2 Corinthians - Lesson 5C

• Welcome back guys, and welcome back to our study of one of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. His second letter to the Corinthians to be exact.

  • Last week, we ended our teaching with a study focusing on what happens when you die, and more specifically, what happens to a believer when they die. We also studied the concept of what Paul called a judgement/compensation after our death. Judgement and compensation for things we’ve done in the body, whether good or bad.

  • From Paul’s own words, we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That is exactly what he told us in verses 6-8. And for reference, let me read it to you one more time.

2 Cor. 5:6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
2 Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight—
2 Cor. 5:8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 

• Before moving forward, let me say this is not the only place in scripture that confirms what happens to a believer when they die. There are many other places throughout the Bible we could study on this topic, but I’m not going to go over all of them this morning. Having said that, if you are interested in studying this topic more in-depth, then I can give you more information. Just see me after the service.

  • Anyway, so to be absent the body is to be present with the Lord, and once we die, we also discovered that immediately upon entering the Lord’s presence we will receive and enter a judgement for the purposes of receiving a compensation (as Paul calls it). “For things done in the body whether good or bad”.

  • What we also learned was that this judgement was not a judgement unto salvation, but rather a judgement that would be more like an award ceremony, where we receive our rewards for all that we had done, whether good or bad, while living on this earth as a believer.

    • In other words, it was a reconciliation for the purposes of compensation. As I said last week, it was much like an accounting exercise. A simple adding up and subtracting for all the things you have done for Christ as a believer. And the final tally (if you will), gives you your rewards. The rewards God had promised we will receive once we enter heaven.

• Once again, this reconciliation is that of adding up all you have done for God (the good), in one column (we will call these the credits), and then adding up all that you have done bad, things against God, in the other column.

  • And the two offset one another, leaving you with the final numbers for the rewards you have earned. And so, we should remember this as we live our Christian lives. Just because we do something good for the Kingdom one day does not mean we are good. We know by Paul’s own words the one good thing can be offset by one bad thing.

    • But because we are humans, we tend to forget about the bad stuff we do, and in its place focus on all the good we’ve done. Paul said that won’t work on your day of judgement. All things will be tallied up and reconciled. And so, moving on, Paul now makes a shift if you will.

    • And to me, it’s a pretty abrupt shift. I call it jumping from one thing to the next in a conversation without letting the other person know where you are going. And let me show you what I mean by backing up and re-reading the last few verses of last week’s teaching, and then moving forward into this week’s teaching. Listen to what Paul says in verses 9-10:

2 Cor. 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
2 Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.

• So, Paul is talking about how, whether he is at home (which means the here and now) while living in his earthly body, or, whether he is absent (meaning dead and present with God), he wants to be pleasing to God no matter what his plight or situation is. He is saying it’s all about Christ all the time.

• And then in verse 10, he talks about how we all must appear before the judgement seat of Christ and receive our compensation for the deeds done in the body in accordance with what we have done, whether good or bad. And now, he immediately makes a shift in topic, or in focus where he says the following. Listen to what he says in Verses 11-21:

2 Cor. 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade people, but we are well known to God; and I hope that we are also well known in your consciences.
2 Cor. 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.
2 Cor. 5:13 For if we have lost our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 
2 Cor. 5:15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.
2 Cor. 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 

• This morning, I am going to break these final verses into a few different sections, if you will. The first section will begin with Verses 11-12, beginning with what Paul calls the “Fear of the Lord”, and more specifically, how that “Fear” does something to them.

• And what does it do? It causes them to make an effort in trying to persuade people for Christ. For the sake of the Gospel. So, let’s begin with the concept of the “Fear of the Lord”.

  • First of all, what is it? Without doing a theological deep dive, it’s a healthy fear of who God is. But it can only really be derived or realized when we see ourselves in the proper light, which is who we really are in the sight of a Holy and Righteous God.

  • Another way to say it is, it’s a fear derived from our own internal self-examination or self-awareness, which, by the way, is the most important trait or characteristic a person can possess. For a person to be totally honest with oneself about who they really are. For a Christian, this self-awareness is self-awareness as it relates to God.

    • If you want to get more specific or more granular, it’s your inner ability to realize who you are (without the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ). And so, that begs the question, how does God view us (or see us), without the blood of Jesus covering us?

    • Well, we get a little insight when we read from the prophet Isaiah as well as from Moses on an encounter with God. So let me start by reading from the prophet Isaiah 64:6:

Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.

• Isaiah paints for us a picture of who the children were in the sight of God. And then, by extension, the same holds true for each of us. And that picture is in direct contrast to God himself. Where God is pure and righteousness and holy, we are not. Moses himself encountered this same experience in what I would call its purest form. Because of God’s holiness, Moses was unable to look upon God.

  • Listen to what God told Moses in Exodus 33.

Exodus 33:17 The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” 
Exodus 33:18 Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” 
Exodus 33:19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.”
Exodus 33:20 He further said, “You cannot see My face, for mankind shall not see Me and live!”

• So, the concept is simple. God is pure and clean, and we are unclean. And the only way we can be seen as clean in the sight of God is through the covering of God’s innocent Son’s blood. And, just to put that into perspective, we must understand just how unclean we really are.

  • We are so unclean that it took the greatest of all sacrifices to clean us up. It took God sending His Son to die a brutal death on the cross of Calvary, in order that He might reconcile us back to Himself. Another way to say it is, the sin of the world was so bad that the only way God could enter into communion with us was to send His perfect sinless Son to die for us!

  • That should give us some insight into just how unclean we are. And, if we can understand just how bad we are, and then see ourselves in this light, then, and only then, can we truly realize what the fear of the Lord is.

    • It’s a reverence that evokes a fear or respect for just how clean Holy God is, which then brings us to an understanding of who we are and what we truly deserve, which is death. Not eternal life. So, Paul starts out in verse 11 by saying,

2 Cor. 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade people, but we are well known to God; and I hope that we are also well known in your consciences. 

• And then he says, in the second half of the verse, that they are well known to God (which means they are His chosen children and Apostles), and he hopes that they are well known to them in their conscience as well.

  • Essentially what he is saying is, we are who we say we are, and even if someone inside your fellowship tells you something different, and even if you begin to question what we say, hopefully, when all is said and done, you will know in your heart (your conscience) that we are telling the truth.

  • It’s kind of like us saying, “Yes, I know such and such did this or that, but in my heart, I know they are not a bad person”, or “I know this is who they truly are”.

    • Basically, what Paul is saying is, although I have not been with you in a while, and although someone inside the fellowship is causing you to question my authority, in your heart, and in your conscience, you know better than that. Moving on to verses 12-15:

2 Cor. 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.
2 Cor. 5:13 For if we have lost our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
2 Cor. 5:15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.

• Verses 12 and 13 give us further insight into what Paul was dealing with. Remember, one of the primary reasons for Paul writing this letter was to defend who he and the other Apostles were, along with defending their calling (their ministry). And why? Because there was some person (a man) in the church who started saying Paul and the others were not who they said they were.

  • So once again, we see Paul defending himself. And with that background in view, when you read verses 12 and 13, you can see how it all makes sense. Look at what he says. ‘We are not commending ourselves to you again’.

    • In other words, we are not promoting ourselves or shining a light on ourselves (lifting ourselves up). He’s saying, it’s not about us, it’s all about God. But then he says, we are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer “For those who take pride in their appearance and not in heart”.

  • For those who take pride in their appearance and not in heart! What does that mean? It means, those who are putting on airs, or those who appear to be Christian on the outside, but, in reality, are not on the inside.

    • Paraphrasing here, Paul is saying, we are who we say we are, and God knows it, and hopefully you know it in your hearts, and one of the ways you can know this to be the truth is by the fact that we are not commending ourselves or lifting ourselves up, and our lives testify to this very fact!

    • And then he says something that once again gives us insight into what he was dealing with. Verse 13 says:

2 Cor. 5:13 For if we have lost our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 

• For if we have lost our minds, it is for God. What this tells us, is someone inside the church at Corinth is saying Paul and those other Apostles have lost their minds. Which is just more talk from someone trying to discredit them.

  • But I love what he says in response of his critics, for if we have lost our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. Pretty good comeback. If we have lost our minds, it is for God.

    • Another way to say it is, if we are crazy, we are crazy over God, but if we aren’t crazy, if we are of sound mind, it’s for you.

  • In other words, if we are of sound mind, and we are who we say we are, then it’s for your benefit. And why, well, verse 14 tells us why:

2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
2 Cor. 5:15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.

• Paul says, we are controlled, we are moved, and we do what we do not because of what’s in it for us, because of the love of Christ. Interesting concept here, and one we should explore and understand. If we truly understand what it means to be loved by God, then we should be moved by that very fact.

  • Now, the reason I say this is an interesting concept is because for most of us, because of the world we live in, one that says, “It’s all about us”, we are not generally moved by the love God has for us. We are generally moved by what God can do for us.

  • If you stop for just a moment and think about why we do what we do, even in our Christian lives, it’s generally not because of what God has done for us. It’s usually because of what He will do for us, which is different.

• One perspective looks back for reference and the other looks forward. One is a reality based on the past, and the other is based on the future. But does this matter? Yes, it does. But why does this matter? It matters because of who’s at the center of the motivation.

  • When reflecting on the past, God is at the center. I move, I act, I see things through the lens of God’s great sacrifice on my behalf, where the other is I move, I act, or react, because of what God will do for me in the future. Which puts me at the center.

  • One is a God-centered perspective and the other is a me-centered perspective. And if ‘we’ are ever at the center, then God is not. And so, for us to be controlled (as Paul calls it) by God, it must come from the reality of what He has done for us, which reflects how much He loves us.

    • And, as I said, that can only be realized when we truly understand the sacrifice He made for us (through the death of His son). What God did for us! And what did He do for us? Well, Paul tells us in the second half of the verse. Having concluded that one died for all, therefore all died.

2 Cor 5:15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.

• It’s really simple. God sent His son to die for you so that you would never die. So that you would live eternally forever. And that reality should control you, so much so that you no longer live for yourself, but rather you live for Him. The One who came to earth, who lived and died and rose again on your behalf.

  • This is the Good News. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is the only reason we live, move, and find our very being as believers on this earth. The question is, is this your reality? You see, for most of us, we find it difficult to live in this reality, because this world is always pulling at us, like gravity. The shiny things of life are always grabbing our attention. Distracting us from what matters.

    • Paul’s description of how he and the other Apostles live is exactly how we should live. This was not just a manifesto for their lives. It applies to us as well. Which means we must use what Paul says as a way of bringing us back in line when we get off track and lose our way.

    • And we do this by asking ourselves, is the reality of God’s love controlling my behavior? Is it controlling the way I look at life, the way I act and react, the way I look at my future on this planet? Or am I looking more like those at the church of Corinth, who have the appearance of being a Christian?

• Moving on, in verses 16 & 17, Paul says this next:

2 Cor. 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 

• If you have been a believer for very long, Paul’s words are probably not new to you. You’ve probably heard them your whole life. But, once again, even though you have heard them, do you believe them?

  • He says, if anyone is in Christ (if you are saved), this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come, and in verse 16, I’m kind of going in reverse here, he says this is evidenced by the fact that they don’t look at other believers in their earthly self.

    • Meaning, they don’t look at them in fleshly form. They see them in their Godly form (as believers). Because, when a person is saved, they have become a new creation.

• Now, I want to close here this morning, but I am going to do so by asking you a simple yet profound question. Are you a New Creation, and is that evidenced by the fact that the old things of your life have passed away? Or are you riding both sides of the fence; one foot in the world and one foot out?

  • That’s a question that is obviously something only you and God can know. It’s none of my business or for that matter anyone else’s business. It’s between you and the Lord. But it’s a fact that if you are saved, if you have surrendered your life to Christ, you are a New Creation and the old should be passed away.

  • And by the way, you can look at the old however you want to look at it, but the true definition for the old can be summed up with a simple statement: whatever you did before you were saved, things that were not of God, that were not holy or righteous, that weren’t God-honoring; if you are still doing them then you have not put the old things away.

    • And this doesn’t mean you’re not saved; it simply means you are not living in the reality of what God did for you! Or maybe better said, you are not living in the reality of how much God loves you. Instead, you are still trying to live for you and not for Him.

• Now having said all of this, I would be remise if I didn’t tell you, if you are a New Creation in Christ and you are still holding onto those old things, you should be convicted about it. If you’re not convicted, that would be a problem.

  • Guys, it’s impossible for us to stay on track if we don’t grasp the concept of God’s love, and that can only come by way of us looking back to what He did for us. A God-centered paradigm. Not looking forward, which is as I said, a me-centered paradigm.