DECLARING CHRIST’S POWER
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
The old farmer decided it was finally time to bring his family into the big city. They loaded up the old truck and rumbled into the swank downtown shopping district. Upon entering a huge department store, they could not believe their eyes. Soon, Ma was off checking out the latest in household goods. Pa and the boys, meanwhile, found themselves on the other side of the store, standing puzzled before a set of doors that kept opening and closing. People would walk through the open doors. The doors would close. A bit later, the doors would open and out walked some more people. As they watched, they noticed this older woman, gray-haired and humped over, stepping into the open doors, which quickly closed behind her. In a few short moments, the same doors opened and out stepped this young, gorgeous blonde. “Wow,” Junior exclaimed, “What kind of machine is that Pa?” Pa stroked his beard and replied, “I don’t know, son, but hurry up, go fetch your Ma!” Poor Pa thought he had found the most amazing machine that possessed the power of personal transformation. We all sort of wish it could be that easy, don’t we? Unfortunately, it was just an elevator. An elevator can help you change your location, but you walk out the same person who walked in. I wonder if any of you who walked in here today expect to walk out a different person. Where can we find the power that is able to produce a real and true transformation of our lives today?
Today’s Scripture makes some rather hard to believe claims regarding this whole theme of life makeover. Verse 17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Any type of change requires that the old must go and something new must take its place. The power that changes must possess the power to remove the old and bring in the new. This becomes even more difficult when it comes to personal change. The old has become engrained in us. Our past cannot
be undone. We are who we have become a product of everything that we have done and everything that has been done to us. Though you would very much like to change, and no doubt have made multiple attempts at change, you’ve learned just how difficult change really is. The old doesn’t want to go and the new always seems out of your reach. Indeed, the power to transform must be a very powerful power! The power of Christ is able to bring about a real and true change. Three ways that power that can be found.
1. Christ’s Power of Complete Forgiveness.
Real change must deal with the reality of sin and the effects of that sin upon our lives. This is the “old” that must go. There is no moving forward into the “new” until we experience the forgiveness of the “old.” That forgiveness must be thorough and complete. The old hymn writer asked, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
None of us fully comprehend how grievous our sin is, especially while we are committing it. The agony is that once we’ve committed it, we cannot un-commit it. In fact, more often than not, sin gains a hold in our lives and we can’t stop committing it. Yet, the most grievous consequence of our sin is not that we ultimately end up regretting the pain and suffering it causes. The most grievous consequence of our sin is that it separates us from God and the good things of God. There is nothing we can do from our side that can end this separation. The old gets old, yet we cannot seem to escape its hold on our soul.
We declare Christ’s name today because Christ has done something about what we could not do for ourselves. Vs. 19 says, “Reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” It’s important that you understand just what Christ’s power did for you in this regard. Vs. 21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.” We focus on the cross of Christ because the death He died there was linked to our sin. Vs. 14 “we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died.”
Romans 6:23 says there is a “wage death” brought on by our sin. The death of Jesus upon a Cross possesses such power because that “wage death”—the sacrificial death of God, the Son—provides a cleansing for the sin of the world. That includes every sin that you have committed and every sin that has been committed against you. There is a unique power in the cross of Christ that is able to bring about the complete forgiveness that you long for.
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally just smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help.” She whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”
Sin and the evil one who leads us into it make slaves of sinners. We remain slaves until we are set free by complete forgiveness. The power of Christ is the power to wash away our sin and make us whole again. The old can go!
2. Christ’s Power of a New Creation.
The power of Christ goes beyond the power of forgiveness. Until the old is replaced by the new our change is not complete. There are two very significant “in Christ” statements in this passage. In Vs.17 Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.” The word for “creation” is the same word that is used to describe the power of God that brought the universe into being out of nothing. The climactic event of that creation was the forming of humanity in the image of God. Unfortunately, the sad story of our race is that the head of our race chose to disobey God. In the coming of Jesus Christ the creative power of God returned to our world. That creative power of Christ is focused on forming a new race of redeemed humanity. The power of Christ is not only able to take out the old; He is able to bring in the new.
The second “in Christ” statement is found in verse 21: “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The very thought of people like you and me becoming “the righteousness of God” may seem beyond belief to you. Perhaps you know what it’s like to be captivated with your own self-righteousness. It seems the curse of religious people that in the doing of our religion, we become fond of our own achievements. But listen to what one more religious than you and I will ever be had to say about his own righteousness compared to the righteousness of God, which can be found in Christ. Phil. 3:4–9
The righteousness of God makes our own righteousness, as the Old Testament prophet put it, like filthy rags!
Unfortunately, most of us have become so familiar with the old that the new seems almost inconceivable. That the righteousness of God can become our own seems too good to be true. It would be except for the power of Christ. The power of Christ is able to make us over with His perfect righteousness. Your destiny is not the old life of sin and selfishness. Your destiny is the new life of God’s perfect righteousness. The power to realize your destiny is the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus stands in history as an irrefutable display of the power of God. His victory over sin and death becomes yours when you become part of that new creation.
3. Christ’s Power of Compelling Love.
Our understanding of Christ’s power is incomplete until we come to see it as the power of love. His death and resurrection were acts of love. As God, His very essence is one of love. His power is the power of love. That love is a compelling love. Just as Christ’s love forced Him to the place of sacrificial service, so Christ’s love forces us to places of sacrificial service.
Vs 14, “For Christ’s love compels us.” This love relationship with God that brings about our own reconciliation without doubt moves us to share the ministry and message of reconciliation with others. It is in this power of love that we become ambassadors of Christ. We become His hands, His feet, and His voice. When our hearts are alive with the love of Christ, we find the power of that compelling love moving us toward a new calling. Love compels us to become active agents of reconciliation in a broken world.
If you are like me, you probably read these bold statements about the power of Christ with a bit of doubt. Sometimes it seems that we are caught between the old and the new. We want the old to be gone, but it isn’t. We want the new to come, but it seems very much a future, distant hope.
A man was once asked, “Sir, are you a Christian?” He was thoughtful for a few moments and then replied, “Yes in spots.” The sad truth about most of us is that our Christian experience is only spotty at best. But the Bible seems unyielding that it doesn’t have to be that way. Paul doesn’t say you will be a new creation. He says you are a new creation. Is there something wrong with the power of Christ to make us this new creation?
Let us look at three very realistic “Power Points”:
1. POWER that is FOCUSED on FAITH
In a very real sense we are living in a world that is caught between the old and the new. It seems, though, that many Christians struggle with hanging on to the old that will one day be completely gone, rather than focusing on the new that has already come. The Bible clearly states that the power of a new creation is already come into the world. The power of the new is readily available in the here and now. We are called to believe that this is so and to demonstrate that belief by a complete and thorough surrender of our lives to the power of Christ.
2. POWER that comes FROM SURRENDER
Why is this issue of surrender so important? You cannot experience the new while you are still hanging on to the old. You cannot access the full power of Christ through half-hearted commitment. You cannot follow up a moment of surrender to the new with a daily lifestyle still controlled by the old. Surrender is not a momentary deal; it is a moment-by-moment deal.
3. POWER OF WORKING TOGETHER WITH CHRIST ON A DAILY BASIS.
The New Testament pathway to personal transformation involves a synergy between Christ’s power and your participation in that power. The power to transform is Christ’s. There is a God-part to transformation without which there is no transformation. But there is also a part you play. Christ supplies the power of grace. You are commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Growth involves a learning process. The transformation you long for requires your participation. You are not passive in the process. There is a part you play. It is through the daily disciplines of spiritual growth that you gain access to the power that is able to transform.
It happened during a family night. Everyone gathered around the kitchen table playing games. The power suddenly went out. People started flipping switches to no avail. So the electricity was turned off and the candles were brought out. The game went on only with much more difficulty in the now dimly lit room. Hours passed and finally someone looked out the window and noticed that the neighbor’s lights were on. A mere flip of the switch and light filled the house. The power had been on for hours but the switch was off. What a parable of our own Christian experience! We muddle through with candles of our own spotty efforts, even though we have access to the power of Christ’s love. Today we declare Christ’s power. Today we say, “It’s time to turn the power on!”
