In Christ, We Are a New Creation

Why Paul kept going. Paul was beaten, laughed at and put in prison for telling people about Jesus. Yet he never quit. He tells us why: “For the love of Christ compels us” (5:14). Compels. Compels means pushes or presses forward. Christ's love was like a strong river carrying Paul along. One died for all. Paul says, “One died for all” (5:14). That One is Jesus. He died in our place, for every kind of person in the world. Then all died. When Jesus died for us, God counted it as our death too. Our sin was paid for. The old life of living just for ourselves came to an end. A new reason to live. Jesus died “that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (5:15). He rose again. Jesus did not stay dead. We live for a Savior who is alive right now and hears us when we pray. What we learn. Jesus loves you so much that He died for you. When you know that love, you will want to live for Him: at home, at school and with your friends.

Paul's reason (5:14). Some in Corinth said Paul was out of his mind (5:13). Paul answers by naming what drives him: “For the love of Christ compels us.” This is first Christ's love for Paul, not Paul's love for Christ. Synecho. The Greek word for compels is synecho (say: soon-EKH-oh), to hold tightly or press in on every side. The same word describes a crowd pressing in on Jesus (Luke 8:45). Christ's love surrounded Paul and carried him forward. “We judge thus” (5:14). Paul had reached a settled conclusion: if One died for all, then all died. Jesus died as our substitute, standing in our place. His death counts as the death of everyone who belongs to Him. For all. Jesus' death is big enough for the whole world. John the Baptist called Him “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Everyone who trusts Him receives what His death bought. The purpose (5:15). Christ died so that people would live “no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” The cross ends the self-centered life, and the resurrection begins a new one. Galatians 2:20. Paul said the same thing about himself: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Living it. Living for Jesus is not a way to earn His love. It is our answer to it. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Obedience that grows from love lasts longer than obedience that grows from fear.

Paul worked very hard to tell people about Jesus. People laughed at him and hurt him. Why did he keep going? Paul said the love of Christ pushed him. Jesus loved Paul so much that He died for him. That love was like a strong hand on Paul's back. Jesus died for all people, and that includes you. He took the punishment for our sin. Then God raised Him from the dead. So we do not have to live only for ourselves. We can live for Jesus. We obey Him because we love Him. And we love Him because He loved us first.

Jesus loves you very much. He died for you. Then He rose again! Now we can live for Jesus every day.

A new way of seeing. “From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh” (5:16). According to the flesh means by outside things: looks, money or how popular someone is. Paul got Jesus wrong. Before he believed, Paul thought Jesus was just a man who deserved to die. He even hurt Christians. Then the risen Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, and Paul saw who Jesus really is: the Lord. Seeing people God's way. Now Paul looked at every person as someone Jesus died for. That changes how we treat the new kid, the kid nobody picks and even the kid who is mean to us. A new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (5:17). In Christ means belonging to Jesus, joined to Him by faith. Not a fix-up job. God does not just patch up the old you. He makes something new, the way He made the world in the beginning. Old and new. “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (5:17). God promised, “I will give you a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). What we learn. Christians still sin sometimes, but they are not who they used to be. If you belong to Jesus, God has made you new, and He keeps helping you grow.

“According to the flesh” (5:16). Paul means judging by outward, human standards. Some in Corinth admired leaders for their looks and speaking skill (5:12). Paul refuses to measure anyone that way. Paul's own past. “Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.” Saul of Tarsus once judged Jesus to be a false Messiah and hunted down His followers. On the Damascus road he met the risen Lord (Acts 9:1-6), and everything changed. New creation (5:17). The Greek is kaine ktisis (say: ky-NAY KTEE-sis), a new creation. Kaine means new in kind, not merely new in time. God is not repairing an old life; He is creating a new one. The God of Genesis. The God who created the world creates again in every believer. Paul wrote it one chapter earlier: God, “who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “Behold.” Paul calls us to look. The old has passed away, and the new has come to stay. The promise behind it. God promised, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus told Nicodemus, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). New now, growing still. A believer is new today, and the Holy Spirit keeps changing him to be more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). Being a new creation is who you are; growing is how you live it out.

Before Paul knew Jesus, he judged people by the outside. He even hurt people who loved Jesus. He thought Jesus was only a man. Then the risen Jesus met Paul and changed him. Now Paul saw that Jesus is the Lord. He also saw people in a new way. Every person is someone Jesus loves. Then Paul gave us a great promise. Anyone who belongs to Christ is made new. God does not just fix up the old you. He makes a brand-new you inside! Christians still sin sometimes. When we do, we can tell God we are sorry. God has given us a new heart.

Jesus makes us new! The old things are gone. God gives us a new heart. We belong to Him.

God made the first move. “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ” (5:18). We did not climb up to God. He came down to us. Reconciled. Reconciled means brought back together as friends after a fight. Our sin made us God's enemies (Romans 5:10). God turned enemies into friends. God came to make peace. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (5:19). Jesus is God the Son, and He came to make peace. No more counting. God was “not imputing their trespasses to them” (5:19). Imputing means counting something against someone. Trespasses are sins. Because Jesus paid for our sins, God does not hold them against those who trust Him. Far away. “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). A job for us. God “has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (5:18) and “has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (5:19). Every Christian gets to tell others how to make peace with God. What we learn. God is not waiting for you to fix yourself first. Through Jesus, He has already opened the way back to Him.

All of God (5:18). “Now all things are of God.” Every part of salvation starts with Him. People try many ways to climb up to God; the gospel says God came down to us. Katallasso. The Greek katallasso (say: kat-al-LAHS-so) means to change an enemy into a friend. In Paul's world it was used for making peace between people or nations who had been at war. Here God is the one who changes the relationship. Whose side was the problem on? God never had to be talked into loving us. Our sin built the wall, and God's holiness could not pretend it was not there. Paul says “when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10). “Not imputing” (5:19). Imputing is a bookkeeping word: writing something into a person's account. God does not write sins into the account of those in Christ, because He laid them on Christ instead (5:21). The world (5:19). The offer goes out to the whole world. No nation, family or kind of person is left out (John 3:16). Entrusted (5:19). God “has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” The King trusted ordinary believers with His message. Made and received. Jesus made peace at the cross. A person receives that peace by turning from sin and trusting Him. Reconciliation is not a feeling we work up; it is a new relationship God gives.

Paul said all of this comes from God. We could not fix things with God by ourselves. Our sin had pulled us far away from Him. We could not find our way back. So God came to us through Jesus. Through Jesus, God made peace between Himself and us. God does not hold our sins against us anymore. Jesus paid for every one of them. Now God has given His people a job. We get to tell others how to have peace with God. Who could you tell this week?

Sin kept us far from God. God made peace with us. Jesus took our sins away. Now we can be God's friends.

Ambassadors. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ” (5:20). An ambassador lives in another country and speaks for his king. Christians live in this world but belong to King Jesus. God's own invitation. It is “as though God were pleading through us” (5:20). When a Christian shares the good news, God Himself is inviting people. The message. “We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God” (5:20). Implore means beg with all your heart. This is good news, so we share it gently and kindly. He knew no sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (5:21). Jesus never sinned, not even once. To be sin for us. Jesus did not become a sinner. God put our sin on Him, and He took its punishment on the cross. His goodness for us. “That we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (5:21). Righteousness means being right with God. Jesus takes our sin and gives us His right standing with God. What we learn. This is the best trade ever made, and it is a free gift. Trust Jesus, and then tell someone else about Him.

Presbeuo (5:20). “We are ambassadors” translates presbeuo (say: pres-BYOO-oh), to serve as an envoy. The word comes from the word for an elder, because kings and cities sent trusted, older men to speak for them. An ambassador says what his king sends him to say. Citizens of heaven. “For our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Believers live here as representatives of another kingdom. God's appeal. It is “as though God were pleading through us.” The Creator stoops to plead with the people who turned from Him. Paul begs, “we implore you.” The gospel comes as an invitation, carried with tears, not with threats. Who needs to hear it? Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth, too, because some of them had grown cold toward God and toward Paul. The message calls unbelievers to come to God and calls believers to stay close to Him. The great exchange (5:21). Jesus “knew no sin.” He had no sin of His own to die for. God “made Him… to be sin for us”: He treated Jesus as the sin-bearer and poured out on Him the judgment our sin deserved. Isaiah saw it long before: “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Righteousness given. We “become the righteousness of God in Him.” Righteousness is right standing with God. It is not earned; it is credited, the way Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Why it matters. Our welcome with God rests on what Jesus did, not on how good our week was. That frees us to serve Him gladly.

Paul said Christians are ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador is sent to speak for a king. Jesus is our King. He sends us to tell His good news. Paul begged people to come back to God. God still invites people today. Then Paul told the best news of all. Jesus never sinned, not even one time. But on the cross, God put our sin on Jesus. Jesus took what our sin deserved. God gives us Jesus' goodness instead. That is a great trade only God could make! It is a free gift for everyone who trusts Jesus.

Jesus never did anything wrong. He took our sin. He gives us His goodness. We can tell others about Him!

In Christ, We Are a New Creation

🎉 All Matched!