Proclaiming The Glorious Message Of Reconciliation

Tonight, I invite you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 as we read together that chapter, considering in particular verses 18 through 21, the last few verses of the chapter. And we consider that in connection with question and answer 56 of the Catechism. So once you have found 2 Corinthians 5, please turn to page 28 in the back of the Heidelberg Catechism. As we approach this season of the year in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, I thought it would be appropriate maybe to consider with you a few of the passages. There are many places in Scripture where we are told why Jesus came, where he tells us why he came. We're just saying, born that man no more may die. For example, he says in one place that he came to take away sin, another place he came to seek and save the lost, another place to destroy the works of the devil, and many other places. And we obviously don't have the weeks to consider each and every place, so I thought I would consider a couple of them with you. And tonight I wasn't planning to be one of them with the Catechism, but it fits so well as we consider tonight the forgiveness of sins and the ministry of reconciliation that Paul talks about. So in that respect, we consider together the purpose for the Advent, the purpose for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before we read 2 Corinthians 5 together, let's confess what we believe in question and answer 56. We make that confession, as we did earlier tonight, that I believe the forgiveness of sins. What do you believe concerning the forgiveness of sins? I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins, nor my sinful nature, which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in His grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment. We give our attention to the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 5, beginning at verse 1. Hear now the Word of God. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now, it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord, so we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since then, we know what it is to fear the Lord. we try to persuade men what we are is plain to god and i hope it is also plain to your conscience we are not trying to commend ourselves to you again but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart if we are out of our mind it is for the sake of god if we are in our right mind it is for you for christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died, and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. 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. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. Now the words of our text, and all this is from God. who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Well, beloved in Christ the Lord, one of the most powerful expressions of love that you or I, any one of us, could ever receive is when we are forgiven by one against whom we have sinned, by one whom we have offended in some way. One of the most powerful expressions of love is when they effect that reconciliation between us and them. You know what reconciliation is. It is to reestablish friendly relations between two sides who are estranged from each other because something has gone bad, boys and girls, because you fight with your best friend and you don't talk to each other for a while. Something has gone bad and that causes a great divide, that causes a chasm as it were. It causes a disastrous separation. And reconciliation, then, is to come back together. It is to once again get along. It is to enjoy fellowship with one another. It is to no longer be enemies with one another, but to be friends with one another. And when that reconciliation, when the closing of that separation takes place because the offended party says, I forgive you, and I will never hold against you what you have done. When that takes place, beloved, you are able then to go on as if it never happened. You are able to go forward in peace. And how wonderful that is. Each one of us, I trust, has experienced that in some way as we have been reconciled with a brother or a sister in Christ. But sadly, we rarely, if ever, do this perfectly with each other. Because even though it is hard to remember our own sin, it's easy to forget our own sin, isn't it? Even though it's hard to remember my own sin, it is very easy to remember the sin of others and to hold that sin against them. But there is one who does forgive perfectly, who reconciles completely. So there are no ill feelings lasting. And of course, that's no surprise to us, is it, because of our confession. That one is God who reconciles us to Himself. And how wonderful that is because this reconciliation is a reconciliation that we all, without exception, need. You see, when we confess, I believe the forgiveness of sins, that is also then to confess implicitly that I need it. Now this article regarding the forgiveness of sins we know is found in the third part of our creed, that section which we label with regard to the Holy Spirit and our sanctification, but it's also found in connection with the Holy Catholic Church, which we said a few weeks ago is the communion of saints. And now tonight we can add to that that it is also the communion of those who are forgiven, of those who are reconciled to God. And that also is a fitting placement for this article because Paul makes it clear in this text that there is another connection between the forgiveness of sins and the church of Jesus Christ. And that connection is this, that the message of forgiveness, the ministry of reconciliation, as Paul calls it, has been given by God to His church to preach, to proclaim, to talk about. And you see, beloved, that is part of the proof. It is powerful proof that the sinner's reconciliation is true, that it is a fact. Because he has given this message to his ambassadors to be preached. Boys and girls, an ambassador is one who goes on behalf of another, who speaks on behalf of another. Paul uses the word there that has to do with one who was an ambassador to the emperor. And he would come on behalf of the emperor. He would speak on behalf of the emperor. and therefore to reject him would be to reject the emperor himself. And Christ's ambassadors are those who come on his behalf, who speak on his behalf, and to reject his ambassadors, to reject the teaching of the church, the true church, and of her faithful ministers, is to reject the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And this message, beloved, that has been given to the church is to be ongoing, it is to be never-ending, and we are never to become weary of hearing it. Because this message is the heart of the gospel. This ministry of reconciliation is to undergird all of our preaching and teaching because where this message is missing, people are being cheated. Because this is the only way of hope. And Paul teaches that the church's task is to be ever proclaiming the glorious message of reconciliation. And the catechism helps us to understand what God's Word teaches with regard to this reconciliation. What it looks like. It is quite unbelievable. Yet, at the same time, it is so wonderful. The church's task is to proclaim the glorious message of reconciliation and to do so, first of all, with its divine accomplishment. With its divine accomplishment. Paul begins in verse 18, All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. And then he says what that ministry is, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them, and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. He begins, all this is from God, and he's talking, I believe, about what he had just said. He had just talked about the change in believers. We are new creations in Christ. We are those who live unto Christ, those who are constrained by the love of Christ. All this is from God. And this change in the believer, Paul now says, makes clear, is the result of God reconciling us to Himself. And this is the work of God in Christ, Paul says. Pointing to the truth of Jesus as God Himself. And also as the only mediator between God and man, yet it is his work as the offended one. And this is to mean something to us. This ought to be amazing to us, beloved, because when someone sins against us, or we know the Bible says that if we know that a brother has something against us, we are to go to them. We know that it says that, but most often when someone sins against us, when someone offends us, we stand back and say, no, it's their problem. If they want to be reconciled, they have to come to me. They owe me the apology. It's up to them. That's how we often treat it, isn't it? And that's why this is to be amazing to us, because with this divine accomplishment, this is the work of God in Christ as the offended one. You see, the irreconciliation, if we can say it that way, The chasm that sin created between us and God is not because God offended man. It's not because God sinned against or hurt mankind. The very opposite, because Manson, Adam, and we in him sinned against God. He is the offended one. He who is holy and righteous and pure. He who created man good and in his own image. He is the one whose holiness, as Isaiah makes clear in chapter 6, is terrifying in the light of our unholiness. As Isaiah, when he came face to face, says, Woe is me! I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. He was the offended one. We, in Adam, were those who were not satisfied. Those who wanted more. We are those who fell away, who ran away. We are those who violated the holiness with which God had created us, mankind. David makes it clear in Psalm 51 that God is the offended one when he says, against you, you only, have I sinned. He is the offended one. We are the offenders. By nature, Paul says that we are objects of wrath in Ephesians 2. we are the sinners who caused that great separation from God's enemies. We became His enemies, or from God's favor, we became God's enemies because of us, not because of Him. And that's why it is so amazing that this divine accomplishment is the work of God in Christ for the offenders. Indeed, we should have come to Him. But Paul says God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself. And Paul is not teaching universalism here, but the word world there has the idea. He's talking about the world of mankind in contrast to, let's say, the animal world or the rest of creation that cannot sin. He's talking about the world of sinners. He was reconciling the world of sinners, those who would believe to himself. In Romans chapter 5, Paul says, While we were still sinners, while we were in the very act of offending him, Christ died for us. Indeed, we, that is sinful man, we should have come on our knees in sorrow. We should have taken the initiative, coming in sorrow, begging and pleading with God to forgive us and take us back, but instead, He came to us. He came to us. That's the purpose for the Advent. He came to us in His one and only Son who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, who was hated, who was rejected, who was crucified. But now, because of what He has already done, the Holy Spirit regenerates those for whom He came. And therefore, we do come. We come drawn by the Holy Spirit. We come pleading, but we come pleading on the basis of what Jesus Christ has already done for us has He accomplished a work of satisfaction. This divine accomplishment is the work of God in Christ, and His is a work of satisfaction. He satisfied the wrath and justice of God against our sin, and He did so by His obedience. And we can speak of His passive obedience. Answer 56 begins again, I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins, nor my sinful nature, which I need to struggle against all my life. Because of Christ's atonement, pointing to His work on the cross, He gave Himself over to wicked men. He gave Himself over to be tortured. He gave Himself over to be crucified, to suffer the wrath of God. He gave Himself over to death. He was obedient all the way to death. Because of Christ's work on the cross, as the catechism says, God will never hold against me any of my sin, nor my sinful nature. The older version of the catechism says, He will no more remember my sin. He will no more hold it against me or remember, because he held it against, he remembered it against Jesus. Verse 21 begins, God made him who had no sin, also translated who knew no sin. God made him who had or knew no sin to be sin for us. Beloved Jesus Christ paid the penalty against your sin and mine, A payment that God would not be satisfied without. And a payment that we could not live without. And He could only do this because of His active obedience. Verse 21 goes on, So that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. How is that possible to become the righteousness of God in Christ? Only because He is righteous. He is perfectly righteous. He was perfectly obedient to the law of God. He alone is the perfect and acceptable sacrifice for sin. We know this, but we need to be reminded of this. Nothing else would do. Think about this, beloved. If sin was not so bad as so many want you and me to believe, would God have sent His one and only Son to suffer all that He suffered? To accomplish all that He accomplished? No. But sin is that bad. Through Jesus Christ alone, as He suffered and died for sin, God was reconciling the world to Himself because His was a work then of substitution. Again, verse 21 is so clear. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Now when it comes to athletics, sometimes we don't like substitution, especially if you are the one who is taken out of the game and somebody else takes your place. Substitution means somebody takes the place of somebody else. But you see, beloved, this is a substitution that we wouldn't live without it. Christ was made to be sin for us. Boys and girls, that does not mean that he was made to be a sinner in himself. It does not mean that he was made guilty in himself. He did not know sin. He did not have sin by experience. but he came to know the wrath and the punishment of God as the penalty and the curse and the guilt of sin was placed on him. Isaiah says the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. In Galatians 3.13 we read that he became a curse for us. Peter says he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. And that then points to the second part of this great exchange so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. The second part of that catechism answer, in His grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment. Again, beloved, on the cross, God was not counting men's sins against them, but He was counting them against Christ. And as He was doing that, as He was not counting them against you and me, Christ was earning forgiveness. That's the positive, not counting sins against us, instead forgiveness. Jesus took what was verifiably and without a doubt ours, all of it, because if even one sin remains, boys and girls, we could only be under God's wrath. If even one sin remains, we could only remain eternally separated from Him. But Jesus Christ took it all. And that resulted in our forgiveness. And in its place, He gave us that which belonged to Him alone, His status of righteousness, so that our eternal separation from God might be transformed to eternal life with God. That is the glorious message of reconciliation that must be preached. That God gave to His church to be preached. That Jesus Christ has paid the price And because of that, for whoever believes in Him, they are forgiven. They shall be saved. Yet that proclamation must also be with its glorious application. You see, it's as if the Lord Jesus Christ says, this is what I have done for you. And then He turns to His people and He says, and it's all for you. This is what I've done. And it's all for you. And that's why Paul points us in the direction of the gracious application, which includes the call to faith. Verse 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. God makes His appeal through His ambassadors. Through them, He says, be reconciled. And you see, beloved, it's an urgent call. Paul says, we implore you. He could have said, we beg you. We plead with you. And that is how we are to bring the message to the world. That is how we are to bring it to our sons and daughters and to our neighbors and to the people of the world. We are to plead with them to repent of their sins because of what Jesus Christ has done. There is forgiveness. It is so urgent, beloved. Because it is a matter of life and death eternally. This is the church's central message. Our central message is not to be a message dealing with the felt needs of people, hunger and anxiety and fear and social injustice, and how do I deal with the lack of finances or something like that. That's not the church's central message. Those things all have their place, but all of that is meaningless apart from the message of forgiveness and reconciliation. Sadly, so many churches and preachers today, Maybe you've heard some of them say it themselves. So many of them don't want to mention sin because it's offensive. Because it's negative. Because, oh, it'll hurt people's feelings. What about God's feelings? There have been those who have boasted about the fact that they do not preach sin. But sadly, you see, then they cannot preach salvation. It's impossible. It can't be done. The church of Jesus Christ is not to treat as no big deal the seriousness of sin or the incriminating weakness of the sinful nature, which does indeed incriminate us each and every day, or the high price paid for sins. The church is not to treat any of that as no big deal because all of that is why this message is indeed so glorious. The faithfulness of the church's ministry is evidenced by what she does with that ministry of reconciliation that she has been given. It is to include an urgent call, but it's also a continuous call. You see, it's not just for those who need to be converted. Indeed, it is for those who have yet to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be reconciled. This is what Jesus Christ has done. Embrace it by faith. But it's not just for those who have yet to be converted, but it is also for believers. It is for you and me who struggle against the sinful nature all of our life long. For some, the message of sin is a message of doom, but it's not a message of doom for those who repent. But every day, this is a message of joy for you and me. And indeed, whoever tires of hearing of God's forgiveness simply doesn't understand it. Because it also comes with a guaranteed outcome. Be reconciled, Paul says. Why? Because God has already reconciled us to Himself. You see, Paul is not commanding the Corinthian believers or us or even unbelievers to make things right with God on their own, on our own. He's not saying, God will do nothing toward you unless you first come and fall on your knees before Him. That's not what Paul is saying. It's impossible. Recently, the elders had the privilege to hear the testimony of one of our newest members. And they used the analogy that really struck me of the Grand Canyon, which struck that person when they were in high school or college, I believe they said. This person had grown up in the church. Believed they were a Christian. But didn't really understand it until this analogy that their pastor used. Think of the Grand Canyon as being that canyon of our sin. That's how wide that canyon of sin is. And you can back up and you can take a running start and you can run as fast as you can. You can jump off the edge as hard as you want. And boys and girls, if you're a good jumper, you might make it 10 feet. If you're a great jumper, you might make it 15 or 20 feet. But if you've ever been to the Grand Canyon, you know that doesn't get you very far. Jesus Christ came all the way across that canyon of sin. Because we wouldn't even jump to begin with. He spanned that whole canyon to reconcile us to God. So when Paul says, be reconciled here, He's not saying, you need to do this before God will act. It is a command to respond to the truth that on the cross, God was not counting men's sins against them. It's a call to respond by faith, to believe and to claim what Jesus Christ has done for you, to understand the powerful nature of God's forgiveness, and to then live as forgiven people. Live as the new creation that you are. Walk in repentance and faith. And this includes then a call to fight. Notice the first part of our answer, 56 again. I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins, nor my sinful nature, which I need to struggle against all my life. Again, we were powerfully reminded of this this morning. It's amazing how the Lord works sometimes. Pastor Donovan and I, we didn't talk about our sermons together. But again, how fitting it is to be reminded of bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, and now tonight the forgiveness of sins, and we're reminded about that mortal enemy, that battle that we are engaged in. And notice the Catechism rightly says that never will God hold against me my sins that I committed before I became a Christian, but also, and I think this is really amazing, He will not hold against me the sins that I committed after becoming a Christian, which really is sad, isn't it? The sins that I continue to commit. That's the amazing comfort for us as God's children because as children of God we are called to engage in that battle. It is to be a constant and a daily fighting against sin and temptation, hating it, actively running away from it. Paul is teaching us here by calling us to be reconciled. He is teaching us that those who truly understand the blood that Christ shed for our forgiveness, They will fight. They will not purposefully let their guard down. They will avoid putting themselves in tempting and compromising situations. They will be conscious of living for Jesus. And young people, they will not fall into the error of thinking that, well, you know, since my parents are Christians and since I've gone to church so many times and I know about Jesus and maybe even have gone to a Christian school, these are those who do not fall into the trap of thinking, well, because of all that, I'm saved. That does not mean you're saved. All of these things may be true for you, but that does not mean that you are saved. Have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone? Have you looked to Him as the only one who could pay for your sins? Because in Him alone, there is forgiveness, and there is forgiveness, full and free. And this call is also a continual call to be reconciled. Indeed, an initial call for those who have not yet turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, but also we are, as believers, to continually be reconciled, day by day. Because, as Paul says in Romans chapter 6, we are no longer slaves of sin, but servants of righteousness. And the psalmist in Psalm 119 leads us by his very own example. He says in verse 10, I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands. Notice what he said. I seek you, Lord. He trusted in God, but he also knew his own weakness. Don't let me stray. And then verse 11, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Again, he knows his own weakness. He knows the battle. But it's his desire, verse 20, my soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. You see, those who are justified in the sight of God, whose sins are forgiven and who have been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ, they must be sanctified. They will be sanctified. The two must go together. They are being sanctified as the Holy Spirit more and more cleanses us from the pollution of sin and makes us to delight in all that pleases God and to despise all that is displeasing to God. When Paul says, continually be reconciled, beloved, he is calling us to self-examination daily. To confess our sins daily that we continue to struggle with, to find comfort daily in God's promise of forgiveness. And that is indeed to be our comfort, that Christ's work covers all of my sins, past, present, and future. And daily then we are to be humbled, And daily we are to be filled with overwhelming joy because we also enjoy the confidence to finish. Notice again the second part of answer 56. In His grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment. The ministry of reconciliation is not only for the purpose of teaching and seeking forgiveness and seeking repentance. But also then for preparation for the day of judgment. Paul says in verse 10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Now, we don't have a problem with the good part. But we may have a bit of a difficulty with the bad part. And the catechism is not contradicting what Paul says when it says to free me forever from judgment. And Paul says we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. It is difficult for us to understand. I think especially as we think about, for example, our loved ones who are already in glory and those of us who will also be there when Christ comes again. This may be a bit difficult for us to understand for those who will have already enjoyed the glory of the presence of God. But all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And on that day, Revelation says the books will be opened, the books of our lives, the books of all that we have done in the body. Again, whether good or bad, we will give an account. When the Bible, when the Word of God and the older version of the Catechism says that He will no more remember our sins, it does not mean that they will never again be mentioned of. Just like when it says that He no longer remembers our sins, it doesn't mean that He forgot them and didn't do anything about them. But it means that He will no longer remember them against you and me in Christ Jesus. It means our sin will never be used as a basis for judgment. Our sin will be brought into the light. The good with the bad, of course. The sins with all the good that God has done through us. But they will not count against us. We will come into judgment, but not into condemnation. Instead, we will be acquitted. We will be freed because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that has been given to you and me as our very own. On that day, beloved, the books will be opened not to terrify believers, which all of our sin piled high, if you could even imagine that, could only terrify us. But on that day, the books will be opened not to terrify believers, but to reveal even more to us the glory of God in Christ and the marvelousness of his work, that in him that eternal divide has been turned into the everlasting communion with God. Oh, beloved, that ministry of reconciliation is of the truth of God's promise that those who repent of their sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ alone, for them there is forgiveness of all of our sins. And theirs too is the comfort, they are to be comforted with a view to Judgment Day. You see, if this message was not true, God would not have given it to His church to preach. He would not have given His church a false message. He would not have given to his church something that is simply a possibility. He has given to his church something that is true and real. But those who reject Jesus Christ, for them, this ministry of reconciliation is an admonishment. It's a warning that apart from him and apart from his great work, Judgment Day will usher them into the eternal separation from God's favor, which is the eternal presence of God's wrath. And if you should happen to be here tonight and you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ, humbled yourself, and you're still trying to do it on yourself, you're still trying to jump that grand canyon of sin. Open your eyes in faith, see how ridiculous that is. But there's no way in yourself that there is in Christ Jesus. It is sure, it is real. And the Word of God says whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Beloved, there is no greater message than the message of the forgiveness of sins which comes with a guarantee that therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because as the psalmist says in Psalm 103, which we sang, He does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us according to our iniquities. Now just for a second, do this. Try, you can't do it, but try. Try to imagine all of your sin piled up. You can't see the top from the bottom. You can't see the side from the side. Our pile of sin for each one of us is so great, you cannot even begin to imagine it, but just try. Are you thinking of it? Now, hear these words again. He does not treat us. as our sins deserve. How much does God hate sin? So much that He sent His one and only Son, who alone could and did accomplish sin's payment and sin's destruction, who alone reconciles us with God and returns us to His favor. That's how much He loves us. And in His grace, God applies all of Christ's work to you and me as our very own. And there is no greater expression of love beloved than to be restored to live in god's presence both now and forever that's the purpose for the advent of jesus christ amen let's pray together father we do thank you for your great love for us in christ jesus so unimaginable for us we confess that we need to be reminded of how great is our sin and our misery that which we have committed against you it is unfathomable oh Lord but even more so is the love of God in Christ Jesus and we do thank that you have called us to be your people that you have saved us in him and help us day by day oh Lord even as we fight against that sinful nature and the power of the Holy Spirit help us to be refreshed with the glorious truth of your forgiving grace in Christ Jesus help us more and more to live as the new creations we are in him alone to the praise and the glory of God and use us as a church and as ambassadors for Jesus Christ to plead with those whom we know that don't know you to plead with them to look to you in faith for in you alone there is only hope for us hear us we pray for Jesus' sake and in his name we pray Amen