Nearly two years after the start of the Civil War, the United States Congress passed the Enrollment Act of 1863 as a way of providing fresh manpower for the Union Army. The law required every male citizen between the ages of 20 and 45 to enroll in the Army. But the law was not received well by pacifists and those within the anti-draft movement, and so two policies were added to the original Enrollment Act…the policies of Commutation and Substitution.
The Policy of Commutation allowed for a drafted citizen to pay $300 (or the equivalent today of $5-6K) to opt out of service. Famous Americans such as Grover Cleveland and John D. Rockefeller took advantage of this provision, in effect buying their way out of service. But this policy created a lot of resentment and led directly to the slogan “Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight.”
But the other policy, the Policy of Substitution might have had an even more devastating effect. This policy allowed a draft-eligible man to NOT join the army if he could provide a replacement in someone that was otherwise exempted from the draft. Famously, Abraham Lincoln, who was too old for the draft (and who was exempted anyway as president), wanted to encourage other “ineligibles” like himself to voluntarily hire a substitute. And so President Lincoln paid a 19-year old $500 to enlist in his place.
Now, despite its good intentions, this policy created serious problems as the troops furnished by substitution often ended up being too young, too old, or in poor health where many were actually alcoholics, or even non-citizens who didn’t share in the ideals they were fighting for. In fact, many of these substitutes became known as “jumpers” where they would collect their compensation, desert their unit before they ever fought, and then repeat the process by becoming someone else’s substitute. Practically speaking, this policy never worked the way it was intended. And eventually the practice of substitution was abolished because they just couldn’t find suitable replacements…in other words, the perfect substitute did not exist.
Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to 2 Corinthians 5 as we continue studying the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in the Greek city of Corinth. Now you might be asking yourself, “What does this story from the Civil War have to do with Jesus and the church at Corinth?” Well, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born to be OUR substitute. And today, when you hear this statement, I want to challenge you to throw out any notion that there’s no such thing as a perfect substitute. In fact, Paul is not only going to remind us that Jesus came to be the ULTIMATE substitute to stand in our place, he’s going to show us the deep responsibility that comes with Jesus being our substitute.
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
There’s a technique in story-telling called reverse chronology where the plot is revealed in reverse order. Authors and movie directors will occasionally employ this technique…in fact, there’s a famous episode in Seinfeld where he does this. Now I’m no Seinfeld, but I want to use reverse chronology to work backwards through this passage because I think it’s really important to understand the last verse and when we do, the rest of the passage will be pretty impactful. So let’s start out by going back and reading the last two sentences of this passage out loud together: “20b We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
So working backwards in the text this morning, the first thing we need to understand is…
1. THE MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION – vs 20b-21
We could really phrase this first principle in the form of a question: Have you been reconciled to God? That exactly the challenge from Paul in verse 20: be reconciled to God. Now when we typically think of reconciliation, we typically think of two people that aren’t getting along and the need for them to “make things right with each other.” And yes, there was tension between Paul and some of the leaders at the church in Corinth. But Paul knew that before they could be reconciled to each OTHER, their biggest need was to be reconciled to GOD.
We’ve taught this over and over that because of our rebellion against God, we have become his enemy and need to be reconciled before him. To borrow language from the Bible, we need to go from being God’s enemy (James 4) to becoming God’s friend (John 15)…and this happens when we become reconciled. The basic meaning of the word reconcile is “to change thoroughly” and it refers to OUR relationship before God. In fact, notice the first words of verse 21: “For OUR sake…” You see, God doesn’t need be reconciled to us, WE need reconciled to HIM. And here’s the problem – we can’t get there on our own.
But that’s the beauty of the gospel. God doesn’t need it, we can’t get it, but he doesn’t leave us to clean up our own mess. That’s what he does in verse 21: “For our sake, [God] made [JESUS] to be sin who knew no sin.” Let’s pause right here for a just a minute. Although Jesus never sinned, God made Jesus to be sin. And what this means is that even though Jesus never once sinned, God made Jesus to be REGARDED and TREATED as if he HAD sinned. Even though Jesus never once sinned, it’s as if he had ALL the sin in the world heaped upon him.
If you were to study this passage in seminary, this verse would fall under the category of the Doctrine of Imputation. Someone last week told me that they love the fact that we keep things simple and don’t overwhelm them with big words…so bear with me because imputation is a big word but I think we can explain it easily. It’s is a word borrowed from banking that means “to impute to one’s account.” Whether my daughter at college uses this word or not, she knows the concept. “Dad, can you transfer [impute] some money from your bank account to my bank account with that magic little app that you have on your phone?”
Now, there are several aspects to imputation. First, Adam’s sin has been imputed to us in the form of death. We will all die because Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and that death sentence has been passed along to every living creature. And when you hear it in those terms, your first reaction is probably “that’s not very fair,” and you are correct. But the next part’s not fair either, but we like IT a little better. When Jesus died on the cross, all of our sins were imputed to HIM – they were transferred to his account and he was treated by God as though HE had actually sinned.
But here’s the best news…that’s not the end of imputation. Look at the second half of verse 21: “…so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.” This is what the famous church reformer Martin Luther called “The Great Exchange” in which the bankrupt sinner receives Christ perfect righteousness, and Christ, the Righteous One, takes on our bankruptcy and is punished at the cross.
Sadly for some, this feels too good to be true, and so it’s rejected. Why would a PERFECT person give up his life for an IMPERFECT person? Why would an innocent person pay the penalty for people who have sinned (and continue to sin)? The answer is GRACE and LOVE. I recently heard someone explain GRACE as God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. And the other part of the same answer is LOVE. For God so loved the world that he sent his son Jesus to be your substitute on the cross.
Church, I hope we never get tired of hearing the message of reconciliation…which leads us back to the beginning of the passage which teaches that we are now…
2. THE MESSENGERS OF RECONCILIATION – vs 11-19
I recently watched a documentary about Army recruits as they went through basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. And from the moment these poor kids get off the bus, everything in their life changes. Maybe some of you that have been through this can relate. Their hairstyle immediately changes, their outfit changes, their exercise changes, the way they speak to each other changes, and the list goes on and on. Pastor David from our Lebanon campus says that when he joined the military, not only did everything EXTERNALLY change in his life, but INTERNALLY, even his motivations and the way he lived his life completely changed.
And that’s a perfect description of what happens when we become the righteousness of God. And so for the rest of the morning, we want to start back in verse 11 and focus on the ATTRIBUTES of those that have become righteous in Christ and therefore, have become MESSENGERS of God’s ministry of reconciliation. And so let’s spend the rest of our time here this morning.
• A MESSENGER ACTIVELY PERSUADES OTHERS – vs 11-13
Look at the first part of verse 11 again: “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.” Remember, the word “therefore” always connects back to a previous thought…so look back at verse 10: “For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ (vs 10). Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we must persuade others (vs 11).”
The “fear of the Lord” in verse 11 is NOT that we’re scared to stand before the Lord. This isn’t the “Great White Throne Judgement” for unbelievers where they’ll be cast into the lake of fire. This is the “Bema Seat of Christ” where we’ll get our rewards and recognition. And so the fear that Paul speaks of is a healthy, reverential fear that comes from knowing that ONLY God is my judge. And because of this, I trust in the promise of heaven for those who have been made righteous in Christ, and I DON’T fear the words of man. In verse 13, Paul refers to the fact that he was being called a crazy fanatic. D.L. Moody, the famous pastor in Chicago during the 1800’s was often called “Crazy Moody” because he had given up a successful business career to become a Sunday School teacher and an evangelist. He didn’t care because his “fear of the Lord” motivated him to “persuade others” so that he could stand before the Lord someday and receive the soul-winners crown.
• A MESSENGER IS CONTROLLED BY CHRIST’S LOVE – vs 14-15
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
These verses perfectly describe the substitutionary act of Christ taking our place on the cross. And the love that compelled Christ to accept MY penalty for sin CONTROLS me. Another translation uses the word “constrained.” But it doesn’t mean boxed in where my movement is restrained, where my hands are tied behind my back. It refers to pressure that causes action. The word picture here is that I’m being squeezed so that I shoot forward in the direction that God points me. I’m hemmed in where I can’t veer left or right, but I can’t go backwards either. This is EXACTLY what Paul’s been teaching about the Spirit-yielded life. His love protects us, corrects us, and pushes us forward. It’s not the LAW of God (“stop doing this or that”), it’s the LOVE of God that compels us.
• A MESSENGER SEES BEYOND THE SURFACE – vs 16
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
Since Paul’s conversion, his priority was to meet people’s spiritual needs. You can almost hear him saying, “We no longer look at people that way we used to.” In fact, he refers back to how HE used to regard Christ. He was alive during the ministry of Jesus and he evidently regarded him as a poor carpenter. Paul had been trained at the feet of the greatest teachers of the day…undoubtedly, his education was not cheap. And Jesus was probably homeschooled and from a blue collar family that lived on the poor side of town. In fact, that’s what the rest of the world thought about Jesus, “You’re telling me HE’S the Savior?” The prophet Isaiah wrote: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. And so WE rejected him, and killed him according to the flesh. “But now,” Paul says, “He’s my Lord and Savior, the Son of God.”
So how do YOU see people? Do you assign judgment to others based on outward appearance? Pastor Michael from our Middletown Mission Campus tells the story of ministering to a drug addict who was homeless and his life was in shambles. When Michael asked him his drug of choice, his response was, “All of them.” And in the process of getting to know this man, Michael invited him to a service. But when he found out where the church was located, he said, “No way, I’m not going into that neighborhood with THOSE people for nothing.”
You see, it’s natural for ALL of us to judge people by their outward appearance. In fact, I would contend that sometimes we overreact and the pendulum swings too far in the other direction, in that we really are passionate about serving in the high needs neighborhood where the need for Jesus is apparent, but we’re a lot slower to serve in our own neighborhood where people have PhD’s, new cars, nice houses, and project the perfect image – all the while, we wave to them each Sunday morning without ever inviting them to church or even our house for dinner. But now that we’re IN CHRIST, we should start seeing people from a Spiritual aspect. Are they "IN CHRIST," or are "they perishing?"
• A MESSENGER IMMEDIATELY BEGINS TO LOOK LIKE JESUS – vs 17
Verse 17 is literally one of the most promise-filled statements in this entire letter: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
If you think that life IN CHRIST is simply not doing the things that you used to do, you’re missing the point. Paul is talking about a RADICAL new creation of the inner being. This is not just the changing of bad habits. You have new desires and new ambitions because you serve a new King. Your old self is not just buffed and polished, you become brand new from the inside out. Yes, evil and sin are still present, but the person who has been made righteous sees them in a new perspective and they no longer control him. If we were to explore the grammar in the original language behind the phrase “new has come,” we would see that this newness is a continuing condition and a constant reality. And so it’s a good thing to wrestle with the fact that maybe you’re not seeing this continuing newness which means either A) You’re not allowing the Spirit control of your life; or B) You’ve not yet been made righteous in Christ.
• A MESSENGER REPRESENTS CHRIST IN A FOREIGN LAND – vs 20
20 Therefore, [because we’ve been entrusted with the message of reconciliation-vs19] we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
It’s been said that being asked to be an Ambassador for the United States is one of the greatest honors that can be bestowed upon an American citizen…to go into a foreign land and represent the President of the United States and HIS message of freedom is an incredible assignment. Those that are IN CHRIST, who have become “the righteousness of God” (vs 21), have an even better assignment. And that assignment should become the single largest role in your life. And it carries AWESOME responsibilities. We GET TO BE Christ’s ambassadors...he has chosen YOU to represent him to a lost and dying world. Turn to the person beside you and tell them, “He has chosen YOU.”
Church, if we were to draw a 16-mile wide circle on a map that would include our three Sunday morning campuses, it would represent a population of over 270,000 people. Can you imagine the impact that we could have over the next five years in our communities if we just set the goal of representing King Jesus to 10% of those people? That would be approximately 4-5 gospel encounters for every adult that calls our church “home.” And if each adult would accept the assignment to help lead just TWO people to being reconciled to God, we would double (if not triple) attendance at every one of our campuses over the next five years…to the glory of God the Father.
In closing this morning, the old Jewish sacrificial system, that was still prevalent when Paul wrote this letter, required a blood sacrifice in payment for sin. The Old Covenant, which Paul has spent so much time talking about earlier in this letter, said that “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins” (Lev. 17:11). And so following the very first sin in the Garden of Eden, God set the punishment for sin as death. And as strange as it sounds, he allowed animal sacrifices at the temple to serve as a substitute for the blood that the people of Israel owed for their sin. But because there was never a perfect sacrifice, or a perfect substitute, sacrifices had to be made over and over and over on behalf of the sinful people of Israel.
But finally, 2000 years ago, God asked his son Jesus to step down from the majesty of heaven and to become one of us. To be OUR righteousness, and to become OUR substitute. This wasn’t like the Enrollment Act of 1863 that eventually had to be abandoned because they couldn’t find a suitable substitute. Instead, Jesus was the most PERFECT substitute that you and I, and every other person that has ever lived, would ever need. Every situation he was ever in, every relationship, every temptation, in every moment of suffering, he was perfect. He never failed one single test.
Let me quickly take you to the words of the Apostle Paul from Romans 5:19 (NLT): “Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.” Paul is describing Jesus here and this is the “great exchange” that Martin Luther described. And because Jesus was the perfect substitute, on the cross he finally made the perfectly acceptable sacrifice. And because he died, he satisfied God’s requirement, and the penalty for our sin was lifted. Because of HIS substitution, we are redeemed and the old sacrificial system is finally obsolete.
Let me take you back, one last time, to the words of the Apostle Paul here in Chapter 5:15 (NLT): “[Christ] died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” Friends, Jesus is inviting you this morning to stop living for yourself and to begin living for Christ. Won’t you trust him today?
