How Are We Reconciled to God? 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 Explained

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, and away we go to II Corinthians, chapter 5, and we're going to pick up where we left off in our last program, which would be in verse 17, and ready for 18. II Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 17 and 18, and again, we like to invite all our television viewers to join us, use your Bibles, compare Scripture with Scripture, and again, as I think I said in the last program, don't go by what I say, but check me out, go by what the book says, because this is what God is going to hold us accountable for. What have you done with the Scripture? And you see, Paul says that so often in his writings, thus saith the Scripture. And this is what we have to totally rely on. Now again, I guess by way of explanation, we're just an informal Bible study. We are not supported by any group. I'm not a pastor. I do not have a church backing us. We just totally depend on the gifts of you, the listeners, and so far God has always supplied. We don't ever have a surplus, but on the other hand, we don't have anybody knocking on our doors asking for their bills to be paid, so we just trust the Lord as we go. But on the other hand, we do have to let people know that we are not underwritten. We do depend on your financial help, and we just thank you so much. My, as we open our mail, and again, I would like to stress that I open every letter. Iris takes them from me, and she looks at them, and so we are aware of everything you write, and it's such a thrill to see so many of you, so faithful month after month after month, and we just can't thank the Lord enough for you. Again, we always like to remind folk that everything is available on video, audio, and the printed page, so you just drop us a note if you're interested. Now let's get back into what we're here for, Bible study. We're going to continue on with Paul dealing here in chapter 5 with this whole concept of the difference it made when Christ died, and died for the sins of the whole world, for every human being that has ever lived. He's already forgiven them, and now we're going to in this series of verses run into even another word that deals with our relationship with God as Believers, and that is Reconciliation. It too has been totally accomplished because of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Let's go back to the verse that we were looking at in our last program. I'm so thrilled at the number of people that have written that their kids are listening to our program. One lady wrote, as soon as her little seven year old said, the minute he hears your theme music he comes running and plops down on the floor in front of the TV. Well now that's not the only one, and so we are. We're having a lot of kids that are learning from us, and this has always been the scope of my teaching. I try hopefully to make things interesting enough for even the highly educated adults, and yet make it simple and plain enough that kids can understand. That's quite a spectrum I know, but nevertheless just hope and pray that even our young people will begin to catch the idea that this is an interesting Book. It's just so totally interesting. Getting back again to the text, verse 18. "...If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, but I like the word creation better. Old things are passed away, the old lifestyle, the old habits, the old appetites are gone, and behold all things are become new." Now the next verse, verse 18, "...all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ," and again whenever Paul refers to Christ, he naturally is referring to His death on the cross, His shed blood, and His power in resurrection, and He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now I don't think I have to explain reconciliation to an adult, but maybe to younger people, kids and so forth, it bears taking a moment. Whenever reconciliation becomes necessary, there first has to have been a separation. In other words, someone who has never separated or distanced themselves from someone, certainly there's no room for reconciliation. That's understandable, isn't it? In other words, bring it into our everyday life. You take a husband and wife who have never had any difficulties, they've never had any idea of separation, there's no point in reconciliation for them. But you take a couple that has had marital problems, and they've drifted apart, and all of a sudden here they are, just almost enemies. They almost detest each other. Well now they are candidates for a reconciliation, and of course this is the whole idea, I guess, of marriage counseling, is to bring these two people back to a common ground. All right, now the same thing has happened in the realm of the Spirit with man and God. God created man in His own image, had fellowship with him in the Garden, and everything was super, wasn't it? God could walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, and it was sweet fellowship, everything was fine. But then all of a sudden sin entered, and man and God were suddenly totally separated because of sin, and they were alienated. Now here we are. What once was together has now been totally separated, and this great gulf that stands between God and man has to be bridged, and only God can do it. Man can't make reconciliation, God has to. And so the Work of the Cross again has brought in reconciliation to man and God. Come back with me to Romans chapter 3, and then there's another place where Paul refers to it, but I think that here in Romans chapter 3, even though the word reconciliation isn't used as such, we get the whole picture. Because I've always said that the first step of faith that the lost person has to take is to believe what God says about his condition, and that is that they are breakers of God's Law, and they are in a situation where they can do nothing pleasing in His sight. And Romans 23 says it in such compact language, for all, there's that word again, every human being that has ever lived, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now that's a blanket statement, you can't overcome it any other way but by believing the Gospel. Now verse 24, being justified freely by His grace, not by anything we do, but by God's grace we are justified through the redemption, or that process of paying the price and buying something back that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. Now I know a lot of people don't like to hear that anymore, but we cannot go around it. There has to be that abiding faith in the fact that when Christ died, He shed His divine, precious, sinless blood, and that was the requirement from the Creator Himself, that there had to be a blood payment for men's sin debt. And you can't escape that. And so now then, through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, and then verse 26, to declare, I say at this time, His, that is Christ's righteousness, that He, Christ, up in verse 24, that He might be just and absolutely fair, and be the justifier, or the one who precipitates declaring us as justified, and we become just because of the justifier of Him who believe it. And there's nothing else on that. You can't add to it. Now we were just discussing again at our break time between the programs. I can't judge hearts. I don't know how much God is going to allow, but if I understand my Bible correctly, God is not going to stand for any human being to add to what He has done. It's going to be against His nature. It's going to make Him a liar. If He says that He has done everything that needs to be done for our salvation, and then a man comes along and says, yeah, but I've got to do this, I've got to do that. Now I hope it isn't that serious. I really do. I had a friend of mine the other day, he came back from a funeral, and he was kind of disturbed from some of the things he heard, and he said, Les, do you suppose God will bend enough? Who am I to answer? I don't know, but I don't think so. I don't think God can bend. He has given us in His Word, He has said He's done it all, and then to have someone come by and say, yeah, but I've done this, and I've done that, to add to it, well let's hope. I don't know, but I think that on the basis of God's Word, we're on pretty thin ice if we say, but I've got to do such and such in order to have salvation, because it's just not in here. The justification comes to him who believes in Jesus, and that, of course, when Paul speaks of that, speaks of His death, burial, and resurrection. All right, now then, if you'll come back to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is all tied up in this same concept of reconciliation. It all means the same thing, that God is going to do whatever this sinner over here needs to have done on his behalf to bring him back to himself. For full reconciliation, all right? But it doesn't stop there. Paul says in the last half of verse 18 that He hath given to us, and I don't think he's only talking of himself. He's talking about every reconciled believer, that now you and I have a ministry of reconciliation. What does that mean? We have to tell a lost world, we have to tell our neighbors, we have to tell our friends and our loved ones that the work of the cross has made it possible for them too to be reconciled to God. They can close that gap. They no longer have to go through life and face eternity separated from a holy God. Everything has been done to bring them to that place of reconciliation. And again, like I said a couple of programs ago, what a waste to think that God has paid it all. You know the old hymn, I think many of you sing it, Jesus paid it all, indeed He did. He's paid it all. And then we come along and say, yeah but, we've got to do this, we've got to do that. Verse 18 again, all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now verse 19, that is to say that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto them. You see that? So far as the reconciliation of lost man, so far as forgiveness is concerned, it's already accomplished. Now we'll comment on that a little further in a minute. And He says, He hath committed unto us, you and I as believers, He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. In other words, we're to let a lost world know everything that has already been done on their behalf. All right, but now I said I'm going to comment. Now when I say that all the world's sins are forgiven, and that God has totally, with the atoning blood of Christ, paid them, don't get the mistaken idea then that the lost person will not have to give an account of his sins, just because I claim that they're already forgiven. Because come back with me a minute to Revelation chapter 20, granted, for the lost person to understand that his sins are forgiven, they are atoned for, Christ died for him. But if he spurns it, and in unbelief he turns his back on it, then yes, he's going to have to give an account for everything he does in the body as a lost person. We pick this up of course in Revelation 20, as they will come before the great white throne, and remember every unbeliever from Cain until the last one at the end of the ages, every unbeliever is going to come up before this great judgment throne of God. Now this is not the beam of seat that Christians will be, this is only for the lost, this is only for unbelievers. You and I are not going to be there, we're not going to see loved ones who may be coming up here as unbelievers, that would be awful. We will not be at the great white throne. But for these lost of the ages, here it is, verse 12 of Revelation 20, where John says, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, now the God here of course will be the Lord Jesus Christ, the Judge. And the books were opened, and the other book was opened, the singular, which is the Book of Life. Now when it's evident that the lost person's name is not in the Book of Life, then Christ turns to the record. He turns to the books that are a record of their life here on earth, and the dead were judged. They are going to be judged out of those things which were written in the books, plural, which was the record of their deeds. Because now they can no longer claim that they were paid for with the blood of the cross, it's too late. And so now they come up to plague them, and they're going to have to face them as God now passes on the judgment of those things which were written in the books according to their works. So don't misunderstand me. When I teach that all the sins of the world are forgiven, that the lost people are not going to face them again, if they don't cash in by believing the Gospel, and as I gave the illustration several programs ago, when Congress appropriates billions of dollars for a particular program, and it's set aside in the books of the Treasury, until someone takes money out and puts it to work, it sits there. And so it has to be re-appropriated. First Congress appropriates it, but whoever is going to use it has to appropriate it. In the same way with the work of the cross, it sits there totally paid for, ready for anyone to draw on it by believing. And if they won't believe it, then they're going to have to face their sins as an unbeliever at the Great White Throne. Now let's come quickly back to II Corinthians chapter 5. I promised the people in the studio that I would finish chapter 5 today, and I hope we can make it. All right. So now verse 19, that is to say that God was in Christ as He hung on that cross. It was the Creator of the universe who hung on that cross. And again, I know there are people who have never contemplated that. That Jesus of the cross of Calvary was the same God of Genesis 1-1, who called everything into being. He had to be, or He could never have tasted death for every man. He had to be the God of creation, or He could have never paid the sin debt of every human being. But He was. You know, I've shared it in the program more than once. I had a gentleman years ago come up to our ranch, and first question he asked me, who in the world is Jesus Christ anyway? And I've said over and over, if only more people would ask that question. I've said over and over, and I've told the gentleman more than once, that was the best question you could have ever asked. Who is Jesus Christ? And my first answer is, He's the Creator of the universe. That's who He is. He is the God of creation. He is the same God, only He took on flesh, and He went the way of the cross. Paul is telling us again that God was in Christ, reconciling, bringing the world back to Himself after He lost it in Adam, and not imputing their trespasses unto them. And that means what it says, until that lost person dies, and he has now lost his opportunity for believing the Gospel, until that person dies, I don't think his sins are being held against him. God is ready to cancel him in a moment, but when they leave this life never having cashed in, then here they stand at the great white throne, in detail. Everything that they've ever said or done as a lost person is going to be brought up against them. Yes, it's scary. I know it is. But listen, there's no reason for it, because it's such a simple thing to believe and trust the Gospel. Then He hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation, and I think we've covered that. Now in the couple of moments we have left, here is one of the greatest concepts that Paul puts out in all of his writings, and that is, where are you and I in the whole scheme of things as believers? Now you know we hear so much about the Great Commission, and I think every church bulletin board, at least every one we've ever visited, there is that, keep the Great Commission. Well what is the Great Commission? Well I maintain it's not so much the one in Matthew, because that was given to the twelve, providing Israel could have maintained her relationship with God and become the vehicle, but today it just doesn't fit. It just doesn't fit. But oh, this one fits so beautifully. And that is, now then, we, every believer, we are what? Ambassadors. Now I trust you all took at least one semester of high school government, because that's when I first learned the term. What's an ambassador? Well he's a representative of some government, but he's living in a foreign country. Now I usually like to use the analogy of Washington as the capital of our nation, and our ambassador, for example, to Japan is living in Tokyo. Now he's an American living in that foreign country, but he's a representative of the government in Washington. Now then, I think I've made reference to it before in the program. You remember years back, I think maybe in the late seventies, there was a book that hit the bestseller list called The Ugly American, and it was more or less an exposé of a lot of our diplomatic people who were not real good representatives of our government. Their lifestyle was anything but exemplary. But the whole idea was that our ambassadors, our foreign service people, are to be visible representatives of our government here in Washington. The Japanese people, for example, should be able to watch our ambassador or our foreign service people and say, now that is a typical American. That's the whole idea. They are a representative. All right, now then, Paul says that you and I as believers living here in the here and now are the same kind of a role. We are left here as ambassadors of our homeland, which is where? In heaven. All right, now let's pick up this concept. We've got a couple of minutes left. Come back with me to Colossians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 1, and I hope I can tie this together in the couple of minutes that are left. Colossians chapter 1, and dropping down to verse 12, Colossians 1, verse 12, and he's been praying here for these Gentile believers up there in Colossae in Asia Minor, and now he comes down to verse 12, and he says, Colossians 1, verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet, or has prepared us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, and who, speaking of God the Father, hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and he hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Now where is that kingdom? Well, it's in heaven. It's in heaven. And so we are now citizens of heaven, because we are members of that Kingdom of Christ. Now granted that Kingdom is one day going to come back on the earth, and we're going to come with Him, and I believe we're going to rule and reign with Him as members of that Kingdom in heaven. Now back up just a few pages to the left, and come to Philippians chapter 3, and this I think just puts the cap on it, Philippians chapter 3, and drop down to verse 20. You know I've said before, and I've had listeners say, well now don't go so fast, I can't keep up with you, but I figure if you can find it, they can find it. For our conversation, or our citizenship, is in heaven. It's already there. Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who changes our vile body that it may be fashioned unto His. But you got the picture? The moment we become a believer, and we're placed in Christ, we are also made members of the Kingdom of Christ in heaven, but we're left here as ambassadors. So now what's our job? To represent our homeland. We are representatives of heaven itself, and as representatives of heaven, we become the ministers of reconciliation. Now if you want a great commission, what a dandy, this one anybody can do. Now I don't think that I would fit the bill to go around baptizing people, I know we had a famous individual did it years back, in swimming pools and bathtubs or whatever. I'm just not comfortable with that. But I'll tell you what, I have no trouble telling the world that Christ has already reconciled you unto Himself. Believe it! What a commission! What an opportunity! All right, let's read on. So now then, verse 20 again, we are ambassadors, we're representatives of heaven itself. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ that be ye reconciled to God. And now verse 21, for He, God, hath made Him, Christ, to be sin. See, He took on the sin of the world. God has made Him sin for us, that precious, sinless Lamb of God, the Eternal, Sovereign Creator God, took on the sin of the world for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now a lot of people are afraid of that word righteousness, aren't they? They think that denotes a holiness that makes you so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good. Well that's not the case at all. You see, when the righteousness of God is imparted to the believer, it simply means that now God sees you, God sees you, God sees me, clothed in the righteousness of God Himself. And He doesn't look on the old sinner, Les Feldick. He doesn't look on the sinner, whoever you are. But now God looks on you and He sees the righteousness of Christ. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. Thank you and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.