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weekly sermon 9-6-09 Constraineth Us All
Last week we talked about simple faith or harsh reality. The faith in the love of God and Christ and what happened with Christ to dispense that faith, or the harsh reality of what Christ went through for us to be able to have that faith.
Today I want us to take that faith subject just one step further, to a point were the Bible truly tells us what that faith in Christ will do and how we can recognize when it is happening.
So to start off, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: (15)And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (16)Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more. (17)Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (18)And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (19)To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (20)Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. (21)For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Now that we have read these passages of scripture, let us do what we do best here, dissect them down and see exactly what they mean.
In the first verse we see that that it tells us that the love of Christ constrains us. Let us stop here and find out what that is really saying. The word we want to pay most attention to in the verse is "constraineth", which is translated from the Greek word "Sunecho". This word actually translates into 3 different meanings throughout the Bible, it means to press, as in Acts 18:5, "And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews [that] Jesus [was] Christ." to throng as in Luke 8:45, "And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press [thee], and sayest thou, Who touched me?", but here it means to urge. It is telling us that we are urged to believe in the Gospel of Christ because of the love that Christ showed by dying for us and raising again in order to save our souls from sin.
In this same verse we see that it says "that if one died for all, then were all dead". This really concludes that since one died for all, then all were dead, meaning we all died spiritually when Christ died, but that we should all live, because Christ rose for all, but we should all live in the One that rose for all. I know this seems confusing, but in a simple form it really means, since Christ died for all, then all died, and since Christ rose, to give spiritual life to all, then all should live in the One that gave that life just as it states in verse 15.
All we need to understand from verse 16 is that we are to trust our spiritual lives to no man that is in the flesh, not even when Christ was here in the flesh. Those in the day, of course, followed Christ's ministry and even loved Him as the Father, but when in the flesh they, nor us now, should put our spiritual life in the hands of one that is flesh. Now after Christ had died on the cross and rose again, then and only then should we put our souls in His hands and live through Him. This would be like putting your spiritual life in the hands of anyone here on earth knowing that they can not assure we will get to Heaven because of this person here on earth, as Christ said the ONLY way to the father was through Him. John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." This was the spirit of Christ talking, yes it was in the flesh, but was still His spirit talking and Christ's raised spirit that gave us the ability to receive salvation.
In verse 17 let us break it down into several parts, pausing at each part. Therefore (or since we do not put our spiritual lives in the hands of flesh) if any man be in Christ, (or with Christ in the spirit form) he is a new creature: (or his spiritual life changed so much that it was reflected in his outward actions making him seem as if he is a different person, or a new creature) old things are passed away; (being two old things that should pass if you are truly "in Christ", that of outward and inward sin, no signs of sin to the world nor sins in your mind) behold, (or look here) all things are become new, (because you are a new creature in the eyes of God). Hopefully this was not confusing and helped break it down simple enough to understand what the verse is really trying to say, because this is a VERY important verse on your journey to becoming a true Christian. It tells where to put your spiritual life, what should happen after you put it there, and how we are to act in order to be there. This verse is the epitome of a true Christian.
In verse 18, we see that all things are of God. This goes back to a message we discussed a few weeks back about us being in control. If all things belong to God then all things are controlled by God, and if we put our faith and trust in Him, then we will allow Him to control all things in our lives as well.
I want us to stop here for this week and pick this up next week do to the fact that this message will get to be so long that it will take the rest of the week to read. Next week we will talk about the last 4 verse and how they tie into what we have discussed thus far.
In closing, reflecting back on what we have talked about so far is that we should be urged to believe the Gospel, because of the true love Christ gave to us by dying and raising again for us, that Christ died for us all and we should all live for Him, that no fleshly man can save our souls, not even when Christ was in the flesh, or He would not have had to die, and that we, after salvation, should become a new creature letting old things pass away so we can be true in the eyes of God.
Have you ever received salvation? Has you old spirit changed? Have you become a new creature in Christ, that He may take away all your old ways and sin to allow you to live for eternity with the Father in Heaven who loves you? If you have not but would like to, all you have to do is say a simple prayer with me.
Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.
If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
With Love in Christ, Pastor Stone
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