The Good News
Text: 2 Corinthians 5
v. 1-5 There is MORE than these days!
DO YOU know that we were created for eternity?
• Our present condition is difficult.
• Our mortal bodies were not made to last forever
• That which is mortal will put on immortality
• God gave His Spirit as a guarantee of our future immortality
Footnotes:
1 Cor. 15:53: “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
2 Cor. 5:1-5: “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”
v. 6-10 There is MORE than the physical
ARE YOU encouraged by the certainty of eternal life?
• Our present circumstances are temporary
• Our ambition is to please Him in all things
• We will be rewarded for what we do for His glory
Footnotes:
2 Cor.5:6-10: “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for [d]his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
v. 11-15 There is MORE available for all!
ARE YOU compelled to persuade others about God?
• Our motive is simply to please God
• Our desire is to help others
• So we tell others that:
Jesus died for all so that we might live for Him
Our love for Christ causes us to live out the gospel
Footnotes:
2 Cor. 5:11-15: “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
v. 16-19 There is MORE to life than it appears
ARE YOU living out a new reality in Christ?
• Our past is no longer relevant
• New things have come
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself
not counting their trespasses against them.
· We have been enlisted to share the word of reconciliation
Footnotes:
2 Cor. 5:16-19: “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
v. 20-21 There is MORE that God has for you
ARE YOU fulfilling your role as His ambassador?
• God makes His appeal to others through us.
• We beg others to be reconciled to God through Christ
• We proclaim:
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Footnotes:
2 Cor. 5:20-21: Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
We are transformed to BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in CHRIST! This is the new creature that we become: An ambassador for God, and a display of His righteousness.
Transformation is the MORE of Salvation
Is your life a reflection of God’s grace by His forgiving you for the same sins over and over?
OR
Is your life ALSO a demonstration of God’s power
and glory as you become His righteousness, and serve
as His ambassador?
Footnotes:
Salvation is freedom from our past, it no longer results in the sentence of death and eternal separation from God.
However, Transformation is God’s work in us making us a new creation. How can we identify as a new creation of God while we persist in the same manner, habits, ands sins of our old life?
THE GOOD NEWS
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He (Jesus Christ) died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.