The Paradox of Possession, II Corinthians 6:1-13
Series Introduction, “An Upside-Down Kingdom”
In Isaiah 52:13-53:12, known as Isaiah’s fourth servant song, the prophet describes what is known as Isaiah’s “suffering servant.” This verse is filled with language of “substitution.” The passage, along with references from the previous and succeeding chapters, give us a picture of a righteous servant who acted as a substitutive for our sins. In the ancient near east was a common theme of the “substitute king.” The substitute king was a different kind of substitute than the one being spoken of here by Isaiah. You see, in the ancient world, particularly in ancient Assyria, if an astrologer predicted or spoke of a bad omen which was to befall the reigning king, then the king and his courts men would quickly find a man who would sit in authority as the king for up to a period of one hundred days. They would place him upon the throne of the king so that any evil which had been predicted in the stars which was to befall the king would befall this man instead. During this time the king was kept in relative isolation as he performed ceremonial cleansing rites, so that the evil would pass him up and fall upon the substitute king. The substitute king was the one who would take the judgment meant for the king. He was often a person of very low social status whose life was considered inadequate when compared to that of the king. He was often portrayed as a shepherd, though anyone could plainly see that he was in fact a sheep nearing the slaughter. At the end of his period of substitution, the man was put to death so that the supposed aim of the gods to punish the actual king could be realized to satisfy their wrath.
In Christ we see the exact opposite! In Christ we see the righteous king laying down His holy life as a substitute for the people. Rather than taking a man of low esteem so that he might stand in the place of the great king, In Jesus we see the great and mighty King of Kings laying down His life to satisfy the wrath of the one and only true God. In Christ we see the king forfeiting His throne in heaven, not so that He might run from trouble and maintain safety, but so that He might run away from safety into the trouble which was ours. In Christ, we see Jesus, the holy and blameless King making us citizens of an upside-down kingdom, reconciled unto God by His blood.
Time and again in the Scriptures we see that the kingdom of God is unlike any other kingdom; no kingdom of this world even compares to its beauty.
If there is one constant motif running the Scriptures it is: God saying to mankind, “My ways are not your ways, o man, and your ways are not my ways!” At the Cross we see Jesus declaring loudly and plainly the radical difference between the kingdoms of this world, who seek to dominate with power, and the kingdom of God which seeks to reach out with love!
Today we begin a series of sermons entitled, “An Upside-Down Kingdom.” This is a theme which is found time and again in the Bible. For at least the next few weeks, we will look at some of the “Paradoxes” of life in this world as a citizen of the upside-down kingdom of God. The Gospel message which saves us is at war with the convention thinking of this world. Jesus said that he who seeks his life will lose it, but he who loses it for my sake will find it. He who seeks to be first will be last and he who is a servant of all will be great in the kingdom of heaven. As modern Christians it is all together too easy to take passages like that for granted, but how do we apply messages like that to our lives? I pray that over the next few weeks we will come away with some new insight, a fresh perspective, on how to do exactly that.
Introduction
Years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, Corrie ten Boom met face to face one of the most cruel and heartless German guards that she had ever contacted. He had humiliated and degraded her and her sister. He had jeered and visually raped them as they stood in the delousing shower. Now he stood before her with hand outstretched and said, “Will you forgive me?” She writes: “I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart, but I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I prayed, Jesus, help me! Woodenly, mechanically I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing.
The current started in my shoulder, raced down into my arms and sprang into our clutched hands. Then this warm reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. ‘I forgive you, brother,’ I cried with my whole heart. For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard, and the former prisoner. I have never known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment!” To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.
Transition
Reconciliation is what the gospel is all about. Christ work on the Cross was intended to afford you and I the opportunity to be reconciled to God so that we might then be reconciled to one another. In today’s text we read the Apostle Paul’s account of the trials which he and others had endured in the ministry for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The primary theme of this passage is Paul giving a defense of his own blamelessness and exemplifying the patter for faithful ministry. In today’s text we see not only the faithfulness of the Apostle Paul on display but also a standard for all called to the Gospel ministry. Paul is speaking specifically of the nature of the ministry. While this does have direct implications for those called to the preaching and teaching ministry of the Gospel; the applications are for us all.
His is a lofty example. In the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament the Bible affirms that indeed the Apostle Paul and the early Church had endured many great hardships and yet in enduring all things, he pressed on to teach that central object of the Gospel; reconciliation between God and man.
This morning we will look at what Paul says about having a right perspective with regard to the struggles encountered by believers in this life and we will look at it through the lens of reconciliation. Our call is to endure but not simply for endurance sake. Our call from God is to endure unto the work of having a strong witness as the people of God that we might enjoy the fruits of reconciliation and so that we might also be a beacon of reconciliation.
Exposition
Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthian Church with words of God’s comfort. In II Corinthians 1:5 the Apostle writes, “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
(NIV) The words of this chapter are in a line of thought which flows from the comfort of God through forgiveness of the sinner to the work of reconciliation.
God’s comfort is ultimately found in the reality that we who were once separated from God by the gulf of sin, have been redeemed, received new life, and been reconciled unto God. There is an important point with regard to reconciliation which must be made here.
Reconciliation is not something which has occurred at a specific point in the past.
It is not an event; it is a present tense verb! God is active in the life of the believer constantly renewing and reconciling us back to Himself. This is not a onetime event and then we are one our own. We don’t make a commitment of faith and then we are on our own to live it out. God is in our circumstances!
To be sure, many of us can in fact pinpoint the time of our conversion to Christ, that moment in time when we recognized Christ as Lord and Saviour. This is true for many. For others among us we may have been raised in Church or perhaps not, but we cannot recall a time when we did not believe in God or when Christ was not at the very center, the very core, of our life.
But you see, whether you know the time, the day, or the hour when you accepted Christ or you have walked with Him all the days of your life, the beauty of the work of God in reconciling us to Himself is that it is an active tense reality! When we fall and are imperfect, God is there reconciling us back to himself. When we mess up and think that we don’t measure up, God is there reminding us that our relationship with Him is not contingent upon our ability to live perfectly, but our ability to trust Christ perfectly for salvation.
Reconciliation is monergistic, that is, it is all God, all the time. Our good works are not a means of gaining a right standing with God, they are the fruit of the work which the Holy Spirit has wrought in our lives. Ephesians 2:8-10 says , “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (KJV)
Even the gift of faith with which we access the grace of God is the gift of the Holy Spirit moving in our hearts as God reconciles us back to Himself from the fallen state where sin left us. The beautiful paradox of possession is that it is not us who possess works, deeds, goodness, even faith enough to please God; it is God who possesses us. This is completely antithetical to the manner and nature of reconciliation as understood by ancient Jews and by people today.
In ancient rabbinical writing the notion of reconciliation between people had largely to do with a person going to the other person and making amends.
This concept holds true to this day. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matthew 5:21-24 KJV)
While the gift of salvation, reconciliation with God, comes as a free gift, it comes also at a terribly high price. The very blood of Jesus Christ was spilled that we might be covered by its grace and washed clean of the stain of sin. Therefore, we have a responsibility to allow God to work in us and to be reconciled to one another. When we offend another believer, we are right to come in meekness and humility so that in our respect and love for one another we might show the world the power of the Gospel to change not only our appearance but our hearts.
There is an amazing thing about doing the work of the Lord for the believer the natural product of being seized, full in the possession of Christ is the fruit of righteousness, the presence of peace, and the deep abiding faith in the providence of Almighty God that fuels our endurance for whatever may or may not come our way in this life. When we are possessed by Christ, all else fades away and we find ourselves full in the grip of His grace.
This is what the Apostle meant in today’s text as he lists the hardships that he had endured for the sake of the gospel ministry. Today’s passage in Second Corinthians is considered my most expositors of God’s word to be one of the “linchpin” doctrines with regard to the conduct and ethos of a minister. I am in agreement with them; this passage does speak to the man or woman of God who would seek to answer the Lord’s call into the ministry.
A man or woman of God should be as the Apostle writes in verse 3, one who “puts not stumbling block in anyone’s path to discredit the ministry.” O, what terrible damage has been done in our day as men and woman of God have profaned the reputation of the Almighty by dishonesty and guile.
What tremendous impact has been made upon the unbelieving world to distance them from accepting the call of the God to salvation through receiving the gift of faith in Jesus Christ! What tragic losses are those whose faith has been diminished by a lack of ability to trust those in a place to teach God’s word in oration and in action!
It is important to remember, though, that everything that the Apostle Paul says with regard to the conduct of ministers holds true for us all. We have all been called to shine Christ light into this dim and darkness filled world. We must all bear the fruit of our having been reconciled unto God leading to a hope that will fuel us through hardships and struggles, in hard work, sleepless nights, in want and in plenty, in purity and understanding, in patience and kindness, in truthful speech, through glory and dishonor, when we are praised or slandered unjustly, in all things our conduct with one another is the first thing that the unbelieving world sees; the story that our life and worship tells may be the only gospel message some people ever hear. The portrait we paint is of incredible importance to the building of the kingdom of God around us.
Conclusion
It is an interesting historical note that the Apostle Paul and his fellow Apostles and Evangelists of the first century were not alone in their traveling and teaching. Many in the days of Paul made their living as traveling philosophers. It was common for these men to give lengthy diatribes in defense of their reputations. Many of these philosophers were in fact dishonest and untrustworthy. They would appeal to their goodness and virtue in their attempt to win favor with people and to win their trust. The Apostle Paul’s mode of speech in this section echoes that of these traveling philosophers; the difference is that rather than appealing to his own goodness, he appeals to the goodness of God in Christ who has reconciled him unto the Father!
The paradox of possession is that no matter what we may possess in this life, the only thing of any lasting and real value is being possessed by Christ! That is why Paul says after listing the abused he has suffered that none of it matters because he “Having nothing yet possesses all things!” Dear Saints of God, let us remember the paradox of possession; no matter what we do or do not posses, it is being possessed by God in Christ, reconciled unto Himself, that no matter what we do or do not have, we have all things because we are possessed by Christ! Amen.
