2 Corinthians 5:11-21, A New Creation in a New Year

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 105:1-8
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 73–75 (Eighth Commandment)
• Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 2:1-11
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 5:11-21
• Prayer
• Sermon
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: A New Creation in a New Year

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

I. The New Creation Perspective

A. Christian conversion is distinct from mere moral self-improvement

1. Many inspirational stories and recovery programs produce behavioral change without Christ
2. If Christ is only a means to becoming a better citizen, the world has many competing answers

B. Paul's testimony centers not on becoming a better person but on receiving a new citizenship and a new creation identity

1. Paul's afflictions in 2 Corinthians 4:8 would not look inspiring by worldly standards
2. Yet those very afflictions enhanced the message that Christ saves us from this fallen, transient world

C. The new creation perspective is oriented toward what is unseen and eternal, not what is seen and transient — 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

D. Two gifts that give us this new world and heavenly perspective: Love and Reconciliation

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II. Love Constrains the New Creation

A. Paul responds to accusations of unpolished, unrefined rhetoric compared to the sophists who captivated Corinth

1. The sophists dazzled audiences with rhetorical skill and philosophical novelty
2. Paul is more concerned with the content of the gospel than with the form of its delivery

B. The love of Christ controls and steers every action of the believer — 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

1. Christ died for all so that those who live would no longer live for themselves but for him
2. Illustration: In Saving Private Ryan, Ryan's entire life was constrained by the sacrifice of those who died to save him — so Paul's entire life is constrained by Christ's sacrificial love

C. This love transforms how believers regard others — 2 Corinthians 5:16

1. We no longer regard anyone according to the flesh (sinful, worldly standards)
2. Christ on the cross looks like a criminal to the world, but to the new creation he is the loving Savior dying for sinners
3. We do not scrutinize people by external, cultural, or worldly standards

D. Application: In a year of unprecedented national division, the love of Christ constraining believers will stand out as light in a world filled with vitriolic hatred

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III. Reconciliation and the Ministry of the New Creation

A. God is the efficient cause of all reconciliation — 2 Corinthians 5:18

1. God reconciles sinners to himself through Christ
2. He then entrusts the message of reconciliation to his people

B. The scope of Christ's atoning death — 2 Corinthians 5:14

1. "All" means all without distinction (every tribe, nation, and tongue), not all without exception
2. If all without exception were meant, every individual would automatically be saved and no message of reconciliation would be necessary
3. Because God has won a people from every corner of the world, we are to proclaim the gospel to all people

C. Christ is the storehouse of all salvation's benefits, including reconciliation

1. Faith is the door by which we enter into Christ and find reconciliation
2. God is not reconciled by our faith — God is the reconciler; faith unites us to Christ where reconciliation is found
3. Application: In this new year, implore people to get into Christ by faith rather than meeting a divided world with opinions and hobby horses

D. The Great Exchange — 2 Corinthians 5:21

1. Christ was made sin — not personally, experientially, or morally, but by imputation
2. We are made the righteousness of God — not by personal moral achievement, but by imputation of Christ's righteousness
3. As Charles Hodge explains: our sins are the judicial ground of Christ's sufferings; his righteousness is the judicial ground of our acceptance with God
4. This is not mere pardon (removal of debt) but full justification (filling the account with righteousness) — this is what gives peace with God
5. Martin Luther called this the Great Exchange

E. Application: Whatever challenges the new year brings, believers are a new creation declared righteous in Christ

1. Proclaim reconciliation to all people across every social and political divide
2. The new year's resolution for the believer is not to do more, but to swim more deeply in the grace, mercy, and love of Christ
3. Fix eyes on Christ rather than inward on self — Isaiah 64:6