Love Reigns. Pt. 2
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Jesus Christ demonstrated His love for humanity by sacrificially giving His life on the cross and resurrecting from the dead. Because of this incredible act of love, those who are in Christ have become new creations.
All our past mistakes, sins, and miscues have been covered by the blood of Jesus. Our past no longer has the last word and final say over our lives.
We have been given a fresh start. We have been reconciled to God.
In return, we give hope to others by making an appeal for God’s forgiving love.
If you think about it, everyone brings something to the table:
Some bring with them past hurt, resentment, anger, depression, unstable emotions that are all over the place. They stay a mess.
However, the believer carries hope, Eternal hope. Our hope isn’t based on temporal, our hope is eternal.
For the believer, we are called to be the light of the world, John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
In a community prayer service Friday morning, The Lord spoke this word in my spirit, “I want to light up My people.”
We should be lit up. Why? We are His- ambassadors!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s Ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
“I want you to understand that you past does not define you. You are more than what you have done.” P.H
Because the love of Jesus reigns, the heavy burden of your past doesn’t have to weigh you down. Decide this evening to get past your past, by believing in the forgiving love of Jesus.
Jesus’ victory over death is proof that He is the true King over everything.
We should commit once again to live under the reign of Jesus’ love, so we might become more like Him.
Again, 2 Corinthians 5:17AMP Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
“Im here to announce to you that the new has come! The old has passed away, Spiritual awakening brings new life!” P.H
Hear this word, “Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change that sets you up for your eternal success.” P.H
Regardless of this truthful fact, Many people believe that their past is a hinderance to their present and future.
“It’s a heavy burden to bear when you feel weighed down by previous choices you made.”
Illustration, Boston, Red Sox.
One area in life where the past can have such difficult consequences is sports.
Almost every sport on earth has some story about a team, franchise, or organization.
One of the most famous streaks of misfortune came upon the Boston Red Sox, when, in 1919, Harry Frazee made the decision to sell the famous Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
Many fans believe it was that decision that inauguration a 86-year drought in World Championships. It was not until 2004 that it was finally broken.
Think about that, In a sporting event, For 86 years the B.R.S. fans bore this burden, believing that they could never get past their past.”
The greatest news is, all our decisions that have caused such guilt and shame, can be nullified by Jesus’ love!
Again from the text, Paul speaks to this truth in, 2 Corinthians 5:17TPT Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished.
2 Corinthians 5:17 -A new creation.
This would include our old identity, our life of sin, the power of Satan, the religious works of trying to please God, our old relationship with the world, and our old mind-sets.
We are not ‘reformed’ or simply ‘refurbished,’ we are made completely new by our union with Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. P.H
Again, 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ...
The Apostle Paul sets up this verse by bragging on God’s amazing love that would offer the life of Jesus to rescue ours. This is where we find this word, “therefore.”
Just listen, 2 Corinthians 5:14AMP For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died;
It is because of God’s love that we who are in Christ is a new creation. This phrase, “in Christ”, is used often within the New Testament.
In fact, it is used 216 times in Paul’s letters.
In Christ, It is a way of showing connection to Jesus and union with Jesus. John 15, ...without Me you can do nothing...
When we are united with Jesus because of our faith in Him, we experience a transformation that makes us new. In order for this newness to be a reality, the old has to then be removed. P.H
POINT #1 – Out With the Old, and in with the New!
The love of God removes all of the old sin, shame, guilt, mistakes, and failures from our lives.
Here’s the good news, When God’s love reigns in us, it overpowers the hold that all the old things used to have in our lives.
Testimony: My wife and I have remodeled several homes in our 38 years of marriage. Take out the old, and bring in the new. New paint over old. Old weeds, New grass. “Out with the old, in with the new.”
When God comes into our lives, He does not simply overlook our sinful past. Instead, He forgives it and removes it so that it does not have power over us anymore.
Isaiah 43:18-19NKJV “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
We confess our past to Jesus in order to experience his radical forgiveness.
To confess means to agree with God. When we confess, we acknowledge the old sinful ways as just that, “old and outdated.”
When we confess, we agree to allow God to replace those sinful ways with godly ways that are new and better. P.H
2 Corinthians 5:18TLB All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him.
Do you remember the day that God brought you back to Himself?
We go from telling lies to speaking truth, from being selfish to being selfless, from spreading gossip to offering encouragement, and from burning with anger to being filled with joy.
Again, When remodeling a house, it is important to remove any of the old and rotten pieces and replace them with new and fresh materials.
If you do not take out the old parts, then they are destined to come back to haunt you.
When we try to live as a new creation while holding on to our past vices, we end up frustrated, and our relationship with God and others always suffers.
We have to allow God to remove it all, start us fresh with a renewed heart, and instill within us a desire to live for Him.
Psalm 103:12TLB He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
Hear me, we do not have to walk around defeated and full of shame anymore! P.H
2 Corinthians 5:19TLB For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them, but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.
God has reconciled us to Himself. Though our sin broke our relationship with Him, His love reigns over our sin and makes us right with Him.
When we confess our sin against God and receive His forgiveness, we experience a restored relationship with Him.
Love reigns in us and we are made new.
Not only that, but we then become conduits of this reigning love for others around us.
POINT #2 – God’s Love For Us, and God’s Love Through Us.
God is interested in the entire world being reconciled to Himself. He does not want anyone to live a life weighed down by a sinful past or shackled by shame and guilt.
Romans 5:8NKJV But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Are you a friend to Jesus? Is He your closest friend?
Now we are to be Ambassadors who implore others to confess their sin and be reconciled to God as well.
Remember this, A love for God is better caught than taught. People want to See you live it out.
We can tell people all day long about being a Christian and what it is like to have our past wiped clean.
However, If they see the joy that comes from knowing God and the freedom from being united with Christ in your life, then they may be drawn to a reconciled life with God as well.
A love for God is contagious. People need to Hear that God means a lot to you.
Illustration: Turn to someone next to you and tell him or her about your favorite movie, sports team, family member, or something else you really care about.
Now tell someone about your passion. Again, “A love for God is contagious.”
2 Corinthians 5:19TLB For God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others.
What do I love? When a person really loves something or someone, they cannot help but tell other people about it. It just oozes out of them.
I want to encourage you, Tell your story. -Share how your past has been forgiven. Tell how Jesus changed your life.
Hear this word, Jesus wants to make His appeal to the world through the way we live and the things we say.
2 Corinthians 5:20TLB We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ Himself were here pleading with you, receive the love He offers you—be reconciled to God.
We are Christ ambassadors, God anoints us to speak to others. We pled, “Be reconciled, -Receive God’s love!”
Hear this again, Jesus took on our sin, mistakes, brokenness, and past shame and nailed it to the cross.
It was an act of love for Him to die for us, even as we were still sinners.
POINT # 3 – Our Wrongness Is Replaced By God’s Righteousness.
There is an incredible exchange that takes place at the cross of Calvary.
Jesus takes on our wrong way of living and we are given the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21NASB He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The Greek meaning behind this righteousness is the idea that we are approved in the eyes of God. -His righteousness is His divine approval.
Maybe some of you in this room need to hear this today. If you are united with Christ, if you are in Him by your profession of faith, then God does not see your sinful past. He looks through the blood of Jesus Christ and sees you as forgiven.
It seems too good to be true, but that is the good news of the gospel.
I recently read a story about a company that made cake mix for sales in grocery stores. They expected to be wildly successful because their ingredient list and instructions were so simple. All the public had to do was add water.
To their surprise, sales slumped. They did not sell as they had anticipated. After doing some research, they found that their customers were uneasy about buying a cake mix that only required water. It seemed too easy, and therefore it must not be trustworthy.
So, they changed the ingredients and instructions to include a single egg. Sales spiked, and the cake mix was very successful.
I have found that often the truth that God has forgiven us our past by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is too good to be true, and far too simple to trust.
Rather, we are invited to simply receive the love of God and allow it to reign in our lives. Then, and only then, will we experience the joy and freedom of new life.
Benediction. -Will you let God’s love reign? Will you allow God’s love to become attractive to others?
