Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: II Cor. 5:16-21   May 26, 2024

Message: “A New Creation!"     

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. In II Cor. 5: 14-15, Paul told the Corinthians that he felt compelled to preach the Gospel, compelled by love, because we believe (Jesus) died for all… so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for (us) and was raised from the dead.”

2.  That brings us to the passage we are studying today. In vs. 16, Paul writes: “So from now on, we regard no one from the world’s point of view.”  Paul is talking about outward appearances that we can see and observe. That is how people looked at Jesus prior to His death and resurrection.

a. Now that Christ had died and rose from the dead, Paul has been encouraging us to look through the eyes of faith instead. What we can see will not last, but what we cannot see is eternal and will last forever.

b. Looking through the eyes of faith, therefore, Paul encourages Christians to visualize themselves in Christ. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.”

A. Let us consider for a few moments what that means.

1. When God created the world, He made us male and female. Adam and Eve were the first couple who ever lived. Everyone else came into the world through them.  That means from day one, we were all “in Adam.”

2. When Adam and Eve sinned, we all inherited our sinful natures from them.  In Rom. 5:12, it says: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin.”  And as a result, sin and death have reigned over our world ever since.  People have just come to accept the fact that in this world, death is simply part of this life.

a. That is because after man sinned, God placed a curse over the whole world. The Bible calls this curse, caused by our sins, the reason why we all suffer and die.

b. So from the moment Adam sinned, our world needed a Savior to help and save us. In Gen. 3:15, God promised us that someday this Savior would come “through the seed of the woman.” Of course, that was a reference to the coming of Christ.

3. So the first creation, marred by sin, could be referred to as “the old creation.” But now that Jesus has come and died for our sins, He conquered Satan and began what God’s Word now calls His “new creation in Christ Jesus!” 

a. Jesus victory on the cross, proved by His resurrection, set the stage for the start of God’s new creation.  In Christ, everything shall be made new! And everyone who will believe in Jesus and trust in Him will

 automatically become a part of this new creation in Christ Jesus!

b. No one can get to heaven except through Jesus. But all who have believed in God’s promise of a coming Savior as well as all of us who now have come to know Jesus after He came, are all seen by God as being in Christ.

c. In Christ, death has lost its power over us.  In Christ, we are “new creations.”  In Christ, the penalty for all our sins has been paid. Through the help of Jesus, we are now called to live for Jesus, to “live for Him who died for us and was raised again (II Cor. 5:15).” And when Jesus comes again, all who are “in Him” shall live and reign with Him in His new creation that will be free from all sin and last forever.

4. That is the good news of the Gospel. And Paul felt compelled by the love of God to share this good news with everyone.

B. The Bible calls this good news the privilege of being reconciled to God.

1. Ever since Jesus came, God wants all of us who know and love Him to share this gospel of reconciliation with the world around us. In other words, just as Paul was compelled to share this good news, we should do likewise.

a. We are called to tell everyone who will listen that “God was reconciling the world unto Himself in Christ, not counting their sins against them” (II Cor. 5: 19).

b. But this offer of God’s reconciliation and gift of salvati0n must be received by faith by those who listen.

2. Paul was commanded by God to make His appeal known, commanding everyone to “be reconciled to God”

 (I Cor. 5: 20).

a. In II Cor. 6: 1-2, Paul writes: “We urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain… I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation.”  

b. In plain words, don’t turn a deaf ear to God. Don’t miss your opportunity to come to Christ and be saved. Once that door closes, it will be too late.

C. But there is one more very important verse I need to share with you. It is found in II Cor. 5: 21. 

1. This verse explains in more detail exactly what Jesus did for us. It says: “God made Him who never sinned to become a sin offering for us so that, in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.”

a. In the O.T., when someone sinned, they were told to take a lamb and place their hands on it, as if they were transferring their sins unto the lamb.  Then the lamb was sacrificed in their place.

b. In John 1:29, John the Baptist told his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” He pointed at Jesus as he said this.

2. In plain words, all the lambs that were sacrificed in the past were simply pointing us to Jesus, the true Lamb of God, who died on the cross in our place to takes away our sins.

a. In the O.T., the lambs had to be without any blemishes in order to be a picture of Jesus who never sinned.

b. And just as the person making the sacrifice had to lay his hands on the lamb and ask God to accept the sacrifice for his sins in his place, so a person needs to ask Jesus to forgive him and commit himself to Jesus in order to be forgiven now that Jesus has come.

3. This spiritual transaction is often referred to as the greatest transaction ever made. 

a. When we ask Jesus to forgive us and commit our lives to Him, God takes all our sins and treats them as if Jesus had sinned. In fact, God considered the death of His Son as sufficient to pay for all the sins in the whole world.

b. So no matter how badly someone has sinned, if they sincerely turn to Christ and ask to be forgiven, God not only forgives them but treats them as if they were completely righteous.

c. That is why it is called the great exchange because Jesus voluntarily took all our sins upon Himself in exchange for the gift of His righteousness which He freely gives to all who believe in Him.

4. The apostle Paul saw himself as one of the greatest examples of the power of God. He had persecuted the church, tortured Christians, even had many of them put in jail or even killed before he met Jesus and was saved.  

a. That is why he considered himself to be the chief of sinners. No one could have been any worse than him. But in I Tim. 1: 16, Paul wrote: “But for that very reason, I was shown mercy  so that in me, the worst of sinners, Jesus Christ might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life.”

b. Therefore, no one can say God can’t save me.  The Bible calls this “the salvation that comes through faith, apart from the works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). So the door is open to anyone willing to come to Jesus. I encourage you with Paul to be reconciled to God.  Amen!