"If Anyone Is In Christ..." 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2

A wise man named Solomon once said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). That is a good reminder for those of us who look at the situations and conditions we find ourselves in, while living in America, and think to ourselves, “It’s never been like this before.” The truth of the matter, if you believe the Bible, is that it has always been like this since the Fall, way back in the Garden of Eden. The waywardness of the human heart has run deep since that day. The sin within permeates every ever fiber of our being and influences every realm of human existence. It is human nature to look at some people as “less than” and others as “greater than.” We’ve devised a countless list of markers, some of which are unique to you the individual, which place lesser or greater value on other human beings.  Some value beauty above all else, others value money, material possessions, some value athletic ability, or musical ability, or intellect, or a sense of humor, but we all, by human nature, value some people more than others. We also have a set of markers which lead us to look down on others, to see others as just that “the other.” It may be a lack of education, or living in a low income neighborhood, or not being especially good looking, being from a foreign country, being too fat or too scrawny, having a personality type that grates on our own, or belonging to the wrong political party, or...you get my point. And then there are those who are the truly evil among us that make us feel so much better about ourselves. “I know I’m not perfect, I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m not anywhere near ‘that!’ I’m nothing like him or her.” There’s probably only a handful of adults in America who don't know about the horrible crime of Alex Murdaugh who was just convicted of murdering his wife Maggie and his 22 year old son Paul at their home in South Carolina just a few weeks ago. We are familiar with Alex Murdaugh, but I bet you are not aware of the story of William George Davis, a popular nurse in Tyler, Texas who was convicted of murdering the patients he was charged with caring for at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital. George injected air into his patient's IV lines causing them to have catastrophic neurological damage. Mr. Davis said his motive in committing the crimes was to get more overtime hours. Don’t even ask me how to connect the dots.These types of stories, of people acting less than human, occur every day, but instead of seeing ourselves in their reflection, we use them to confirm them as “the other,” someone less than us. We need to learn the lesson learned by Yehiel Dinur.During World War II, Mr. Dinur spent two years in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. The man who had been put in charge of identifying and transporting Jews from all over occupied Europe to Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka, and many other concentration camps was a man named Adolph Eichmann. After the war, Eichmann was captured and was put on trial in Jerusalem in 1961. One of the many witnesses who testified against Adolph Eichmann was Yehiel Dinur. When Yehiel entered the courtroom, he stared at the man who had murdered family and friends and who had overseen his own torture day after day after day for two years. As Yehiel’s eyes looked into Eichmann’s, Yehiel collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Everyone assumed that he was overcome by the memories of what Eichmann and the German SS had done to him, but nobody knew for sure until Yehiel was interviewed by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes. Chuck Colson wrote about the interview. 

Was Dinur overcome by hatred? Fear? Horrid memories? No, it was none of these. Rather, as Dinur explained to Wallace, all at once he realized Eichmann was not the god-like army officer who had sent so many to their deaths. This Eichmann was an ordinary man. "I was afraid about myself. I realized that evil is endemic to the human condition—that any one of us could commit the same atrocities. Eichmann is in all of us.” (Colson, Chuck. Breakpoint. 8.18.2017)

The insight that caused Yehiel to collapse, overcome by grief and sorrow, is a powerful illustration of the truth I’ve been trying to describe for all of us. We, you and me, we are “the other.” The same capacity for sin that resides in them, is inside us all. I’m fully aware that this is a pretty bleak outlook on the human condition, but before we can ever appreciate the remedy we must first fully understand the diagnosis. Let’s take a look at our Scripture for this morning found in 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 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. 6 1 As God's co-workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2 NIV)

This is such a wonderful section of God’s Word. There’s so much for us to learn so let’s dig in by taking a look at verse 16. Paul writes,

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (2 Corinthians 5:16 NIV)

Paul is letting everyone know that he no longer uses the world’s measuring tools to evaluate people. He’s upfront that he used to assess and place value on people from a worldly point of view, but now he’s through with “less than” and “greater than.”I mentioned to you at the beginning of our study that Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” The way we look down upon or look up to others has always been around. Paul sat down to write his first letter to the Church in Corinth about 53 A.D. Almost 2000 years ago. Listen to what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NIV)

Not many were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were from a noble birth, a blue blood lineage. “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” Before Paul’s life was changed by Jesus, he was as guilty as the next guy of judging by appearances. What’s interesting is that there were many people in the church at Corinth who were using the standards of the world to judge Paul. When they stood Paul next to the super apostles, those polished, erudite scholars, who could sell a ham sandwich to a hog with their persuasive words, Paul seemed so weak and unimpressive. Paul, in verse 16, says he even viewed Jesus in the same way, according to the world’s standards. Paul knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what the Messiah would look like and do once he arrived on the scene and Jesus didn’t fit Paul’s image of a Messiah at all. The Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a white horse and overthrow the Romans. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and was hung on a cross. Jesus hung out with uneducated fishermen and despised tax collectors. He ate with undesirables, deplorables, and forgave sinners. Jesus caused a fuss in the synagogue at Nazareth that led to Him being run out of town. Paul wouldn’t even consider the possibility that Jesus could be the Messiah. Ray Stedman writes,

What did he think of him? Why, he thought he was a lowdown, worthless rabble-rouser, a tub-thumping street preacher from a dirty little obscure town that nobody thought anything good could come out of. He thought because Jesus had no political standing, no family position, no training and no education that he was worthless. He tried his best to exterminate the religion that gathered about him because he regarded him as an imposter and a phony. (Ray Stedman)

But when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus all of that changed. What he thought was true about Jesus had been proven wrong…Jesus was the Messiah, He is the Messiah, the Savior of all of those who trust in Him. Paul’s life was changed. Not only did he see Jesus for who He truly was, but from that day forward he saw people, all people, through the eyes of the One who had made them. David Garland writes,

Understanding the full meaning of the cross and resurrection and fully experiencing the Spirit brings an enlightenment that causes Christians to see things and other persons in new ways. (Garland, David. 2 Corinthians. pg. 284)

Paul’s new understanding of Jesus and Jesus’ love for him caused Paul to have a new understanding and love for people. I know many people who have a solid Christology, an understanding of Jesus’ nature and work, but they continue to have a worldly anthropology, they continue to view people in the same way the world views them. Don’t you find it interesting that although we are the most educated population in history and live in the most technologically advanced period in history, we are as intolerant of others as those that have gone before us? “This” ethnic group is pitted against “that” ethnic group, this socio-economic group is pitted against that socio-economic group, the nation where you come from has its prejudices against some other nationality, and the list goes on. Paul was a Jew who despised, utterly despised and was repulsed by Gentiles, but that changed when he met Jesus and began to see through new eyes. Paul wrote to the church in Galatia,

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28 NIV)

Long hours spent in sensitivity training or an education at an Ivy League school can’t bring about the change that is possible for those who choose to follow Jesus, truly follow Jesus. People, all people, are created in the image of God. All of us, each and every one of us, is in desperate need of Jesus. Therefore, superficial, worldly assessment tools will not suffice, they are no longer of any value for the follower of Jesus. Let’s move on. Look at verse 17 with me. 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

The most common description in all of the New Testament for a follower of Jesus is that he or she is a person who is “in Christ.” The phrases “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” or “in him” are found 164 times in Paul’s letters alone. What does it mean to be “in Christ?” Well, we could spend weeks unpacking that little phrase, but instead I’d like to share what Jesus had to say about being in Him. Turn with me to John 15:4-5.

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 NIV)

Just as the branch draws its very life from the vine, so we are given new life in and through Jesus. If anyone is in Christ he or she becomes a new creation, they are given new life in Christ. Once we become a follower of Jesus, we draw our nourishment, our sustenance from our relationship with Jesus just like a branch draws its nourishment and is sustained by the vine. We are given physical life at birth, but the Bible says we are born spiritually dead in our sins and trespasses (Ephesians 2:1). When we recognize our need for Jesus, for forgiveness and reconciliation with the Father, then we are given new life in Christ. Not only are we given new life in Christ, but we find a new satisfaction, a new fulfillment, and a new purpose because of our new life in Christ. Jesus, in John 6:35 said, 

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35 NIV)

On Wednesday night, I was having Bible study with some of our tennis kids and we were talking about how we might answer a friend who asked us, “Why are you a Christian?” One of the kids said, “I would say that because of Jesus I have greater confidence because I know that I am loved no matter what happens or how many times I fail.” What a beautiful testimony! The satisfaction that so many of us spend years searching for, working for, and testing out by giving ourselves to things and people that cannot satisfy is found only in Jesus. In Christ, you who are here this morning and have never made the decision to become one of His followers, you can become a new creation this very morning! Let’s move on. 

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. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 NIV)

What does the word “all” mean in this verse? We know that many people believe the equation of salvation goes like this: God’s grace + good works (or a life well lived) = salvation. For any of us who are here this morning and have believed in that equation, verse 18 should convince us that our equation is flawed, horribly flawed. “All this is from God.” God reconciled us to himself through Christ…The word “reconciled” is a very important word. Reconciliation has to do with the reestablishment of an interrupted or broken relationship. We can learn about how our sin has broken our relationship with God throughout God’s Word. In Isaiah 59:1-2 we read, 

1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2 NIV)

Our iniquities, our sin, have separated us from God. If we have done something to sever our relationship with God then it only makes sense that we must do something to reconcile our relationship with God, right? That makes sense, that is how we try to fix things when our relationships with other people become broken, but that is not what God’s Word teaches us about how to be reconciled with God. Paul writes, in verse 19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them.” Put another way, Paul wrote, in Romans 5:8.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV)

For Paul, what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection is a work of reconciliation. Jesus carried your sin and my sin to the cross where He paid the price for our forgiveness and reconciliation. Paul says all of this is from God. God has made a way for our reconciliation and all of those who have been reconciled have been given a ministry, a ministry of reconciliation. In verse 19, Paul says God has “committed to us the message of reconciliation.” How did this life-changing message of what God has done in Jesus, to reconcile hopeless and lost sinners to Himself, get from the shore of the Sea of Galilee through almost 2000 years of time to you and me today in the heart of Oklahoma? From the day Jesus told His disciples to go and share the Good News; men, women, boys, and girls have carried the message of reconciliation into every village, city, and corner of the world. Someone told someone who believed and they began to tell others. They were each “ambassadors of Christ” through whom God was making His appeal to those who were yet to believe. If you are here this morning and you are a follower of Jesus, you are an “ambassador of Christ” who has been entrusted with the message of reconciliation. It is an honor and a privilege to deliver good news. If you were to gather up the best news that has ever come to humanity throughout history, you would never find any news that would even begin to compare. The best news ever is the announcement that God became flesh and dwelt among us in order to offer His sinless life as an offering for our sin in order that we might be reconciled with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul writes,

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV)

Paul’s claim that Jesus, the Sinless One, took our sin upon Himself may be news to some of you this morning. In 2020, George Barna released the findings of a poll, The American Worldview Inventory. In his findings Barna learned that 44% of those who are followers of Jesus believe that Jesus sinned. 41% of the followers of Jesus believe Jesus never sinned. If my math is right, 15% have no idea whether Jesus sinned or not. I don’t want you to run into someone conducting a poll and hesitate to answer the question: “Did Jesus ever sin?” with a biblical answer. The Bible is crystal clear in answering that question for us. In 1 John 3:4-5 we read,

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (1 John 3:4-5 NIV)

The writer of Hebrews points out for us that Jesus was fully human, He shared our weakness, was tempted in every way that we are tempted, but He never sinned. Turn to Hebrews 4:15 with me.

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NIV)

Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, knew that his forgiveness, his reconciliation was bought with the precious blood of the Lamb. Read 1 Peter 1:18-19 with me.

18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV)

None of us could broker a reconciliation between God and humanity because we are all sinners. Jesus was sinless, He was the perfect Lamb without spot or blemish, and He willingly took on your sin so you might receive His righteousness. This exchange, our sin for His righteousness, was not a sudden idea conceived in the mind of God at the birth of Jesus, but it was God’s perfect plan from the foundation of the world. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote,

He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him. (Isaiah 53:3-6 The Message)

The only One who ever lived and who was capable of brokering your forgiveness and my forgiveness through His perfect, sinless life–He was willing. He did what no one could do for you and for me. No wonder Paul writes to the people in Corinth and in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 says,

1 As God's co-workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:1-2 NIV)

Don’t walk away. Now that you’ve heard the Good News, respond to the Good News by confessing your desire to follow Jesus this morning. Today is the day of salvation. Mike HaysBritton Christian ChurchMarch 26, 2023