2 CORINTHIANS SERIES
A Sermon with Lots of Big Words
2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-21
#2corandmore
PERSON FROM CONGREGATION READS 2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-21
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, Who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 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.
INTRODUCTION… Learning Big Words
This morning as we begin, I would like to teach you a few big words or remind you of a few big words that maybe you learned so you could have a 1600 SAT score. It is the beginning of the school year and so for many things are getting a new start so let’s learn some new words. I want to teach you some words that you can drop like Cracker Barrel Stock into conversations that will let the people around you know that there is a high functioning neural structure between your ears. These words will be very useful for you especially if you want to sound like a sesquipedalian:
* You can walk into any room and say, “I am here to make things convivial!” and you are basically saying that because you have arrived the party can start.
* Men, when you look into your wife or girlfriend’s eyes, you can use a word that means “glittering or sparkling” and so you can say, “Your eyes have a coruscantly glow.”
* When describing how your children felt about getting their teacher for this school year, you can say, “The children were absolutely ebullient when going to school the first day. You mean they were zestfully excited and enthusiastic.
* If someone is unaware that it is August and so High School Football is starting, you might ask, “Are you saxicolous?” which in a polite manner asks if they live under a rock.
* If perhaps you have a friend you need to part ways with because they are a bad influence, you might say: “Well, I have to be parsimonious with my time,” which means you are stingy about your time.
Big words or complicated words are sometimes hard to pronounce or spell, but not always. Sometimes, they feel complicated or big because they are not used all that often. Sometimes they are words that are only used in certain situations. I think it is true that when we use words that people are not familiar with, it can make us sound more intelligent. It also can mean that the message we are intending to communicate doesn’t get across. It is possible to use words that the other person doesn’t understand. Understanding is most important. Great communication means we seek to understand and then to be understood. I don’t want that to happen this morning.
This morning, the passage that we are going to look at has 3 complicated words associated with it. 2 are not in the passage and 1 is in the passage, but they all 3 communicate the Truth about what God is saying through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians. The three words we are going to talk about this morning are: REGENERATION, RECONCILIATION, and PLENIPOTENTIARY. We are going to focus on the last part of 2 Corinthians 5:
RE-READ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (ESV)
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.
TRANSITION
Again, the three words we are going to talk about this morning are: REGENERATION, RECONCILIATION, and PLENIPOTENTIARY.
REGENERATION (verse 17)
Regeneration is a fancy long word that means “new birth” (Vine’s NT and OT Words, page 517). Whenever I hear the word “regeneration,” I immediately think of Dr Who because I only pretty much watch Sci-Fi on TV. The Apostle Paul doesn’t use the word regeneration in verse 17, but he does define it and describes regeneration as the new birth or being born again.
RE-READ 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Paul says we are “in Christ.” Before we get to the action-oriented part of the passage, the Apostle Paul explains some thought processes and ways of thinking that we should have as Christians. Paul explains to those to whom he is writing and us, that we are “in Christ.” That is a particular way of being, self-identification, and way of life. Christians are “in Christ” which means we are new people and have a new relationship with God because of Jesus Christ.
ILLUSTRATION… BELNOGAMICK, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodile_Dundee_II
When I see that phrase “in Christ,” I have no idea why, but a scene from Crocodile Dundee II from 1988 pops into my head. Crocodile Dundee II follows the further adventures of Crocodile Dundee who takes his love interest, Sue, to his home in Australia to keep her safe from a drug cartel. You know it is a 1980s movie because there is always a drug cartel. At one point of the movie, Sue asks Crocodile Dundee where they are. He calls where they are
“Billongamick.” He estimates that a person might walk across it in three to four days, but he regards it as useless except for a gold mine that he refers to as "the Reserve Bank" and his "retirement fund". "Billongamick" is the name Mick "Crocodile" Dundee gives to his own personal property which roughly translates to "Mick's Place" or "belongs to Mick.”
You might be asking what does this have to do with 2 Corinthians 5? In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Apostle Paul basically calls us “belongaChrist.” When you and I are in Christ, we are adopted into the family of God and we belong to Him. Ephesians 1 reminds us…
READ EPHESIANS 1:3-10 (ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in Him.
Regeneration means we “belongaChrist.” Being “in Christ” means we have accepted the Word of Jesus Christ and we believe in Him. Being in Christ means not only that we believe in Him, but that fruit, actions, and results come from that belief. Being in Christ means that the faith that we profess impacts our actions, attitudes, ways of living, worldview, the way we manage money, what we think about racial issues, how we define sexuality, what we teach our children and grandchildren about priorities, and every aspect of our lives. “belongaChrist” means love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control are fruit of our lives. “belongaChrist” means, as we will see in a minute, sharing Christ with others who do not know Him.
The Apostle Paul also says in verse 17, “the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Believers in Jesus are brand new people because of Jesus. Christians view their pasts differently than others who are not in Christ. Christians neither hang onto the past nor are we defined by it. Whether our past has been filled with goodness or filled with pain, we let go of the past so that in the present and in the future the Holy Spirit can fill us for God’s divine purposes.
* Grace covers guilt.
* We are lovers of the clean slate.
* Forgiveness rules our memories.
* Holiness now fuels our motivations.
* Our identity is in Jesus Christ.
TRANSITION
the three words we are going to talk about this morning are: REGENERATION, RECONCILIATION, and PLENIPOTENTIARY. Reconciliation is next.
RECONCILIATION (verses 18-19)
Reconciliation is a fancy long word that means “to change” and is a relationship word that means “to change from enmity [hostility] to friendship.” The Bible uses this word to show us what God accomplishes by exercising grace towards us in the form of Jesus’ death on the cross (Vine’s OT and NT Words, page 513-514).
RE-READ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (ESV)
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.
The chief function of the Apostles was to act as channels of communication between God and human beings to explain what God has done for them by way of His Son Jesus. What has He done? What did Jesus do for us? The Christian faith is primarily concerned with God’s personal relationship with men and women. Unfortunately, because of sin, we by default have an estranged relationship with God. We enter this life divorced from Him. Sin means that people can and do ignore God. Sin has placed a huge obstacle between us and God.
God sent Jesus Christ as the way of reconciliation. Reconciliation means forgiveness takes place between God and us and Jesus pays the price for it. God poured our sins and the guilt for our sins onto Jesus Christ while He was on the cross. He paid for us. He suffered for us. He made reconciliation possible. That is why the verses say that because of Jesus, it is possible for sins not to be counted against us.
The Gospel… the Good News… of Jesus Christ is about reconciliation. The Bible speaks of reconciliation as the result of what God did for us through Jesus Christ. To be honest, reconciliation is commanded in all of our relationships, but that is another sermon altogether. You see the reconciliation we see between us and God is a predictor of how God wants us to manage our earthly relationships.
Where else does the Bible talk about reconciliation?
READ Romans 5:10-11 (ESV)
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
READ COLOSSIANS 1:19-20 (ESV)
For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.
Reconciliation is about building bridges and forgiveness and grace. Reconciliation between us and God is why Jesus came. The message about that reconciliation is our job and purpose. To be a Christian… or to “belongaChrist” means we share the message of reconciliation from Christ and we mirror that in our own relationships.
TRANSITION
the three words we are going to talk about this morning are: REGENERATION, RECONCILIATION, and PLENIPOTENTIARY. Plenipotentiary is next.
PLENIPOTENTIARY (verses 20-21)
The last word that we will talk about today is “plenipotentiary.” That is a word that is definitely not in the Bible. The last part of this passage speaks about our responsibilities as an “ambassador” of Christ. The word “ambassador” is only used three times in the Bible. When I looked up the terms surrounding ambassadors, the word “plenipotentiary” was a key term used. “Plenipotentiary” means “a person, especially a diplomat, invested with the full power to act on behalf of their government usually in a foreign country.” Especially in the days before instant communication, a full-rank ambassador, as described in this passage, had full authority to make decisions and represent their country.
RE-READ 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (ESV)
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 are several truths we can draw from the Apostle Paul calling us who “belongaChrist” as “Christ’s ambassadors.” These truths give us ways to think, attitudes, and actions in our lives. Paul calls us ambassadors for a reason! Christians are citizens of Heaven who are the full representatives of Jesus Christ to share His message of reconciliation.
First, we are indeed citizens of Heaven. As believers, we are part of the Kingdom of God that is not of this world (John 18:36). That means this world and the purposes of this world do not define us. That means we follow the rules and way of living of Heaven and not Earth. That means this world is not our home because we are just passing through. We see this emphasis elsewhere in the New Testament from the Apostle Paul.
READ Philippians 3:20 (ESV)
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
READ Ephesians 2:19-20 (ESV)
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone…
So first, we are citizens of Heaven.
Second, we are ambassadors with a particular message and particular responsibilities. Jesus says in Acts 1…
READ ACTS 1:8 (ESV)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We are witnesses that Jesus Christ came to bring reconciliation between us and God. We are to share what we have experienced in Jesus Christ. We are to share the message of hope in Christ. Our message for others, who are still lost as citizens of this world, is that God sent Jesus Christ to reconcile all people to Himself by offering forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Our responsibilities extend to anyone we meet who are not yet citizens of Heaven… those who do not “belongaChrist.” Family, friends, co-workers, people we like, people we dislike… anyone who does not know about Jesus.
ILLUSTRATION… higherpraise.com/outlines/lessons/933a.htm
I was reading over some stories of ambassadors this week, and I found one story that included some advice for ambassadors as they depart for their foreign offices. One story centered on a man named Benjamin, whom I would assume, had his name changed for the story. Before this man left for his foreign office, the man was given advice by the Secretary of State about being an ambassador. They were these:
#1 Do not become entangled in the affairs of the land to which you have been sent.
#2 Remember, at all times, you are an ambassador, not a citizen of that country. Identify with the people, but do not lose your identity as an ambassador.
#3 You are the official representative of your Commander in Chief. Often, the people to whom you go will make their assessments of the one you represent largely on their assessment of you. You represent Him.
#4 Do not heavily invest in the economy of the land to which you are being sent. Make your financial investments in your homeland, where you will one-day return.
#5 At any time, the land to which you are going could be the center of a bloody revolution. When that happens, remember that you will be called home before warfare becomes too intense and you may have to leave all your possessions behind. The Commander-in-chief will reward you once you return.
#6 This country to which you are being sent is not your home. You are going there on an assignment. At any time, you may be instantly returned to the land of your true citizenship. Behave accordingly.
I read those six statements of advice of being an ambassador and I immediately understood again why the Apostle Paul gives us the title “ambassador” when it comes to our faith. Each one of those items you and I need to take to heart as we apply this in our lives:
#1 We need to remember to not be too entangled in this world. How entangled are we?
#2 We need to remember that we are citizens of Heaven. Do we act like it?
#3 We need to remember that we represent Jesus and often people assess Jesus from how we act. How well are we representing Jesus on a daily basis?
#4 We need to remember to invest financially in God’s Work. Do we give and tithe?
#5 We need to remember that the material things of this life is just stuff, but God’s rewards are eternal. Are material things in their proper place in our lives?
#6 We need to remember that we can be called home to Heaven at any moment. Are you ready?
TRANSITION
The three words we talked about this morning are: REGENERATION, RECONCILIATION, and PLENIPOTENTIARY.
WHAT IS NOT COMPLICATED / CHALLENGE
Please do not be distracted by all of the big words. This is the sermon with all the big words in it. The words might have been complicated, but the message and meaning is not complicated. If you want to summarize the message this morning in the simplest words possible it would be:
Made New
Made Right
Go Tell
CONCLUSION IN PRAYER
INVITATION
RE-READ 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Do you “belongaChrist?”
