Second Letter to the Corinthians -- Chapter 5
Having discussed the danger, peril, and death that the disciple of Christ is subjected to Paul continues on to reassure us that our bodies are taken care of in the Lord because of the resurrection of the dead. “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Paul starts by comparing our current bodies to flimsy tents that get blown about by every trouble of this life. The prayer of Hezekiah illustrates the fragility of our bodies now but also the hope that we have in God’s mercy: “Like a shepherd’s tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me…Lord, you restored me to health and let me live. Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back” (Isaiah 38:12, 16-17). Even if this body of ours is destroyed we know that because Jesus Christ rose from the dead we have a guarantee of a new permanent building (body) in the life to come. This body is not one built by human hands or natural processes, but is one built by the hand of God Himself.
While we are trapped in these current sinful bodies we eagerly await this redemption to come for those in Christ Jesus: “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:2-3). In these words Paul references a very important Biblical concept: the concept of nakedness and clothing. Before the fall of mankind into sin Adam and Eve were physically naked yet they were clothed spiritually with God Himself. However when they fell into sin they immediately found themselves to be truly naked. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). This nakedness was a spiritual nakedness because they had torn themselves away from the covering of God along with the communion and unity they had with Him. Instead of being in complete harmony and union with God, Adam and Eve became enemies of God: “I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Genesis 3:10). Therefore when Paul uses the term “naked”, he is referring to the chasm and separation that exists between us sinners and God Almighty; the complete inability of man to ever come face to face with God because of our sin and wickedness. In our sinfulness we try and cover this nakedness with idols and the empty things of this world (family, sports, jobs, TV, movies, food, drugs, etc.) so that we think that we have some sort of power, control, and goodness, when in reality we are nothing but wretched, pitiful, blind, naked, and to-the-core sinful beings. “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). In the depths of our depravity our soul is no longer clothed with God but with our selfish iniquity: “clothed with terror” (Ezekiel 7:18), “clothed with despair” (Ezekiel 7:27), “clothed with disgrace” (Psalm 109:29), “clothed with shame” (Psalm 35:26). It is for this reason that God has given us His Law: to bring our nakedness and depravity to light before His goodness and justice, stripping us of these futile coverings “so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19). “Through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20). “Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered” (Isaiah 47:3). “Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness” (Lamentations 1:8). Therefore the Law removes all the fake coverings and filthy rags of our self-righteousness, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), showing us our true spiritual nakedness that hides beneath the lies and coverings of our sinful flesh and wicked pride.
If we were to be left unclothed and naked as we are in ourselves (as the Law has shown us to be) then we would be hopelessly lost and under the deserved and eternal wrath of God directed towards our sin. However after giving us the Law God has not left us abandoned in our mortality and sin; He has given us the promise of heavenly clothing in the Cross. “For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). In the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified we are told that we will not be found naked, but rather clothed, “I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness” (Ezekiel 16:8), clothed in the perfection and cleanliness of Jesus Christ: “clothed with salvation” (2 Chronicles 6:41), “clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 132:9), “clothed with strength and dignity” (Proverbs 31:25), “you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11). “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). It is with Jesus Christ Himself that we are and must be clothed. Nothing of ourselves is good enough; we must be completely covered with Christ so that when God looks upon us He will no longer see the sin that we are but will instead see the righteousness of Jesus Christ that has embraced us in the Cross. But how do we know we are clothed in Christ? How can we ever be sure? We can be 100% sure and without doubt because through God’s miracle of Baptism He has promised that we are clothed with Jesus Christ: “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
Continuing on Paul tells us that God made us for the very purpose of clothing us in this eternal clothing of Christ Jesus: “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 5:5). God made us with the very intention of clothing us in His Son and giving us an eternal home with Him in heaven. “I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began” (Proverbs 8:23). “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9). “The hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2). It is an incomparably reassuring thing to know that God willed and chose this to happen even before the creation of the world and time itself. “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6). This body of ours must never become our “home” and the source of our security. Our bodies which we have now are only a temporary dwelling while we await our final union with the Lord in heaven. “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our life is not one that is founded on the crude materials of this life, but it is one that rests secure in the immutable promises of God’s Word and grace in Jesus Christ. Therefore we would much prefer to be at our true home in heaven with the Lord. “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). This body is like a prison to us, holding us for the time being in our sinful flesh as we expectantly and patiently wait to be called home and have our bodies redeemed. “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).
“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). It is a common lie (even amongst Christians!) to ignore the teaching of Scripture that each man will be judged at the last day. Our sinful flesh eagerly desires to skip and overlook this truth because it fears the depths of what that truly means. “Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, ‘He won't call me to account’?” (Psalm 10:13). Despite the lies we try and tell ourselves, at Judgment Day each one of us will in fact appear before God’s throne (this cannot be avoided in any way!) and give account of everything we have done in this life; the good, the bad, and the ugly, all of it will come to light before the entire world and we will be judged for it. “I Yahweh search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10). “I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36). “[God] repays a man for what he has done; he brings upon him what his conduct deserves” (Job 34:11). “God will call the past to account” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). “Each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). This piercing truth will bring even the most self-assured man to desperately cry out: “What will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?” (Job 31:14). Thru the Law we know full well that we stand condemned in our sin which permeates our hearts, minds, bodies, and lives. We have done nothing but reject and despise God with our thoughts, words, and deeds, down to the very depths of our hearts. Once again the questions cannot help but burst forth: “How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?” (Job 25:4). “Who may ascend the hill of Yahweh? Who may stand in his holy place?” (Psalm 24:3). “If you, O Yahweh, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3). “Who can stand before you when you are angry?” (Psalm 76:7). “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26). “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). The answer of the Law comes back: man cannot stand before God; man is helplessly lost in his sin; you (yes, you!) stand condemned before the justice and wrath of God Almighty. “The day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. See, the day of Yahweh is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless” (Isaiah 13:6-11). But from across the great divide and the despair that plagues us the gentle voice of the Gospel of Jesus Christ swoops in: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). “Your sins have been forgiven on account of his name” (1 John 2:12). On account of Jesus Christ we have been forgiven. On the Cross Jesus Christ took upon Himself our punishment and the full wrath of God so that we might be spared. On Judgment Day when we are called to account we can stand firm and confident because we know we are fully clothed in Jesus Christ and His grace. God will not judge us according to the sinfulness that once plagued us, but He will graciously judge us according to Jesus Christ who has carried all of our sin. In response to this amazing Good News our soul rejoices and proclaims with immeasurable joy: “I delight greatly in Yahweh; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).
Having discussed the hope we have in the redemption of our bodies because we are clothed with Christ Paul continues on to further elaborate on this message of reconciliation that drives his whole ministry. “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Because Paul fully understood the depths of the Law which stands against every man, revealing our sinfulness and calling us to judgment, he urgently proclaimed the Gospel message in the hope that God would bring men into the light and comfort of Christ. It is only when we fully feel the heaviness of God’s wrath that deserves to be upon our sin (because we of our own fault have rejected God and want nothing to do with Him in our heart) will we recognize the exigency of the Gospel proclamation. This fear of the Lord is first a true terror and dread of God’s wrath that stands against us in the Law, but in the Gospel this fear becomes an awe and reverence for the majesty, justice, holiness, gloriousness, righteousness, mercy, grace, and sovereignty of God Almighty. “We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you” (2 Corinthians 5:12-13). This sureness and confidence with which Paul speaks is not based on his own abilities or powers but solely on the authority of God’s Word. Paul can boast and be seemingly arrogant because he is not doing it in himself but in the Rock that is God, the Creator of the universe. Paul wants the Corinthians to see the sureness with which they can glory in the message of Christ. What is faith if we aren’t absolutely convinced and assured of the doctrines of the Scriptures to which we hold? What is faith if we can’t be 100% sure of God’s Word in the face of all the false teachings and doubts of this world? Those who doubt the Word of God will often say it is arrogant to be absolutely sure in God’s Word, but Paul on the other hand urges us to be bold, certain, uncompromising, convinced, secure, and headstrong when it comes to the faith and Gospel which we hold to in the Cross.
Paul continues on to proclaim the sure and unmovable foundation of all this confidence and boasting: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14). What makes us confident? What makes us certain? What drives us onward in life? What makes us willing to die a thousand deaths? The love of Christ Jesus crucified. The truth that Jesus Christ died as a substitute for all men so that in Him we too may die to sin, death, and the Law, is the heart and center of the Gospel message. Under the Law we are declared guilty and we thereby deserve death; in the Cross of Christ we have died this death, we have been punished in Jesus Christ. But how can Christ die as a substitute for us when God’s Word clearly proclaims: “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough” (Psalm 49:7-8). Though Jesus Christ is true man, thru and thru, He is not just any “ordinary” man; He is the Son of the Living God, He is in very nature God Himself, and He is the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in bodily form. “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). “Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God” (Philippians 2:6). “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20). Therefore God Himself took it upon Himself to pay the immeasurable ransom to redeem us from our sins. “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him” (Isaiah 59:16). Because we were helpless God humbled Himself and became man, He was incarnated in our human flesh so that He might pay the ransom for our sins that no other man was capable of paying. “[Christ Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15). “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2). “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). But why did Christ die for us? Did He die so that we might be able to live selfishly for “me”? Did He die so that might continue to sin? Did He die to justify sin? No! Christ died to save and justify sinners, not sin! Christ died so that we might be freed from sin and selfishness, living no longer for “me” but solely for Jesus Christ. Those who truly share in the Cross of Christ will be aroused thru grace to cease their selfish living and devote their lives completely to the service of God’s will in discipleship to Jesus Christ. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). We must not allow ourselves to be bogged down in apathetic complacence but we must instead regard ourselves and our fellow believers as new creations in Christ. We need to hold ourselves to the high standard of being freed from sin and completely devoted to the Lord in every single area and aspect of our lives. If we have been forgiven in the Cross then we should act like we have. Those who do not truly know the forgiveness of the Cross will not love and serve God’s will with their lives. If we have been forgiven little, we will love little; if we have been forgiven greatly, we will love greatly. “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). The whole purpose and point of Paul’s Apostleship is the final and culminating proclamation of the ministry of reconciliation: In the Cross of Jesus Christ God was not counting men’s sins against them. But does that mean that God is just letting His justice slide and letting all the sins of the world go unpunished? No, if we look closer at the ministry of reconciliation we will find the truth. The ministry of reconciliation is a message of just that: reconciliation. But what does it mean to reconcile? It means to resolve or make peace in a relationship. However the Greek word that is translated as “reconciliation” in this case has much more to tell us: katallagh truly means “exchange,” an exchange of equivalences. Therefore Paul is telling us that the Cross is the point of the “great exchange.” But the great exchange of what? The great exchange of Jesus Christ for you and me. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God gave up His only Son so that He might save us; God made Christ Jesus to be our sin, so that we might be made Christ’s righteousness. God exchanged His Son for you and me; the perfect, blameless, and holy Lamb of God was given into death and was made sin (our sin!) so that the justice and wrath of God towards sin might be carried out. Christ was punished and castigated for our sin and guilt, for what we have done and left undone: He was broken for our idolatries and lack of faith and love towards God, He was beaten for our idle words of blasphemy and false teaching, He was pierced for our disregard for God’s Word, He was insulted for our lack of obedience towards those in authority above us, He was trampled for our hatred of our fellow man, He was crushed for our relentless sexual lusts, He was whipped for our greed, He was disgraced for our lying and deceptive words, He was scourged for our covetousness and jealousy. “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-26). In order that God’s perfect justice towards sin could be upheld God punished Christ in our stead, for all our wretchedness and wickedness. He temporarily left the sin of the world unpunished so that in the Cross He could punish all the sins of the world once and for all. “The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright” (Proverbs 21:18). “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Through the punishment and suffering of the Cross and His love and faithfulness, Jesus Christ atoned for sin and washed away all our evil, depravity, corruption, wantonness, and sin so that we could stand blameless before God the Father. “Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being” (Proverbs 20:30). “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for” (Proverbs 16:6). Therefore Paul is urging and imploring all those who have ears to hear, to behold the work of reconciliation that Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross. Let us pray that we daily have our ears opened to this message of Great News: For your sins you deserved complete and total eternal damnation, yet Jesus Christ carried those sins of yours to the Cross so that He might be punished and destroyed on your behalf, bringing you peace, forgiveness, salvation, new life, and reconciliation with God the Father thru His resurrection. “Christ suffered for you…He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:21, 24).
While we are trapped in these current sinful bodies we eagerly await this redemption to come for those in Christ Jesus: “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:2-3). In these words Paul references a very important Biblical concept: the concept of nakedness and clothing. Before the fall of mankind into sin Adam and Eve were physically naked yet they were clothed spiritually with God Himself. However when they fell into sin they immediately found themselves to be truly naked. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). This nakedness was a spiritual nakedness because they had torn themselves away from the covering of God along with the communion and unity they had with Him. Instead of being in complete harmony and union with God, Adam and Eve became enemies of God: “I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Genesis 3:10). Therefore when Paul uses the term “naked”, he is referring to the chasm and separation that exists between us sinners and God Almighty; the complete inability of man to ever come face to face with God because of our sin and wickedness. In our sinfulness we try and cover this nakedness with idols and the empty things of this world (family, sports, jobs, TV, movies, food, drugs, etc.) so that we think that we have some sort of power, control, and goodness, when in reality we are nothing but wretched, pitiful, blind, naked, and to-the-core sinful beings. “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). In the depths of our depravity our soul is no longer clothed with God but with our selfish iniquity: “clothed with terror” (Ezekiel 7:18), “clothed with despair” (Ezekiel 7:27), “clothed with disgrace” (Psalm 109:29), “clothed with shame” (Psalm 35:26). It is for this reason that God has given us His Law: to bring our nakedness and depravity to light before His goodness and justice, stripping us of these futile coverings “so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19). “Through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20). “Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered” (Isaiah 47:3). “Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness” (Lamentations 1:8). Therefore the Law removes all the fake coverings and filthy rags of our self-righteousness, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), showing us our true spiritual nakedness that hides beneath the lies and coverings of our sinful flesh and wicked pride.
If we were to be left unclothed and naked as we are in ourselves (as the Law has shown us to be) then we would be hopelessly lost and under the deserved and eternal wrath of God directed towards our sin. However after giving us the Law God has not left us abandoned in our mortality and sin; He has given us the promise of heavenly clothing in the Cross. “For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). In the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified we are told that we will not be found naked, but rather clothed, “I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness” (Ezekiel 16:8), clothed in the perfection and cleanliness of Jesus Christ: “clothed with salvation” (2 Chronicles 6:41), “clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 132:9), “clothed with strength and dignity” (Proverbs 31:25), “you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11). “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). It is with Jesus Christ Himself that we are and must be clothed. Nothing of ourselves is good enough; we must be completely covered with Christ so that when God looks upon us He will no longer see the sin that we are but will instead see the righteousness of Jesus Christ that has embraced us in the Cross. But how do we know we are clothed in Christ? How can we ever be sure? We can be 100% sure and without doubt because through God’s miracle of Baptism He has promised that we are clothed with Jesus Christ: “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
Continuing on Paul tells us that God made us for the very purpose of clothing us in this eternal clothing of Christ Jesus: “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 5:5). God made us with the very intention of clothing us in His Son and giving us an eternal home with Him in heaven. “I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began” (Proverbs 8:23). “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9). “The hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2). It is an incomparably reassuring thing to know that God willed and chose this to happen even before the creation of the world and time itself. “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6). This body of ours must never become our “home” and the source of our security. Our bodies which we have now are only a temporary dwelling while we await our final union with the Lord in heaven. “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our life is not one that is founded on the crude materials of this life, but it is one that rests secure in the immutable promises of God’s Word and grace in Jesus Christ. Therefore we would much prefer to be at our true home in heaven with the Lord. “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). This body is like a prison to us, holding us for the time being in our sinful flesh as we expectantly and patiently wait to be called home and have our bodies redeemed. “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).
“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). It is a common lie (even amongst Christians!) to ignore the teaching of Scripture that each man will be judged at the last day. Our sinful flesh eagerly desires to skip and overlook this truth because it fears the depths of what that truly means. “Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, ‘He won't call me to account’?” (Psalm 10:13). Despite the lies we try and tell ourselves, at Judgment Day each one of us will in fact appear before God’s throne (this cannot be avoided in any way!) and give account of everything we have done in this life; the good, the bad, and the ugly, all of it will come to light before the entire world and we will be judged for it. “I Yahweh search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10). “I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36). “[God] repays a man for what he has done; he brings upon him what his conduct deserves” (Job 34:11). “God will call the past to account” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). “Each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). This piercing truth will bring even the most self-assured man to desperately cry out: “What will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?” (Job 31:14). Thru the Law we know full well that we stand condemned in our sin which permeates our hearts, minds, bodies, and lives. We have done nothing but reject and despise God with our thoughts, words, and deeds, down to the very depths of our hearts. Once again the questions cannot help but burst forth: “How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?” (Job 25:4). “Who may ascend the hill of Yahweh? Who may stand in his holy place?” (Psalm 24:3). “If you, O Yahweh, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3). “Who can stand before you when you are angry?” (Psalm 76:7). “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26). “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). The answer of the Law comes back: man cannot stand before God; man is helplessly lost in his sin; you (yes, you!) stand condemned before the justice and wrath of God Almighty. “The day of Yahweh is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. See, the day of Yahweh is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless” (Isaiah 13:6-11). But from across the great divide and the despair that plagues us the gentle voice of the Gospel of Jesus Christ swoops in: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). “Your sins have been forgiven on account of his name” (1 John 2:12). On account of Jesus Christ we have been forgiven. On the Cross Jesus Christ took upon Himself our punishment and the full wrath of God so that we might be spared. On Judgment Day when we are called to account we can stand firm and confident because we know we are fully clothed in Jesus Christ and His grace. God will not judge us according to the sinfulness that once plagued us, but He will graciously judge us according to Jesus Christ who has carried all of our sin. In response to this amazing Good News our soul rejoices and proclaims with immeasurable joy: “I delight greatly in Yahweh; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).
Having discussed the hope we have in the redemption of our bodies because we are clothed with Christ Paul continues on to further elaborate on this message of reconciliation that drives his whole ministry. “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Because Paul fully understood the depths of the Law which stands against every man, revealing our sinfulness and calling us to judgment, he urgently proclaimed the Gospel message in the hope that God would bring men into the light and comfort of Christ. It is only when we fully feel the heaviness of God’s wrath that deserves to be upon our sin (because we of our own fault have rejected God and want nothing to do with Him in our heart) will we recognize the exigency of the Gospel proclamation. This fear of the Lord is first a true terror and dread of God’s wrath that stands against us in the Law, but in the Gospel this fear becomes an awe and reverence for the majesty, justice, holiness, gloriousness, righteousness, mercy, grace, and sovereignty of God Almighty. “We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you” (2 Corinthians 5:12-13). This sureness and confidence with which Paul speaks is not based on his own abilities or powers but solely on the authority of God’s Word. Paul can boast and be seemingly arrogant because he is not doing it in himself but in the Rock that is God, the Creator of the universe. Paul wants the Corinthians to see the sureness with which they can glory in the message of Christ. What is faith if we aren’t absolutely convinced and assured of the doctrines of the Scriptures to which we hold? What is faith if we can’t be 100% sure of God’s Word in the face of all the false teachings and doubts of this world? Those who doubt the Word of God will often say it is arrogant to be absolutely sure in God’s Word, but Paul on the other hand urges us to be bold, certain, uncompromising, convinced, secure, and headstrong when it comes to the faith and Gospel which we hold to in the Cross.
Paul continues on to proclaim the sure and unmovable foundation of all this confidence and boasting: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14). What makes us confident? What makes us certain? What drives us onward in life? What makes us willing to die a thousand deaths? The love of Christ Jesus crucified. The truth that Jesus Christ died as a substitute for all men so that in Him we too may die to sin, death, and the Law, is the heart and center of the Gospel message. Under the Law we are declared guilty and we thereby deserve death; in the Cross of Christ we have died this death, we have been punished in Jesus Christ. But how can Christ die as a substitute for us when God’s Word clearly proclaims: “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough” (Psalm 49:7-8). Though Jesus Christ is true man, thru and thru, He is not just any “ordinary” man; He is the Son of the Living God, He is in very nature God Himself, and He is the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in bodily form. “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). “Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God” (Philippians 2:6). “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20). Therefore God Himself took it upon Himself to pay the immeasurable ransom to redeem us from our sins. “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him” (Isaiah 59:16). Because we were helpless God humbled Himself and became man, He was incarnated in our human flesh so that He might pay the ransom for our sins that no other man was capable of paying. “[Christ Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15). “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2). “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). But why did Christ die for us? Did He die so that we might be able to live selfishly for “me”? Did He die so that might continue to sin? Did He die to justify sin? No! Christ died to save and justify sinners, not sin! Christ died so that we might be freed from sin and selfishness, living no longer for “me” but solely for Jesus Christ. Those who truly share in the Cross of Christ will be aroused thru grace to cease their selfish living and devote their lives completely to the service of God’s will in discipleship to Jesus Christ. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). We must not allow ourselves to be bogged down in apathetic complacence but we must instead regard ourselves and our fellow believers as new creations in Christ. We need to hold ourselves to the high standard of being freed from sin and completely devoted to the Lord in every single area and aspect of our lives. If we have been forgiven in the Cross then we should act like we have. Those who do not truly know the forgiveness of the Cross will not love and serve God’s will with their lives. If we have been forgiven little, we will love little; if we have been forgiven greatly, we will love greatly. “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). The whole purpose and point of Paul’s Apostleship is the final and culminating proclamation of the ministry of reconciliation: In the Cross of Jesus Christ God was not counting men’s sins against them. But does that mean that God is just letting His justice slide and letting all the sins of the world go unpunished? No, if we look closer at the ministry of reconciliation we will find the truth. The ministry of reconciliation is a message of just that: reconciliation. But what does it mean to reconcile? It means to resolve or make peace in a relationship. However the Greek word that is translated as “reconciliation” in this case has much more to tell us: katallagh truly means “exchange,” an exchange of equivalences. Therefore Paul is telling us that the Cross is the point of the “great exchange.” But the great exchange of what? The great exchange of Jesus Christ for you and me. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God gave up His only Son so that He might save us; God made Christ Jesus to be our sin, so that we might be made Christ’s righteousness. God exchanged His Son for you and me; the perfect, blameless, and holy Lamb of God was given into death and was made sin (our sin!) so that the justice and wrath of God towards sin might be carried out. Christ was punished and castigated for our sin and guilt, for what we have done and left undone: He was broken for our idolatries and lack of faith and love towards God, He was beaten for our idle words of blasphemy and false teaching, He was pierced for our disregard for God’s Word, He was insulted for our lack of obedience towards those in authority above us, He was trampled for our hatred of our fellow man, He was crushed for our relentless sexual lusts, He was whipped for our greed, He was disgraced for our lying and deceptive words, He was scourged for our covetousness and jealousy. “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-26). In order that God’s perfect justice towards sin could be upheld God punished Christ in our stead, for all our wretchedness and wickedness. He temporarily left the sin of the world unpunished so that in the Cross He could punish all the sins of the world once and for all. “The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright” (Proverbs 21:18). “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Through the punishment and suffering of the Cross and His love and faithfulness, Jesus Christ atoned for sin and washed away all our evil, depravity, corruption, wantonness, and sin so that we could stand blameless before God the Father. “Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being” (Proverbs 20:30). “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for” (Proverbs 16:6). Therefore Paul is urging and imploring all those who have ears to hear, to behold the work of reconciliation that Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross. Let us pray that we daily have our ears opened to this message of Great News: For your sins you deserved complete and total eternal damnation, yet Jesus Christ carried those sins of yours to the Cross so that He might be punished and destroyed on your behalf, bringing you peace, forgiveness, salvation, new life, and reconciliation with God the Father thru His resurrection. “Christ suffered for you…He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:21, 24).
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