Transformed By Christ Series

2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15

TRANSFORMED BY CHRIST

[Romans 14:7-9]

When Jesus was crucified on the Cross and raised again on the third day, He won the victory over sin and death. That victory has a life changing purpose for those who have truly placed their faith in Christ.

How should the death & resurrection of Jesus change us? The purpose of the death of Christ is to empower us live a life for Him (CIT).

Easter holds a whole lot more for you than just a special Sunday for family meals. Easter is about coming alive. We are going to look at who Jesus died for, the purpose behind His death and then what are the implications for us.

Our text is one of those heart and soul passages in the Bible. This passage explains the true purpose of the life and death of Jesus. But it doesn’t stop there. It also explains the purpose of that death for those who place their faith in Him.

I hope today’s message will get through to us so that we will be inspired to make some changes in our life. What would cause us to change the way we live? The love Christ demonstrated in His death for you has the power to change you. For those who come to the conclusion that Christ died for them so that they might die to self, the love of Christ urges them to live for Christ.

I. COMPELLED BY HIS LOVE, 14.

II. CONQUERED BY HIS LIFE, 15.

Verse 14 provides for us a conclusion that Christ died for us that we all might die to self. “For the love of Christ controls us, (holds us together) having concluded this, that one died for (on behalf of) all, therefore (consequently) all died;

The love of Christ “compelled” [sunéchei] Paul and those who served with him. Quote John 3:16. There is no wider, deeper, higher, or greater love than the love of Christ and such love should direct and motive our new life.

Why was a life of self-pleasing impossible for Paul? Because of the supreme example and motivation of his Lord dying for all. God’s beloved Son Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice so that we could have eternal life with God. There could be no greater motivation than that to reach people for Christ. Jesus gave His life for you! You are loved by God and each of use have un-summed value to Him.

The love Christ has shown for us compels us to love and serve Him, because when He died sin’s penalty was paid. For we who live in the Spirit have died because of His death to the self-life that through the power of His resurrection we might live to please Him. We have been motivated to do so by the love of Christ. Quote Romans 5:8. “but God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Oh that “the love of Christ” would “control us!” Not the standards of this world or the opinions of men, not the philosophies of man, but that the love of Christ would control us! It is not my love for Him that could control me, but His love for me & others! Oh that Christ's love would stream through my life and direct it where He pleases!

How did this controlling love of Christ occur? Paul had become captivated by encountering a love that would carry Jesus to the cross of calvary. He experienced and was bound by Christ's love in His atoning sacrifice for mankind. What brings such love to bear is believing and experiencing it, then we will respond to it with our life. In order for Christ's love to constrain us we must view Christ’s crucifixion like the faithful apostle did. The great softener that melts men's hearts is the great proof that Jesus loves me, He died for me, and I died with Him. When Christ died, we died in Him and therefore the old life should have no hold on us today. "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20). He died for me, and He died for you! [Huper -?pe?- instead of, on behalf of, is used in the sense of substitution -Jn. 11:50, Gal. 3: 13.] He experienced the agony of hell on behalf of us so that we will not have to experience the agony of Hell. He died the death we should have died, took the penalty of our sins and bore them in our place and took the doom that should have been ours. And now by our identification with Him we too can die to a life controlled by the flesh and live by His constraining love. Yes He dies for all because He died for each, but why did He die for me? Love! A love so great He laid down His life for me, for us (Jn. 15:13).