The SIGNIFICANCE Of A NEW CREATION-IX—2Corinthians 5:9--6:10
Attention:
?How many of you have any Regrets?...
Wish you had a ‘Fresh Start’, a ‘Clean Slate’?
Wish you could leave ‘this little podunk town’? or
Wish you could leave the ‘Rat Race’ of the city for a slower pace?
A true Christian receives a new nature.
The key to our verses is 2Cor. 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Paul clarified the significance of being a new creation in Christ to the Corinthian church.
There is significance to being a new creation in Christ.
But what is significant about being a new creation in Christ?
10+ significations/signifiers of being a new creation in Christ.
Previously we have found that A new creation is significant in its New...
1. PLEASUREs(5:9)
2. RECEPTION(5:10)
3. PERSUASION(5:11)
4. OPPORTUNITY(5:12)
5. SOUND INSANITY(5:13)Risk
6. LOVE(5:14-15)
7. CONSIDERATIONS(5:16)
8. NEWNESS(5:17)
9. RELATIONSHIP--Reconciliation(5:18-19)
10. INSTRUMENTATION--Mediation(5:20)
11—A new creation is significant in its New...
RIGHTEOUSNESS(5:21)
Explanation:(5:21)
5:21—“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
God “made” the sinless Jesus(cff. See below) substitutionarily/vicariously become “sin” for the sake of those individuals who would trust His payment. Thus Jesus died instead of me/you...took my/your place on the cross. I/you deserved to be on that cruel cross because we are both sinners against God!
Jesus was entirely innocent...I am & you are not!
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,...”
Isa. 53:4-5, 9, 10-12—“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, & afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”.....“And they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.”.....“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, & be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”
Rom. 8:3—“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,”
Gal. 3:13-14—“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Eph. 5:2—“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us & given Himself for us, an offering & a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
1Pet. 3:18—“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,”
1Jn. 2:1-2—“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, & not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Heb. 4:15—“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Heb. 7:26-8:6—“For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, & has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins & then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary & of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, & not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts & sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy & shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”
Heb. 9:24-28—“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
1Jn. 3:5—“And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, & in Him there is no sin.”
1Pet. 2:21-25—“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd & Overseer of your souls.”
Dan. 9:24-26—“Seventy weeks are determined For your people & for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision & prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. “Know therefore & understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore & build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks & sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, & the wall, Even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city & the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
Rom. 3:21-26—“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law & the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all & on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just & the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
“...that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Christ became “sin” for our(“we”) sake.
The “we” includes Paul, Timothy, the apostles, & all/any/whoever... personally put their faith in Jesus’ sacrificial atonement/payment for their sin.
*“Might become” is rendered correctly from the subjunctive mood. Thus the ‘prospect’ of our “becoming” God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus is truly that...A prospect, a possibility. It is dependent upon something else...your individual willing, decisive faith to accept God’s righteousness that is had only in Christ.
Jesus by choice “became sin for us” so that those whose sin is thus paid in full, would in turn “become” God’s “righteousness” as a testimony to the world. We stand in & exemplify God’s righteousness before & to others.
Rom. 5:10-21—“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, & death through sin, & thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God & the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace & of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Rom. 8:1-4—“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin & death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
1Cor. 1:30-31—“But of Him[God/YHWH] you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--& righteousness & sanctification & redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
Argumentation:
Ezek. 18:30-32—“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, & turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, & get yourselves a new heart & a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? “For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn & live!”
Americans have so ‘Much’ that we depend on ‘the Much’ rather than on God! Israel did the same thing. We have church members who are outright pure adult babies who fuss, & whine & yell & curse & plot... when their worldly so-called ‘paci-fier’(what they control) is threatened or taken away...
Ezek. 16:1-15—“Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, “& say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: “Your birth & your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite & your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. And when I passed by you & saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I made you thrive like a plant in the field; & you grew, matured, & became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked & bare. When I passed by you again & looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you & covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you & entered into a covenant with you, & you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD. Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, & I anointed you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered cloth & gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen & covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, & a chain on your neck. And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, & a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold & silver, & your clothing was of fine linen, silk, & embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, & oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, & succeeded to royalty. Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord GOD. “But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, & poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.”
Eph. 2:8-13—“For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel & strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope & without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Titus 2:11-14—“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness & worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, & godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope & glorious appearing of our great God & Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed & purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
1Pet. 2:21-25—“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd & Overseer of your souls.”
Illustration:
I was told recently about a local craft-fair where every participant would bring their homemade wooden crafts/Local craftsmen were showcased & nothing non-local was allowed/Lots of unique items were to be had there & understandably they were in limited supply/BUT A certain seller at the fair who would sell Russian-style Nesting Dolls, which fetched quite a bit of money for them/When everybody ran out of their one-of-a kind product, the doll salesman had plenty to offer/There is only one big thing wrong with what the salesman did...He had imported his dolls from Russia & had not made them at all!/RIGHTEOUSNESS
The neighbor who channeled his raw sewage into the river where his neighbor’s crab traps are located/Disregarding another’s well-being for his own/RIGHTEOUSNESS
Taking Trash from your property & placing on your neighbor’s property/Disregarding another’s well-being for your own/RIGHTEOUSNESS
Lying on your tax-forms/Not taking advantage of tax-breaks, but outright lying about your taxes/RIGHTEOUSNESS
Diverting the water of a stream for your own use so that it hinders someone downstream/RIGHTEOUSNESS
Whatever it is that keeps you from being God’s instrument of righteousness, I invite you to bring it before God at this altar. If you can continue to hold onto it before God in your prayer to Him right now, then you keep it, head home after this is done & be done with Jesus. Commit yourself to whatever it is besides Jesus that you trust. See what that gets you!...Misery!
BUT if you are done with yourself & the things of this world, then I invite you to come forward & lay down that which you know taints your being an God’s instrument of righteousness. Give it & your addiction over to the power of God Almighty in Christ. Leave your dependency at the altar for good—your good, the good of others & the glory of God!
Application:
?Are New RIGHTEOUSNESSes apparent in your New Creation?
?Your New Creation Significant?
?Is yours a truly New Creation or a Creation by your own hand?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Desire for a Fresh Start/Clean Slate
Action:
A new creation is significant in its New...
11. RIGHTEOUSNESS(5:21)
1. PLEASUREs(5:9)
2. RECEPTION(5:10)
3. PERSUASION(5:11)
4. OPPORTUNITY(5:12)
5. SOUND INSANITY(5:13)Risk
6. LOVE(5:14-15)
7. CONSIDERATIONS(5:16)
8. NEWNESS/Creativeness(5:17)
9. RELATIONSHIP--Reconciliation(5:18-19)
10. INSTRUMENTATION/Mediation(5:20)
11. RIGHTEOUSNESS(5:21)
Pt. 11 only! presented 03/13/2016am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
