Source: https://graceforlifebc.com/2017/04/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 15:49:51+00:00

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21 What kind of cosmic action did it take for God the Father to make God the Son sin for us? What kind of submission by the Son did it take for him to take on and become our sin before the Father? The acceptance of God the Father was the only one who mattered. Jesus did not die to bring the mob to accept Himself. Jesus knew that they would reject Him. No, Jesus died to become our sin and to take the payment of our sin before the Holy Father.
16 Paul’s former knowledge of Christ would have been his life as a Pharisee where he knew Christ and rejected him. Here Paul is alluding to his former view of Jesus as a blasphemer, whose following he had sought to destroy.
For this One Paul, having died to his former life, now lives, in obedience to his apostolic calling. This is the One he “now knows” and whom, by inference, he calls upon his readers to know.
17 “if any in Christ new creation – six words, a memorable text of unsurpassed power in the writings of Paul. In the second sentence the subject of both parts is “the old (things).” The verbs in the two parts are significant.
In the first “passed away” is aorist, indicating a single action, now completed, pointing to the end of the former dispensation, and to the end of the former life of the person who is now in Christ.
“in Christ” This is one of Paul’s favorite metaphors to describe the Christian. It speaks of our position in Christ.
The term ktisis is used in a variety of senses in the NT. The lexicon by Louw and Nida lists the following possibilities.
“the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” Notice the purposeful interchange of verb tenses.
“old things passed away” This is AORIST tense and it refers to a completed act in past time. This refers to conversion.
“new things have come” This is PERFECT tense which refers to a past completed act with abiding results. This refers to discipleship.
This concept of “new” is part of OT terminology for the eschaton. The OT prophets spoke of this new age.
‘Old things have passed away and, look, new things have come into being.’ His meaning is that for the Christian the present world remains visible but is in principle a thing of the past. ‘Passed away’ translates a Greek verb signifying the replacement of something that is exhausted and redundant by that which retains its freshness and usefulness.
Subjectively, this verse summarizes the changes in Paul’s own life.
Love for others is now his controlling motive in place of self-interest, v. 14, which he had expressed in zealous persecution.
Serving the one who had died and been raised for him has taken the place of self-centered living, v. 15.
True understanding of Christ and of his people has replaced ignorance and error, v. 16.
The Creator who once said, “Let there be light,” has more recently shone his light into Paul’s darkened heart, making him a new creation 4:6.
The subjective personal revelation, experienced “now,” is the sign of the objective “new creation” to be revealed then.
An altered appreciation of the Savior has led to a revised estimate of those who follow Him. The Lord has chosen many who appear to be nonentities so that no man might boast in His presence. 1 Cor 1:27-28. In short, Paul has purposed to know no man in a worldly manner, the way in which he contemplates Jesus determining how he casts his eyes upon the church. What the saints are in God’s sight is all that matters and truth is that they are ‘in Christ’ v. 17. No one is higher and no one is lower. Through the lens of the gospel we are all new creatures in Christ not again to be known as we were in the flesh but as who we are in Christ.
Paul and believers generally are encapsulated within the two great elements in the gospel, Christ’s death and resurrection. Therefore anyone who is in Christ is “now” part of the new creation. Christ has overwhelming universal and eschatological significance for those who are “in him” providing Paul with a foundation for all that he will say in the passage following (5:18 – 6:2).
We were all “in the flesh” before Jesus came into our lives. Paul’s knowledge of Christ before Christ came into his life was different than the Jesus he knew after Christ came into his life. Prior to conversion the only Jesus Paul knew was the one of the flesh, that is, the Christ talked about who lived and died in Paul’s lifetime. After salvation, Paul knew Christ according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. The Christ Paul came to know was so much different from the Christ he knew before salvation. After salvation, Paul did not know Christ according to, or in, the flesh any longer.
So it is with all believers. Before Christ comes into our lives we are only in the flesh and can only be known as fleshly people. We dwell in the flesh, live amongst those of the flesh, and have no spiritual understanding. When Christ comes into our lives He quickens, makes alive, our spiritual being that died in the Garden. We suddenly find ourselves understanding things we never understood, liking new music centered on Christ, enjoying other Christian people, wanting to be involved in spiritual activities and so on. We do not know each other according to our flesh any more, thankfully, but we now know each other according to the indwelling, life-giving Spirit of God. Therefore, we are new creatures! Who we were has passed away.
Romans 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Redemption allows believers to view all of life and history in a new Christ-centered light. Human history turns into salvation history. Israel’s history must be understood in light of Him!
5:18 “Now all these things are from God” It is God’s love that sent the Son into the world (cf. John 3:16). Salvation is totally from God (cf. John 6:44, 65; Eph. 2:8–9), but believers must respond and continue to respond to the new covenant in repentance, faith, and good works (cf. Mark 1:15; John 1:12; Acts 20:21; Eph. 2:10).
“reconciled” This is a major theological truth. The word basically means to exchange or change and thereby to bring together that which was alienated. Rebellious humans have been brought back into fellowship with God through Christ. God exchanged Christ’s righteousness (cf. v. 21) for their sin. Christ died in our place (cf. vv. 14, 21).
This context (vv. 16–21) and Rom. 5:10–11 are the definitive passages on this theological term. Sinners are now friends, even family, with the Holy One. Restoration of the fellowship damaged in the Fall (cf. Gen. 3) has been made complete in Christ.
“and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” Theologically this is parallel to vv. 14–15. Jesus became believers’ reconciliation, now they must become the means of sharing the gospel of reconciliation with others. Believers share in Jesus’ death and we share in His ministry (cf. v. 19). Christlike service is the goal (cf. 1 John. 3:16).
“if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” Isaiah 65:17, Paul is saying that the promises made by Isaiah and the rest of the prophets have already begun to be fulfilled. There is more to come but the new creation has begun in us.
Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the cosmic event which is the culmination of all of redemptive history has come upon us. The new creation has broken into the present age and we experience it in the fact that God is writing his laws upon our hearts and we have come to acknowledge the Lordship of the coming Davidic King.
Tell the story of creation, the Fall, sin’s way, God’s way, God’s promise – John 1:29, “It is Finished, Pentecost, the growth of the church leading to the eternal home of the redeemed. Thus, the pinnacle of history was Calvary and the resurrection. We are made new because of this pinnacle in history.
Ultimately, although we were dead in trespasses and sins, we have now been raised from the dead and given new spiritual life so that we no longer evaluate things according to the standards of the old fallen world order.
The cross of Christ and His subsequent resurrection truly was the center of the greatest change the world has ever known. We do not glibly say that the resurrection changed everything for indeed it did! From Adam to Christ man was separated from God and spiritually dead to God. From Christ forward men and women could be brought back to spiritual life in Christ with full understanding of the difference. Jesus Christ came to make all things new and in Him we are new creatures.
Revelation 21:5 begins with our salvation and continues, at the end of this age when we – new creatures in Christ – are propelled into our new eternity.
The old things of his life, Jewish expectations of a Jewish kingdom, millenial dreams, heathen philosophies, lower aims, earthly standards—these things, in idea at least, passed away from him at the time when he was united with Christ. We may trace an echo of words of Isaiah’s that may have floated in the Apostle’s memory: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold I make new things” (Isaiah 43:18-19).
The unchangeableness of character, especially of faults. Jeremiah 13:23.
The great hope for individual renewal. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
The completion in a perfectly renewed creation. Revelation 21:5.
Those of us who have come to Christ know how lost we were apart from Him.
You would not have wanted to know me and I would not have wanted to know you. Sin had corrupted our flesh and all who knew us in that condition would have seen areas of our lives that were not desirable.
In that condition, we did not know Jesus Christ other than at Christmas, at Easter and in swear words. We might have known about Jesus but we certainly did not know Him and had no real desire to do so. ( I wanted to be with friends, be with girls, go to parties where the parents weren’t home, smoke, steal, and act like everyone else I knew.) Jesus Christ was nice to consider but while I was in my fleshly life I certainly did not know Him.
In that fleshly condition, hanging out with Christians was not something we longed to do. We did not want to hear their preaching, and their goodness was convicting. If someone we knew really got “saved” they were someone to make fun of and to avoid. We did not want to know Christians in the flesh.
When we heard the call of Jesus in our soul and under conviction of sin called out for mercy, God both saved us and made us new creatures to live new lives in Him.
Before salvation I could only look at true Christians with both wonder and ignorance. How could anyone really be like that? I certainly couldn’t; until the Lord Jesus came in and changed my life putting His desires, His loves, and His hates into me.
In an instant of time I wanted to follow my new Lord and not my old flesh. And while the transition took some time and is still happening to this day, my life no longer reflects who I was before Christ came in.
Now, I know Christ in the Spirit. His Spirit is in me and communicates with my spirit confirming truth and dispelling doubts and fears. I now know Christ as His new creation and do so with joy.
Now I know other believers in the Spirit. Those whom I avoided before are now my brothers and sister, my best friends in this life. We no longer know each other in the sinfulness of our flesh, thankfully, instead we know each other in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the joy of the Lord.
Being one with Christ I am now one with all who are Christ’s who share His Holy Spirit with me. We have instant communion, instant friendship, and instant shared worship of our Saving Lord.
We now see life totally different. We see those around us as we used to be and desire to see them reconciled to God as we now are.
The God who saved us by reconciling us to Himself now works through us to bring the message of reconciliation to someone else.
Christ, the center of time and the center of salvation history, is in us, we are in Him. He who came to seek and save those who are lost wants to use our arms, our legs, our hands, our mouths, our eyes, and our ears to see those separated from Him, go to them, give them His love, and speak to them of His reconciliation.
We are not saved just to go to heaven. Whoever sold you that bill of goods did not understand the purpose of salvation. We are saved to reconcile others to God the very way that we were reconciled to Him.
The old me had no care for the lost around me, not really. I didn’t want my friends to go to hell but I didn’t want to change so they would. The new me, the new creature in Christ, sees everyone differently. Christ looks through my eyes and tells me to care for this one or for that one. He called me and you to be ministers of His reconciliation.
If you are in Christ today then you are a new creature. Old things are passing away and all things in your life are continually becoming new. The old man of sin is no longer in control and the new man, made alive by the Spirit of Christ, is in control as your new Lord.
Has your cold heart of sin been replaced with a new heart of flesh?
Are you on your way to heaven because you have a part of heaven already in you?
Are you a new creation having been made new by the person of Jesus Christ within your heart and life?
If you answer “yes” to this question, then are committed to the ministry of reconciling others to the Jesus who has reconciled you? If you are a new creation who has been reconciled to God then the blood flowing through your veins and the impulses pushing through your brain should care that those you know and those you don’t know become this new creation by being reconciled to God.
Are you a new creation, reconciled to God?
 Utley, R. J. (2002). Paul’s Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II Corinthians (Vol. Volume 6, pp. 241–242). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.
2 Corinthians 5:9-15 address the Christians coming judgment for their works, the fear of God that leads to service and worship, as well as the captivating love of God for us that drives us. Pastor Steve leads us into Paul’s teaching of how because of a healthy fear of God we use our talents for His kingdom and because of God’s grace-filled love for us we are bound to serve His kingdom for His glory.
Here we are at 10:30 last night at the O’hare International terminal saying goodbye to Caleb and Lindsey for a year. They boarded their plane around midnight and flew out around 12:30. It was a time mixed with great joy and grief. The great joy comes from the heart that Caleb and Lindsey share to do the will of God wherever that Will takes them. Our hearts overflow with joy to know that our son and his wife are stepping into an opportunity to live and share Christ with people who have never heard His name.
All Christian parents should wish this for their children. Instead of chasing the illusive riches of this world they are chasing the eternal riches of heaven. Their lives are set like an arrow toward the target of Thailand to see what God has for them in the Asian world. We know this could be the full direction of their lives and therein lies the grief. To be that far from family is not easy. So we chose to focus on the joy of them following the clear will of God and in that we greatly rejoice.
We began praying for both Caleb and Lindsey (though we did not know her yet) when they were born. We prayed they would come to know Christ and would seek His will for their lives. Last night was an answer to that prayer. The time of transition is both exciting and fearful. Pray with us for them that God will show HImself near and open unique doors for them. Pray for their safety and for wisdom in all of their steps. Pray for Lindsey as she is the first of her family to live so far away from South Bend and for her mom. Pray for them as they start their new job teaching English to Thai children. Pray for unique and clear opportunities to tell them of Jesus.
Tonight is our regular prayer time. Our church, our community, our country and our world needs our prayers. We need the wisdom of God to build His church His way. We are begging God for His wisdom and guidance.
If you are sending your children to camp we are going to need registrations soon. If you would like to sponsor a child for camp we have children and teens who needs sponsorship.
This entry was posted in Devotionals and tagged Psalms, Special Events.
In this message from 1 Corinthians 15 Pastor Steve looks at how Christ became the firstfruits of our eternal resurrection both physically and spiritually. Come to understand how the resurrection of the Lord Jesus prepares us for our resurrection.
This entry was posted in Sermons and tagged resurrection.
The risen Christ continues to meet His followers and by doing so breathes hope into their lives. We have to notice the condition of the disciples here three days after the crucifixion: they were terrified! They were hiding in an upper room with the doors locked thinking that the Jews who killed Jesus were after them. And why would they think otherwise? From the arrest of Christ in the Garden they all fled in fear and were now gathered going over the details hardly believing all that had taken place. How could they make sense of any of this? One week earlier Jesus had rode the donkey into Jerusalem to the praise of the crowds. Four days earlier they disciples had observed the Passover with Jesus in full confidence of His plans for their lives. All of that now seemed like a distant shadow.
But then Jesus appeared! The door did not open, the wall did not break through; He just appeared. Not only did Jesus appear but also He talked to them immediately bringing their troubled hearts to peace. Then to prove that He was not just a ghost, Jesus called them to see and to touch His wounded hands and side. Oh what a difference Jesus makes in any situation. These men and women who were in total fear suddenly were at peace and were made glad. Nothing short of a resurrected Savior could bring such a change in hearts and lives of a fearful bunch. Suddenly their conversations about their assumed great loss was forgotten and a whole new life began to emerge. A new spirit filled the room when Jesus entered.
The risen Christ still changes the room when He enters. Today we hold Him outside by our fear and our unbelief. But when we bring Him in and seek His careful guidance then His Spirit enters and the whole atmosphere in the room changes. I have witnessed this in church meetings, in deacon meetings, in hospital rooms, in family meetings, and in counseling sessions. When we bring Jesus in, the resurrected Savior brings hope and peace that nothing else even comes close to bringing. Share with the disciples in the joy of the risen Jesus.
This Sunday Caleb and Lindsey will be with un the morning service. They are leaving for Thailand on Tuesday and will be gone for a year. We will be taking a special offering to help them in this mission endeavor. Pray about what God would have you to give to help to meet their needs. This is a huge step of faith for Caleb and Lindsay and we can be a wonderful encouragement to them.
Tonight is our regular schedule of youth group, Kids4Truth, and adult prayer and Bible study. See you then.
Last night I was able to give the gospel to two men. Pray for their hearts to open to Christ.

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