and say, "You're foolish, you're crazy, you actually believe this stuff? You're nuts." There is an increasing push in our culture to view the Bible and the church in this way. There is a great demeaning of Christians in our culture, especially in pop culture and media today. The most recent show this season on ABC is despicable, as it seeks to present Southern Christians in a way that is atrocious. It is just terrible, and it is a constant spin. This is the work of the devil; recognize it as such. It is not that the people in our nation hate us yet, but it is the work of the enemy to spin it in such a way that we are seen as the idiots, the fools, the ones holding back progress, the hindrance.

If it appears that we are beside ourselves, it is for the glory of God. We preach Christ for the glory of God. The fifth and most important reason, which Paul will expound upon here, is found in verse 14: the love of God. We should be stirred to preach the gospel because of the pleasure of God, the fear of God, the lostness of man, the glory of God, and the love of God. The love of Christ constrains us, compels us, and stirs us on. The love of God is demonstrated in this calling.

In the death of Christ, no other event reveals the love of God more than this. We celebrate this time of the year every single year, as we are approaching Palm Sunday next week. This is when we remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his last appearance for the Passover. Then we remember Good Friday, when he was crucified there on Golgotha, on Calvary's cross. Following that, we celebrate his resurrection; he is not dead, he is alive. We look forward to that.

That's why we've made those cards, so you can invite your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to come and hear the truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ—why he died and why he rose. That's what we're going to talk about. Come, let us reason together. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." This is the exact same thing we see in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

Knowing the terror of the Lord and recognizing that one day judgment will come, we persuade people. Not so that they would pat us on the back and commend us, but because we want to please God. We are in awe of Him. We recognize the lostness of man, and we want God to be glorified. We also recognize His love. Any of these reasons, or all of them, are good reasons to serve God. However, Paul really emphasizes the aspect of the love of Christ in this passage.

He goes on to say at the end of verse 14, "If one died for all, then we're all dead." He died for all, so that those who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again. If one died for all, then we're all dead. Many modern translations read, "If one died for all, then all died." However, looking at the context of the next verse, that is not a great translation. What is being said here is that all humanity is dead, illustrated by the fact that He died for all. This shows that they are all sold under sin.

There is none righteous, no, not one. There is not a single person who can stand up and say, "I've done it. I've kept it all. I'm innocent." Will you be guilty or innocent on that day? I think I'll be innocent. Really? Based on what?

What has made you innocent? We are all guilty, so He died for all. Isaiah 53, verse 6 states, "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." It’s an amazing thing about that word "all." In the Bible, it means all—everyone. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.

It has almost become a tradition, a daily tradition in the de Benedictus household, that the day ends with "Shaun the Sheep." Has anyone seen "Shaun the Sheep"? It’s a wonderful show. If you have Netflix, watch "Shaun the Sheep." I don't know if I'm allowed to give a plug like that on TV, but it’s an awesome little show that my kids watch every night around 7 o'clock when they're getting ready for bed. We just watched it last night, and two of the sheep looked at each other, looked at the gate, and then the whole herd ran out the gate. I was just thinking of this exact thing: all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that needs to be taken care of. In 1 Timothy, chapter 2, Paul says to Timothy, "For there is one God and one mediator" (verses 5 and 6) "between God and men." Who is that mediator? The man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. That’s what we’re doing; we’re testifying of Him. He gave Himself a ransom for all.

Then in Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 9, it says, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." In 1 John, chapter 2, John writes, "My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

Jesus' death on the cross is central to this message.

is sufficient for the salvation of all mankind. This is not a universal salvation passage that says everyone will be saved, because it is only efficient in the lives of those who place their faith and trust in Him for salvation, and not in themselves. However, man defaults to idolatry. Man defaults to self-worship, and then to creature worship, to try and deal with the problem of sin. The problem of sin resounds in the heart of every man because God has given man a conscience.

There is a conscious recognition among all humanity, the seven billion people on the earth today, that even if they do not know the gospel truth as revealed in the Scriptures, they have a conscious recognition of their sinfulness. God has given them a conscience, and creation calls them to task, revealing that there is a Creator. Their conscience calls them to recognize that they have offended Him because they have not kept rightly what He has planted within their hearts.

So, Jesus had to die. We are all dead in sins. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians. If you're in 2 Corinthians, still turn to the right. Ephesians chapter 2 is just a couple of books to the right. Ephesians 2, verse 1, speaks again to Christians, specifically the church at Ephesus. Paul says to that church in Ephesians 2:1, "And you has He, Jesus, quickened, that is, made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." That was our former position: dead, lifeless.

In times past, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conduct or conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the others. This describes the past condition of the Christian: you were under the wrath of God because of your own sin.

We are all dead. In John 5:25, Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." So, they are all dead. Everyone is dead. Even though we have vital signs and are physically alive, we are spiritually dead because of sin. God said to Adam and Eve in the garden, "The day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as recorded in Genesis chapter 3.

And they died. As stated in Romans 5:12, sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and death spread to all men because all sinned. So, we are all dead. The spirit is dead.

But Jesus said to Martha, Lazarus' sister, in a beautiful passage, after Lazarus had died physically and was in the tomb, that He was going to raise him from the dead. Now, she didn't know that. She was distraught and in despair over the whole situation. Jesus said to her in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

Jesus makes the dead alive, both physically and spiritually. He illustrated His ability to raise to a spiritual new life by raising Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11. It's an awesome thing. His death for all demonstrates His great love for all. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This is the most translated verse of the Bible, and it is so because it is one of the most beautiful. The gospel is presented so clearly and concisely: God loves the world, all humanity, so much that He gave His Son.

And not just gave His Son to die on a cross; it's greater than that, as we see in this very passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and Ephesians chapter 2, verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you are saved.

Jesus said to His disciples just a short time before His betrayal and crucifixion in John chapter 15, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends." The greatest expression of human love would be that someone would lay down their life and die for a friend, someone they loved.

But Romans 5:8 states that God demonstrates His love towards us, that while we were His enemies, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were dead in sin, in 1 John chapter 3, verse 16, John says, "Hereby perceive we the love of God." This is how we see, know, and recognize the love of God: because He laid down His life for us.

In that same verse, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The love of Christ compels us. In 1 John, chapter 4, verse 9, it is written, "In this was manifested the love of God." God's love is revealed towards us because He sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

All of humanity is dead. We are all headed towards hell. We have all fallen short of the glory of God and deserve the righteous wrath of God. But God loves the world. He loves His creation so much that He had a redemptive plan before He ever said, "Let there be light." Before He ever planned to create you and me, He had a redemptive plan, knowing that we would be in sin and that we would choose rebellion against Him over His glory.

He has died for all of us so that we who live should look back at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 15. He died for all that we who live should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again. Paul would say, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." The only right response to what God has done for us is that we say we want to live unto Him and not for ourselves.

Again, in 1 John, chapter 3, verse 16, it is written, "Hereby we perceive the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren." In 1 John 4, verse 11, it states, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another."

We are compelled by the love of Christ. We preach Christ for God's pleasure, because of the fear of God, because of the lostness of man. We preach Christ for the glory of God, but most importantly, because the love of Christ compels us.

Verse 16 of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 states, "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." These are the kind of verses that make you wonder, "What? What are you talking about, Paul?" He is bringing us to a truth found in verse 17: "If anyone is in Christ, they are completely new; a transformation has taken place."

Paul often takes the long route to convey his message. He says, "Wherefore, from now on, because of what God has done in us, we no longer know men, other people in the body of Christ, after the flesh." We are not looking at their outward appearance. Although some of the people Paul was writing to had the opportunity to know Jesus personally and see Him, he states, "Yet now henceforth we know Him no more in that way."

We do not see Him personally here and now as those in the first century might have had the opportunity to do. None of us were alive then, but just as there was a transformation that took place before Jesus died and rose again, there is a transformation that occurs in us after we have put our trust in Him. It is a resurrection experience.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, as stated in verse 17, he is a new creature, a new creation—completely new in form and substance. Everything has changed. Although you may look at the person and see that they appear the same, they are completely different.

In the same way that after Jesus rose from the dead, certain aspects of His being were unrecognizable, we too undergo a transformation. For instance, in Luke 24, when Jesus walked with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection, they did not even recognize Him until He broke bread with them. They were in the city of Emmaus, and they did not recognize Him. Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples who had been with Him for over three years, also struggled to recognize the transformed Christ.

Years ago, Jesus, the risen Lord, appeared to Thomas. Thomas did not recognize Him until Jesus said, "Put your hands in my side; see the wounds in my hands." There was something unrecognizable about Him, something completely different. The same is true from a spiritual standpoint for the person who becomes a Christian. They are completely new.

You may have experienced this in the past. For example, when you got married, both of you were unbelievers—husband and wife—and then one of you became a Christian. It’s like the next day you think, "What happened to you? You're different." Or you become a believer, and when you go to work, people say, "Something's weird about Bill. What happened to him?"

Recently, we were recording the pastors' testimonies, and I was listening to Pastor Richard's testimony. He talked about how, when he came to Christ, the first thing he did after putting his faith in Christ was to go home and tell his two roommates, "I'm moving out. I can't live here anymore. I'm born again. I'm giving my 30 days' notice. I'm out of here." They were shocked, asking, "What happened to Richard?"

In 1 Peter 4:4, it says they think it's strange that you no longer run with them. They ask, "What happened to you? You're completely different." All things have become new; the old things have passed away.

Now, I don't know about you, but I am very thankful that the old things have passed away. Anyone want to say amen to that? Amen! The old things have passed away; they are dead and gone. All things have become new. What does "all" mean? All. It’s pretty simple: all things have become new—completely new.

If any man be in Christ, this is one of the most often-used descriptions that Paul employs regarding the position of the Christian. He uses it 14 times in the first chapter of Ephesians alone. "In Him," "in Christ"—he just keeps repeating this. This is what he says: the position of the Christian is that you are in Christ. Because He is righteous, that is the best place to be—in Christ. You are eternally safe in Christ.

After our Sunday night service last week, we started a program where you can text your questions in during the service. At the end of the service, I answer the questions. One of the questions that came up was about eternal security: Can you lose your salvation?

One of the things I said then, which I say every single time that question comes up, is that if you are in Christ, you are eternally safe. There are warnings in the Scriptures, and I don't want to see how far I can go before it becomes a danger. I want to be in Christ, and there are great pictures in the Old Testament that emphasize this.

For example, the stories of the cities of refuge illustrate this concept. When God brought His people, the children of Israel, into the Promised Land, He instructed them to establish six cities of refuge. These cities were dedicated to be a place of refuge for someone who had killed someone unintentionally, what we would call manslaughter in modern terms.

In that time, if you killed someone, their next of kin would come and track you down to kill you—life for life, capital punishment. However, if you killed someone unintentionally, the example used is that you are in the woods, cutting down a tree with an axe, and the axe head flies off and hits someone, causing their death. You didn't mean to do it, but now you realize that the deceased has family members who are not going to be too happy about this.

Before the law was given, it was still life for life, and you would be a dead man walking, even though you killed someone unintentionally. So, God brought His people into the Promised Land and said they would establish cities of refuge—three on each side of the Jordan River, always within a day's journey anywhere in the land of Israel.

If you accidentally killed someone, you would flee to the city of refuge and present your case to the elders, the judges of that city. They would determine whether it was premeditated or unintentional. If it was deemed unintentional, you could live in the city of refuge and be safe there. However, it was stated that if you were to leave the city of refuge, your blood would be upon your own head.

So, you would certainly want to abide in the city of refuge. You wouldn't want to see how far you could get outside the gate before something happened. That would be foolish.

A lot of tax money went to the support of the cities of refuge because the priestly tribe in the land of Israel, the Levites, were given the task of overseeing these cities. They ensured that there were signs throughout the nation pointing to them and that the roads were cleared so someone could get there. All of this money was allocated to something that, in the Bible, there is never a reference to being used. This does not mean that they were never used, but there is no reference to them ever being utilized.

After a few hundred years, people might have started saying, "Hey, why don't we abolish this whole city of refuge thing? This is a line item on the budget that's getting kind of pricey." However, God had ordained the city of refuge. All these things are foreshadows of Christ. The reality is that every human being on the face of the planet is guilty of manslaughter. We, by our sin, have killed the Son of God, and He has a Father who is angry. Therefore, we are all guilty of manslaughter; we unintentionally killed the Son of God, and the wrath of God will one day come.

So what do we do? We flee for refuge. Only one time in the entire New Testament is the word "refuge" used, and it is in Hebrews chapter 7, which speaks about Jesus Christ being our refuge. We want to be in Christ, stay in Christ, and abide in Christ because there is safety. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. In Christ, we are made alive in Him because of the work that He has done on our behalf there on the cross. We are completely new in form and substance.

Romans chapter 6 will talk about this today at the baptism. Romans chapter 6, verse 3 states, "Know ye not that so many as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him in baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should walk in newness of life." Knowing this, verse 6 tells us that our old man, our old nature, was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and that henceforth we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin. So, if any man be in Christ, they are a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Everything is completely new—a life never lived in transformed. This is an internal spiritual transformation that starts on the inside and begins to transform the whole nature.

Someone comes in and says, "I've been born again," like Richard did to his co-workers and his roommates. They look and say, "Well, you don't look any different." But there is a complete transformation internally and spiritually. That life of the Spirit has been turned on, if you will, and that begins to transform every aspect of who we are.

How does this happen? Look at verse 18 of 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5. All things are of God. He just said in verse 17 that all things become new. Well, all those things are of God; He produces that newness, that transformation. How does He do that? He has reconciled us to Himself. He has restored us to Himself, who were at one time enemies of God, at enmity with God. He has restored us to Himself by Jesus Christ—not by our works of righteousness, not by our keeping of the law, but by Jesus Christ. He has accomplished this work and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

This is the awesome thing about God's grace and His mercy. It would be more than enough if He just saved us and said, "All right, you know you're a heathen wretch, but I'm going to redeem you, and you're going to come and be with Me for eternity." But then He goes a step further and says, "I'm going to make you an ambassador of Mine. I'm going to make you a servant, a minister of reconciliation. In the same way that I have called people to Myself through Jesus Christ, I'm going to call people to Myself as you are My ambassador preaching Christ."

So, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation—the ministry whereby we go into the world seeking to restore fallen people to God. In Colossians, chapter 1, verse 19, Paul says, "For it pleased the Father that in Him, Jesus, should all fullness dwell." Having made peace through the blood of His cross, He brings peace through that work of Christ on the cross for us, His blood shed for us, having made peace through the cross.

By Him, to reconcile and restore all things unto Himself, by Jesus, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you, that were aforetime or sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled. He does this work in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproachable in His sight.

So, how do we become unblemished and unspotted from sin? Is it through our own washing and purification by our own works? No, it is through the washing and purification of God by the work that Jesus did on our behalf. And so then, He extends to us this awesome work to go and carry the gospel into the world.

So, why do we do it? We do it because of the fear of the Lord, the pleasure of God, the lostness of man, the glory of God, and the love of Christ. These things stir us as we consider the greatness of the gospel. The ministry of reconciliation is the ministry of the gospel; it is the ministry of restoring people back to God by the good news of what Christ has done for us. God in Christ has made a way whereby the world, lost in sin, can be restored to Him once again. He made the way, and then God works in us and through us to restore lost people to Himself.

Beautiful. So, verse 20: now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives of the kingdom of God, ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead: be restored, be reconciled unto God. When we persuade with the presentation of the gospel of grace, it is as if God is working in us and through us, calling out and pleading with that person who is in rebellion towards God. We are saying, "Be reconciled to God." His love and His compassion move us and stir us.

Why? Verse 21: for He, God the Father, has made Him, Jesus the Son. That word "made" could also be translated...

God the Father appointed His Son to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. So, God the Father has appointed His Son to stand in our stead, to be sin for us. Where did this take place? On Calvary's cross.

Now, God may have used the Jewish leaders to compel the Romans to crucify Him. He may have used Roman soldiers to nail Him to the cross. However, recognize that it was God the Father who had appointed the Son to that death on our behalf. Why? Because of our sin. The Jews did not kill Jesus; the Romans did not kill Jesus. We killed Christ because of our sin.

In Romans chapter 3, a verse you probably know very well, verse 23 states, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." What does that mean, that we have sinned and come short of the glory of God? The best explanation of Romans 3:23 is found in Romans 1:23. So, just turn a couple of chapters to the left to Romans 1:23.

We'll actually skip a few verses to give context. Go back a little bit to verse 16. Paul says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"

Why God? There is a God, and we see that, and that is sufficient evidence to convict us.

On the day of Christ Jesus, no one will be able to say, "I just didn't know." God says, "Listen, I made it really clear." Especially in the modern day of science, when you have the ability to look inside a simple cell and recognize that it's not a simple cell at all, there is a lot of activity going on in that thing that you can't even see with the naked eye. Some amazing things are happening in there, especially DNA.

The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead, so that man is without excuse. Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful. Instead, they fell short of the glory of God and exchanged the glory of the uncorruptible God for an image made like corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

Wherefore, God has also given them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their bodies between themselves. So what did man do? He sees the awesomeness of the glory of God as revealed in creation, and instead of recognizing the Creator, man worships the creature and the creation. Man always defaults to idolatry, diminishing the awesome glory of God to something carnal.

We come short of the glory of God, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It's a terrible place to be in. But look at verse 24 of Romans 3: "Being justified freely by our works"? No, it doesn't say that, does it? It says, "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Whom God the Father has set forth to be the propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission, that is, the removal of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. He has passed over our past sins when He could have completely obliterated us at the first sign of sin. Yet, He has been patient and long-suffering. He has passed over because of the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of them which believe in Jesus. So, God...

The Father appointed Jesus, the Son, to be sin for us. This is what propitiation means. It's a big theological term, and what it means is that Jesus is the appeasing, atoning sacrifice. He stands on our behalf; he exchanges himself for us.

Reconcile is an accounting term. It's the idea of exchanging this money for that good. He exchanges himself to buy us back from sin and death, and he does this all because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. By grace, you are saved. So, he extends his love for us.

In 1 John, chapter 2, verse 1, John says, "My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world." His death on the cross is sufficient for the salvation of all mankind.

That's why God pleads with people through us. God has sovereignly elected man to have free will; he has sovereignly given man free will. That's what the Bible declares: you have a choice. Why does he do that? Because of the nature of God. The character of God is in question here. The Bible says in 1 John that God is love; that is his very nature.

As a result of his nature, he is compelled and even constrained by his nature. There are certain things that God can't do because of his nature. He is constrained by his character to create man in his image, with choice, with free will. So, he pleads with men through us.

In 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 18, this propitiation is seen: "For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, you and me, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit." He became sin who knew no sin, that we might be called his righteousness. We sang that today.

It's beautiful that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. This is one of my absolute favorite verses in the whole Bible. I think on this verse more than any other verse.

God the Father has appointed His Son to be sin in my stead so that I might be made righteous. He takes my sin and gives me His righteousness. That seems like a really bad purchase. Why would He do something like that? His love. God is love.

Paul says the love of Christ constrains us because we judge that if He died for all, that means everyone is dead. We see the lostness of man as compelled by the love of Christ. It should compel us, even if we're thought foolish, to ask, "Do you know Christ? Do you know if you died tonight you'd be in heaven? Do you have that certainty that you would be at the right hand of God, that He would give you an inheritance eternal in the heavens?"

Do you have that total certainty, or are you banking on your knocking on doors? Are you banking on your giving? Are you banking on some good thing that you have done or will do, maybe in the future? Perhaps when you stand before Him, you'll say, "But look at all these good works."

As we saw last week in Revelation, the answer is at the end of the book. Revelation tells us very clearly that the books were opened, and they were judged by their works, whether good or bad, from the books.

Not written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake that burns with fire. This is the second death. If we genuinely believe that to be true, it changes everything about the way in which we live. May the Lord stir it into us; may He imprint it in our hearts and our minds.

Let's stand and pray. Father, I thank You for this great truth. Jesus, You were appointed to die; You were born for the purpose of dying on our behalf. You were incarnate here on the earth for that sole reason. Lord, stir us and remind us of Your awesome love. As we prepare to go from here, compel us in such a way that we can't help but proclaim this glorious gospel of Your awesome grace.

Lord, we thank You that You became sin so that we could receive Your righteousness. It is because of Your righteousness and no work that we have done that we will be able to stand in Your presence one day and hear You say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

As we prepare to go from here, God, I pray that You would stir my heart and the hearts of my brothers and sisters to be passionate about bringing the gospel to lost people, because Your love compels us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank You.