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A few weeks ago we talked about the masks we as Christians put on that sometimes hides
our true selves from one another. But those who do not know Christ also put on masksóto hide themselves from
an awful reality that they donít want to faceóthat we as humans are evil at the core.
We distract ourselves from this fact by being busy with really good things and by ìhiding
out in the creationî as Adam did, and hope that the good makes up for the bad things
we do. In our heart of hearts, though, we fear that someday we will have to account
for what weíve done.
In Revelation 20:11 we read: ìThen I saw a great white throne and One seated on it.
Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.î One day we
will stand before the Almighty God. When that happens there will be no more distractions
and nothing more to hide our true selves from God.
Hebrews 4:13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give an account
At that point there will be no excuses. God and you will be able to see clearly all of
your words, deeds, thoughts, and motivations. At that point you will either stand on what
you have done, and be sent away from Godís love foreveróor you can have someone elseís
deeds stand in for yours.
That person, of course, is the same One who will sit on the throne.
John 3:17-18 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through Him.
Weíll talk more about how that works in a few minutes. But given that only those who
have the life of Jesus given to them will have eternal life, what should that do to
us who already believe? Thatís what we find in the second half of chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians.
11 ñ 12
Paul knew his motivations before God were pure and he hoped he was an open book to them
as well. He was motivated by wanting people to be reconciled to God, not for greed or
other selfish motives.
Showing off and using external impressiveness was just the sort of thing that was getting
the Corinthians in trouble. Paul will not stoop to that level but with his focus on
the gospel and the eternal state and health of people, he hopes that the Corinthians will
also grab ahold of that mentality and leave the outward impressiveness behind.
13
There are a couple of ways to interpret this verse but I think the best way in my mind
according to the flow of thought is that the word ìout of our mindî means ìto be insane.î
Itís the same word used of Jesus by his family in Mark 3:21, and used by Festus when he called
Paul ìmadî in Acts 26:22-24. Paulís willingness to undergo trials and also not try for outward
impressiveness might have seemed foolish to the Corinthians. But Godís ways are not our
ways. The message of the cross seems foolish (1 Corinthians 1:21) to the world, but Paul
is not concerned with how he is perceived outwardly but the reality of what is going
on inwardly and his mission from God.
So he might seem ìmadî to those around him, but he also hopes he seems very ìsaneî when
it comes to speaking from his heart and the heart of God to them.
14 ñ 15
The word ìcompelî means ìto hold fast.î Paul cannot deviate from sharing the love
of the cross even if it seems foolish. The reality is that everyone on earth is cursed
by sin and that the love of the Father compelled Him to send Jesus to the cross to bear all
of those sins.
Paul wrote to the Galatians:
Galatians 2:19-21 I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me.
Because of Christís love that drove Him to the cross, we now change our allegiance. Instead
of living for the self, we live for the One who died. He gives us life and new values
and new purpose and a new spirit in His resurrection.
16
Paul used to look at Jesus as a Pharisee and a Jewóas a rebel man who claimed He was Messiah.
But after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paulís opinion changed: Jesus IS the Messiah.
His opinion about others changed as well. No longer were there Jews and Gentiles, but
now all need to come to die and belong to Jesus as one.
Next he goes on to explain this wonderful change:
17
The problem with the false teachers is that they were trying to exist in the church using
the thinking of this age. Paul points out here that when you grasp Jesus, when you put
your weight down on Him and His sacrifice for the evil in you, you become part of an
entirely new order. I love how the Life Application Commentary puts it:
ìChristians are brand-new people. The Holy Spirit gives them new life, and they are not
the same anymore. Christians are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated -- they are recreated
(a new creation), living in vital union with Christ (Col 2:6-7). At conversion, believers
are not merely turning over a new leaf; they are beginning a new life under a new Master.î
(from The Life Application Commentary Series copyright (C) 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by
the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved.)
The old ways of thinking: external obedience and external impressiveness are gone. Obedience
comes from the Spirit living inside of youóchanging you, motivating you, altering your mind. You
are also now citizens of a different country. You are here on a work visaóor perhaps more
specifically, a diplomatic visa, which weíll get to in a moment.
18 ñ 20
The source of this new life isnít from our efforts, but itís all Godís. The false teachers
had a ministry of self-fulfillment and gratification. In Christ we have the same job description
as Jesusóreconciling man to God through the cross.
The message of reconciliation includes 1) Our relationship with God was broken (Genesis
3). 2) We continued to provoke hostility to God by rebelling against Him (Genesis 4ff).
3) Someone (God) made an overt gesture to repair the relationship (through the cross)
so that ìproper, friendly, interpersonal relationsî could be restored (Louw and Nida
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament).
You are now an ambassador of that message. The word means ìan authorized agent.î God
has specifically given us the job of sharing this good news in all that we think, do and
say. Again, you are an ambassadoróit doesnít mean that you show your credentials in the
face of every stranger on the road, but you should know that to everyone and in every
situation you need to act in a way that reflects positively on your King.
So how did that reconciliation happen? Paul concludes the chapter with one of the most
amazing verse in the Bible to explain:
21
There are at least three ways of looking at this verse. Either 1) Jesus became a sinner
on the cross. 2) That He became a sin offering (ie the Old Testament sacrificial system)
or 3) that He bore the consequences of our sins.
In a way, I think, all are true. Jesus became accursed (Galatians 3:13 ìChrist redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for usî). Jesus was the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). And:
1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to
sins, we might live for righteousness;
Whichever is more rightóthe effect is the same. He traded His life for our death so
that He could take away our evil and give us His purity (righteousness).
Conclusions
Our problem as people is three-fold:
1. We underestimate the extent of the evil in us
Jeremiah 17:9-11 he heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sickówho
can understand it? 10 I, the Lord, examine the mind,
I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions
deserve. 11 He who makes a fortune unjustly is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn't
lay. In the middle of his days his riches will abandon him, so in the end he will be
a fool.
2. We underestimate the peril we face
Back to Revelation 20. Those that hate God and refuse to let Jesus take away their evil
will end up in a place John describes as a ìlake of fire.î Itís symbolic language,
of course, but it is symbolic of something very real and worse than the symbols can convey.
It wonít be a place where people will regret their choice, but a place that they will hate
God for all of eternity while also in some form of suffering.
I know there are books out there today that discount the existence of hell. But if the
Bible describes it (and does in some detail) then I believe it at face value. Basically
by default we are in league with Lucifer and will go where he goes unless we opt out by
the one way God made: the sacrifice of Jesus.
3. We underestimate the cost of the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah
God blamed Jesus for your sins on the cross. God killed His Son to get you.
It is such a simple yet awesome truth:
John 3:16-21 "For God loved the world in this way: He gave
His
One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that
the world might be saved through Him. 18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but
anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of
the One and Only Son of God.
19 "This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved
darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who practices
wicked things hates the light and avoids it,
so
that his deeds may not
be exposed. 21 But
anyone
who lives by the truth comes to
the light, so that
his works may be shown to be accomplished by God."
Doesnít this make you want to make yourself available as an ambassador? Iím not talking
about selling everything and becoming a missionary (unless God calls you to that). But being
an ambassador starts with realizing your job title and
living as a representative of your King. It should help us make choices that put on the
new character
and
put off the old (Colossians 3:1-10).