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2002
13th January (am) - Be Reconciled To God
2 CORINTHIANS 5:11-6:2
There is an abiding temptation this morning to read to you two extracts from famous sermons of the past, one of C. H. Spurgeon's from 1883, and one of Jonathan Edwards' from 1741, leave you with one instruction from 2 Corinthians 5, finish the service and go home earlier than usual. While a show of hands to this proposal may be instructive, to do so would not do justice to this wonderful passage of Paul's from his second letter to the Corinthians which has at the heart of it, the theme of reconciliation, and besides extracts from the extracts of the two aforementioned sermons will appear in today's sermon.
Reconciliation, like our desire for peace, is an abiding desire for our land. Our desire is that two conflicting communities would be reconciled and live at peace. The goal of reconciliation is to exchange enmity for peaceful relations. On a worldwide scale, we have seen attempts at reconciliation in places like, Rwanda, the Balkans, and obviously here in N. Ireland. There are reconciliation services for marriage, families, industrial disputes, and even for churches - yes the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has a conciliation service which is called upon from time to time, to seek to reconcile churches which have divided over a range of issues, including at times division over the minister.
2 Corinthians 5, is therefore instructive for us, set as it is in the context of Paul's own life and testimony, but with challenging practical applications to the church at Corinth, a church notorious for splitting and following factions. As we saw two weeks ago from Romans 5, peace with God results in numerous blissful consequences, so now in this passage, being reconciled to God, throws down the gauntlet to practice a very challenging lifestyle.
There is an important framework in this passage of Scripture, which if we do not take into account, will limit our understanding of this passage. The framework of this passage is the judgment of God. In 5:10 we read, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ ..., and in 6:2 we read, I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. The implication being, that there will be a day when God's favor will be no more. We will only understand what it means to be reconciled to God, if we keep in mind this framework of God's judgment, for to ignore this framework could result in adopting a view on salvation which is based on what we do, rather than on what God has already done in Christ for us.
There are four elements to today's sermon which I trust will do justice to the is passage.
- Reconciliation is a necessity
- Reconciliation is God's initiative
- Reconciliation with God is through Jesus Christ
- Reconciliation is both a ministry and a message given to Christ followers.
Reconciliation is a necessity
In our world we readily see the need for reconciliation. Communities in conflict need to be reconciled. Nations in conflict need to reconciled. Very rarely will we hear in the news that the key to solving such conflict is humanity's need to be first of all reconciled to God. Remember the context of judgment. That is the context in which we all live, the context of judgment, God's promised judgment on humanity, God's wrath for sinful men and women. This was the Apostle Paul's need, for he had set himself against God, this is our need, for in our sinful and rebellion state we are living with irreconcilable differences in relation to God, therefore reconciliation with God is a necessity if we are not to suffer at the outworking of his wrath, and if we are to ever see lasting and effective reconciliation in our land. And I believe that we have lost sense of this element of God's character. We have allowed ourselves to be content with a picture of God as a cuddly teddy bear or a genial grand-father, who while knowing our faults will ignore them anyway.
Reconciliation with God, who is holy, is a necessity. Why? Let Jonathan Edwards, 18th century American Puritan preacher tell you why, in an extract from his sermon, 'Sinners in the hands of an angry God', the most famous sermon ever preached in America:
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much as against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in a Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing you have ever done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.
It is by the mercies of God, that we hang by that thread, nothing else. But that thread is not eternal. Reconciliation with this God is a necessity, for now is the day of salvation.
Reconciliation is God's initiative
When we reflect on our predicament, and see the necessity of reconciliation with God who is holy, we then begin to see the wondrous hope and the scandal of the gospel. Paul tells us; All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself ... (v19) What does Paul mean by 'all this..'? Paul is referring to his relationship with God, his new way of looking at Christ. Paul is referring to the reality that in Christ he is a new creation.
Hatred for Christ, as Paul's controlling motive, has now been replaced by the over-overwhelming sense of Christ's love for him. He no longer regarded Christ in superficial terms, as the crucified and accursed one, but as the one in whom God had been present to reconcile the world to himself. The gospel does not call us to do something for God that he might save us, it rather announces what God has done to save us that we might trust him.
In Paul's experience, the love of Christ for him, had replaced the hatred for Christ by him. And all this was from God.
Here is the scandal and wondrous hope of the gospel, that God, the injured party, should take the initiative to reconcile to himself those who had broken his law, rejected his ways, rejected him. It is not God who needs to be reconciled to humanity, it is humanity, who needs to be reconciled to God, and God has made it possible for humanity to be reconciled to himself.
Reconciliation is a necessity, and God, the judge, jury and executioner, has not counted our sin against us, but by grace has made it possible for us, the accused, to be reconciled to God.
Sometimes I think we believe that God should be reconciled to us, but no, it is we who need to be reconciled to God, and it is only God, who can effect reconciliation between, he who is holy, and we who are sinful. It is God who saves by grace, it is God who justifies the sinner, it is God who reconciles the sinner to himself. All this is from God ... says Paul.
Reconciliation with God is through Jesus Christ
All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, says Paul. It was Christ, whom Paul encountered on the road to Damascus. It was Christ who died the death that we deserved to die, that we might die to self, and become alive in Christ. It was Christ, the one who died for all, that we would say 'No' to self and 'Yes' to Christ. Reconciliation is available to all, because Christ died for all, but each must personally receive it.
Christ's death on the cross, was the means by which we may be reconciled to God, the means by which God is reconciling the world to himself. And yet, there are still well-meaning, religious people, who know all this stuff, but who still try to impress God with their good works, their religious deeds, their church attendance, their generous giving, their communicant status. These things, good as they are, will not, never, in no way, effect reconciliation with God. It is by Christ alone, that we are saved by grace, justified before God, and reconciled to God. Paul Barnett, Anglican Bishop of N. Sydney, writes, The curse of God which fell upon law-breakers (you and me) fell instead upon the accursed, crucified one, (Jesus Christ) so that law-breakers can be set free. Is it any wonder the Apostle Paul writes, We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Be reconciled to God, he has made this possible through Christ's death on the cross - believe this, accept this, trust Christ for this. The Apostle Paul, moved from being self-centered to Christ centered. Egocentricity had given way to Christocentricity.
And the result of this transformation, was that Paul had learned to see Christ in a new way. Christ who was the threat to oppose, and eliminate, was now the Lord of all creation, the Lord of salvation. Sadly for many today, they see Christ, as a irrelevant intrusion in their lives, or a threat to their religious endeavors to impress God. But the only way to be reconciled to God is through Christ, because that is the way God has ordained it. Any attempt by any other means, is a self-centered way and doomed to failure.
Reconciliation is a necessity, it is God's initiative, it is only possible through Christ. Let me recap on what we have said: From whom is reconciliation initiated? God For whom is reconciliation intended? us Through whom is reconciliation accomplished? Christ To whom is reconciliation directed? God
Getting it right with God? Are you getting it right with God? Are you right with God? If you are not a Christian here today, I implore you, on Christ's behalf, to be reconciled to God, for now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.
Reconciliation is both a ministry and a message given to Christ-followers.
Paul writes; All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Paul also said that God committed to him the message of reconciliation. Again Paul is reflecting on his own life. This was his life mission, to engage in the ministry of reconciliation by proclaiming the message of reconciliation. In that decisive moment on the Damascus road, God gave the now enlightened Paul, the ministry and message of reconciliation, and as a result, Paul constantly sought to persuade people to be reconciled to God. For the alternative of not being reconciled to God was too unpleasant to contemplate.
The same ministry and the same message has been given to Christ-followers today. For the Christian today is Christ's ambassador, as though God was making his appeal through them. The consequences of this is that men and women are attracted to or turned off Christ according to what they see in the Christian's life and witness.
For if to the Christian has been committed the ministry of reconciliation, then Christians, in the name of Christ, need to be at the forefront of the work of reconciliation in our world today whether that is between Protestant and Catholic, black and white, men and women. For if to the Christian has been committed the ministry of reconciliation, then, it follows that there cannot be a hint, in the life of a Christian, of sectarianism, bigotry, chauvinism, or anything else which damages or undermines the Christian's status as an ambassador of Christ.
As Christ is no longer physically present, Paul, and all Christians, represent him and speak for him. In his death Christ represented us. In his physical absence, we represent him. This means says Paul Barnett, that those to whom we represent him make their judgment about him by what they observe in us. To we who call ourselves Christian, has been given us the ministry and message of reconciliation. How are we doing?
Are we following in the footsteps of Paul, the first minister of reconciliation, and seeking to persuade and implore people, on Christ's behalf, to be reconciled to God? Are we worthy ambassadors of Christ, or are we on the one hand claiming the name of Christ, while on the other, still trying to live a self-centered life. We cannot have it both ways.
We are either reconciled to God through Christ, or we are not. There is no sitting on the fence in this regard? If we are not reconciled to God through Christ, why not? If we already are, is there evidence to prove it? And listen, confessions of Christ in the past, maybe the distant past, mean nothing if not matched by a continuing pursuit to live for Christ in the present. There are too many in this land, who have received God's grace 'in vain'.
Reconciliation is a necessity, but we will not see the need of reconciliation with God through Christ, if we do not see first of all, the severe judgment of God hanging over us.
Neither will we see the wondrous hope and joy of the gospel, if we keep insisting that we can achieve salvation by our own means. We render pointless the death of Jesus Christ, by not laying hold of it for our salvation, that God may reconcile us to himself.
And if we are not convinced of the need to persuade others to be reconciled to God, then I fear, we have not really understood the lengths God has gone to procure our salvation in the death of Christ, or the enormity of the judgment that hung over us, before we were saved, and the enormity of the judgment that still hangs over men and women we know who are not reconciled to God. It is reasonable to assume that all believers are to be caught up in the ministry of reconciliation, to persuade a person to ask God for the forgiveness he has provided in the death of his Son Jesus Christ.
Be reconciled to God
Be ministers of and carriers of the message of reconciliation
I pray that in some way, God in his mercies, has made his appeal to you through his word, and through this servant.
AMEN!