Urgent Priorities - 2 Corinthians 5
Jack is a builder who became a Christian a few years ago and is in our Bible Study Group. He has just been diagnosed as having disseminated cancer and has been told that he doesn’t have long to live. The doctors have no effective treatment to offer him. This week he has been planning his funeral and sorting his affairs out. It is very hard to say your farewells to people. Inwardly he groans at what he is suffering and is shortly to leave behind. But facing such a situation has helped him realise what really matters in life.
I went to visit him in his home and we read together from the beginning of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, the chapter in the Bible that I would like us to look at.
1 For 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 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
This describes Jack’s experience. He has bone pain and is on high does opiates. He is literally groaning and knows his earthly tent is about to be destroyed. He met up with his family this week and told them straight,
“I’m not afraid of dying because I have a Saviour and know where I’m going, but I am afraid for you because you aren’t right with God and as things are at present you won’t be joining me in heaven!”
Eternal Reality
Paul goes on to remind us that the eternal is what matters, Christians can be confident about our future because the Lord Jesus has saved us by entering this world and dying for us on that cross. This should make all Christians ‘other worldly,’ if we are making issues of this world our prime concern we are very foolish indeed.
“6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Did you notice the carrot and stick approach here, first Paul says “we would prefer to be at home with the Lord,” but then comes a salutary reminder - “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of God.” No wonder all true Christians ‘make it our aim to please him,’ for we both love the Lord Jesus and we know that what we really are will then be publicly made known by revealing the decisions we have made.
Priorities of the Church
Some years ago I was taking a church mission down in Ramsgate and one afternoon I went for a stroll along the beach. There I saw a whole crowd of ‘Sisters of Mercy’ wearing their characteristic nun’s uniform of the order founded by Mother Theresa. I wandered up and started chatting with a group of them. After a while I asked,
“Could you please tell me what the Christian gospel is?”
One of the nun’s replied,
“Isn’t it to feed the hungry, to give the thirsty something to drink and to clothe people?”
We then had a wonderful conversation with all those nun’s gathering round. We discussed what the Bible teaches and how there the real problem God has with mankind is our sin and that this is the biggest problem in the world. We talked about how the gospel is not what we do for God and his world but what Christ has done for us by enabling us to become right with God. We looked at 2 Corinthians 5:16, which is in our chapter, and is a beautiful summary of the Christian gospel,
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:16
At this point the senior nun of the group spoke up and correctly reminded her colleagues that the gospel was not their work for others but what Jesus had done for all of us when he bore our sins on the cross. She went on to emphasise that their main job as nun’s is to point people to Jesus and to focus the eternal salvation he offers.
Early Christians knew what the good news was and were willing to stake their lives on it. Look at our chapter again, verse 19 reads,
“That God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5:19
Verse 21 reads,
“God made him who has no sin to be sin for us . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Churches should respond to the social needs of people around them. They should set up Drug Rehab units, Food banks, Christians against Poverty, Relief Organisations and the like but the great danger is that people forget what the gospel is, that sin separates us from God, and that sin is the eternal problem that we all are blighted with.
Without God’s intervention we have no hope as we are all inherently selfish and do things that God hates. There are several ways to explain ‘sin’ to people. It is spelt ’S I N’ where I is in the centre, ‘I’ in the centre instead of God is the essence of sin. We teach our Sunday School groups that the letters of ‘SIN’ stand for,
‘Shove off God. I’m in charge. No to what you want.’
It is because God is not in charge that we say spiteful things, get angry with our loved ones at home, watch pornography which is really ‘virtual prostitution’, tell lies and live lives that are hypocritical and so on. But we mustn’t forget that God sees all we are and do and however hard we try no one has a hope of ever being acceptable to God by themselves.
The illustration of the two hands is very helpful. The open left hand represents me and a book is placed on this to show that my sin has separated me from God. Some try to minimise their sin by good works or becoming religious and to demonstrate this the left hand actively moves under the book - but the sin remains. My good activities, however good they are cannot put me right with God. Then Jesus enters the scene and the open right hand is brought up. He has no sin and enjoys a close relationship with his heavenly father. The reason he entered this world was for you and me and for everyone who recognises who he is. He came to die on that cross to take the responsibility for our sin. This is why, when he died he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ It was because he was experiencing the consequences of my sin, separating him from God in my place. He took our sin to the grave and then rose from the dead. This was to confirm that God had accepted his sacrifice but also so that we could experience the risen life by being given God’s Holy Spirit.
How do you know that you have the Holy Spirit? It is a vital question as if you don’t have the Holy Spirit you are not yet saved. So much twaddle is taught in some churches on this. The evidence for the Holy Spirit’s presence is seen in how you think.
“Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. . . You however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:5-9
This is so important, however important you are in the world’s eyes; if you are not winning the battle with temptations and becoming more like Christ, beware. This message about sin and the victory Christ gives is the message of Christ’s church. We must warn people of the eternal consequences of leaving God out of the picture - that means leaving Christ out of the picture.
During World War 1 a severely injured soldier knew he was dying he lay in a muddy trench talking to his close friend,
“Listen Dominic, I’m dying. You’ve lived a very bad life. Everywhere people are looking for you, you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, take my wallet, take my papers, take my good name, my life, and quickly hand me your papers, that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death.”
That is a picture of the good news that God offers to every person in the world. We can start again. In God’s eyes we can take on the identity of the Lord Jesus and he takes away our sin. That is what baptism indications - it models my involvement with Christ who has taken away my sin and who rose to give me the power of his Spirit help me become like Jesus.
What a disaster it is for Christians not to emphasise this. Did you notice that the previous Archbishop of Canterbury virtually never talked about the Lord Jesus in his media interviews. I never heard him explain that the Lord died for our sin and that without him there is no salvation. What a disaster because Jesus is the churches message. Jesus himself said,
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Jesus’ apostles were equally clear. When Peter and John were arraigned before the Sanhedrin, that just a few weeks before had had Jesus executed, they boldly pronounced that they could not stop talking about Jesus as he was God’s Messiah who, in spite of being rejected by many had actually come to save us,
“Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
No other religion teaches this. Religions largely say, join our group and then do your best to follow the groups rules and hopefully God with then be pleased with you. The eighteenth of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England addresses this false belief.
Obtaining salvation only through Christ
Those who presume to say that every person shall be saved by the rule of life, religion or sect that he professes, provided he makes diligent efforts to live by that rule and the light of nature, must be regarded by God as accursed. Scripture declares to us that it is only in the name of Jesus Christ that men must be saved.”
The message of Jesus and his apostles was that Christ alone can reconcile us, put us right with God, as he alone can pay the price for our sin. Look at our passage again, verse 18,
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:18
That is the churches message, and in case any reader failed to notice this Paul repeats it in the next verse,
“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5:19
How our world needs to hear this message of reconciliation. Nearly one in 5 marriages in the United Kingdom are in trouble with regular arguments and thoughts of breaking up. There is so much loneliness around. On the international scene political frictions are serious. Look at Ukraine, North Korea, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, ISIS and now Britain and the EEC. How much reconciliation is needed in these places. In heaven there won’t be these frictions because there everyone wants to please the one true God. When people reject God everyone does what seems right in their own eyes and this results in alienations.
A Christian is someone who has a close daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing less. pleasing Jesus is their priority. There is a lovely verse I found this week that summarises this,
“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15
So the church must warn people of the consequences of leaving God out of their personal lives - and that means leaving Christ out. And we must warn each other not to let pride in any good works we do or any secret sin come between us and our walk with the Lord Jesus.
Listen to how Paul summarises this priority of the church in our chapter,
“Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. . . . For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 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 5:11-15
Your Priority
The Lifeway Research Institute undertook a study amongst protestant church goers in the United States and found that over a six month period only 20% had even just once shared their faith with an unbeliever. They hadn’t even invited friends or family to come and hear the gospel. This is a disaster and demonstrates how little the Lord Jesus means to many professing Christians. Remember Psalm 89:15?
“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15
The Bible’s message is not just for the holy few who attend churches, it is meant for the world. Our passagedescribes what God’s concern is,
“God was reconciling the world to himself . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:19
This is similar to verse 15,
“He died for all . . .”
What a disaster it is when churches are so concerned to keep their traditions going that they have lost sight of the mission Christ has given to each of their members. Do we no longer believe the Bible when it talks about the fate of those who reject Jesus:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” John 3:36
This is why Samaritan’s Purse stands out amongst many Aid organisations. You still recognise that the greatest need of everyone you try to help is that they hear and respond to the gospel about Jesus Christ. As you know many Aid organisations started out as Christian organisations but because of the pressures from financial supporters and governments many have succumbed to becoming very reticent about about mentioning the gospel of Christ. Some years ago Christian Aid trustees appointed a atheist to run their organisation. Oxfam started as a Christian organisation but sorrowfully they also are now leaving Christ’s message out. We must all be able to say with Paul,
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16
So Christians view others from an eternal perspective. I used to work as a cancer surgeon and loved the work but 100% of my patients have died or will die. My work was only able to gain them a few more years of ease. In contrast God wants his church to help people find eternal life through commitment to Jesus Christ. The apostle’s conclusion is that all people throughout the world need to be renewed through finding Christ.
“16 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. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 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. 21 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 5:16-21
This is a remarkable passage. We so often grade people into shades of grey. The really good people are very light grey and the really bad are a very dark grey. It is interesting to see where we put ourselves on that scale. Wherever it is, the people you work with are probably placed just below you! However God sees people not as shades of grey but as either black or white. Those who are not covered by Christ’s righteousness are black and those who are protected because they belong to Christ are seen as white. That is the Bibles teaching, thus,
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8
So if we belong to Christ we are Christ’s ambassadors. All we do should point people to Christ, the Saviour of the world. Your message to those you meet must be that we are all guilty before God but God entered this world as Christ to take responsibility for our sin. If we belong to him we will be forgiven our sin and given the gift of the Holy Spirit to enable us to act like Christ. The reason God has chosen you and me, if we belong to Christ, is to take on his godly character, both in our private lives that no-one else sees and in our relationships as well as sharing the gospel with others. It doesn’t matter what job you have, whether a Christian doctor in the health service, a worker with Samaritan’s Purse or a housewife looking after the children at home. We have all been called to be Christ’s ambassadors.
To be effective in this we must train ourselves as we all have to for any walk in life. Have we all been trained to lead people to Christ? I have a friend who is being trained as a future ambassador for this country. His constant training is meticulous. He learns how to talk with people in a winsome way, how to steer conversations gently round to what he wants them to hear. What a tragedy it is that today there is so little training of us Christians to be Christ’s ambassadors. We need to teach people how to steer conversations onto spiritual matters by mentioning church or some religious topic, such as your work with Samaritan’s Purse. A key step is then to ask them if they have a faith or aren’t sure about these things - always give them an escape. I would often ask my patients when taking a history, ‘Do you have a faith that helps you at a time like this, or aren’t you sure about these things?’ So often people will say, ‘I used to have’ or ‘I wish I had’ and the very least you can then do is share your testimony, or invite them to a suitable meeting at your church, lend them some literature or just invite them for a meal to continue the conversation. I fear it is true in the United Kingdom, as in the United States that the large majority of Christians are not acting as Christ’s ambassadors. I wrote the book ‘Cure for Life’ because I didn’t have the time to follow up many patients but I could say to those who seemed interested whether they would like to read my book which goes over what I teach in a home group for those who are seeking answers.
An Example
I was on a teaching ward round with my unit when we came to a very pleasant lady in her 50’s who had been admitted for terminal care. She had liver secondaries and was feeling very weak. She asked if she could have a private talk with me later. When I returned she said,
“I am finding this business of dying very difficult. Could you speed it up for me?
She clearly wanted ‘euthanasia’. I replied, “We don’t do that,” but we went on to have a discussion about what she was finding difficult and the things we could do to help her. I wondered if there was some spiritual problem underlying all this so I continued,
“I wonder if there is a reason that God is keeping you going like this. Do you think you have got everything ready?”
“I think so,” she replied, “I have cleared all my cupboards at home.”
“Yes, but on a deeper level, are you sure you are ready to meet God or aren’t you sure about these things?”
“Oh! I think I’m ready, I’ve never done anyone any harm.”
Here was this lady about to meet her maker and she wasn’t ready. Fortunately our hospital has Gideon Bibles in the bedside lockers so I asked if I could show her a few things.
“I would like that,” she replied.
The first thing she needed to be clear about was that when we die we will face judgement. I wondered about using the passage in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 but decided that the wording was too aggressive for this lady so we looked up Hebrews 9:27.
“. . . man is destined to die once and after that to face judgement.”
The great attraction of using this verse is that the adjoining verses both talk about Jesus died to “take away the sins of many people.”
I illustrated this by placing a book on my open hand, and explained that this represented my sin, which acts as a barrier between God and myself. My religion, which was illustrated by my fingers actively moving under the book cannot help get rid of the barrier. She seemed to understand this so we went on to talk about sin and to show that no-one is naturally good enough for God. Her claim about ‘not doing anybody any harm’ was both untrue and certainly inadequate. So we looked up Romans 3:11.
“There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God.”
She then agreed that being right with God was something she had never bothered about at all. We also looked up Isaiah 59:2,
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden your face from you, so that he will not hear.”
As we talked she began to understand her problem.
“How can I get right with God?” she asked.
Sitting on her bed we talked about the Lord Jesus. We talked about his death on that cross and how he died to take away the consequences of our sin and to enable us to be right with God. We then turned to 1 Peter 2:24.
“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.”
As we talked it all seemed so clear to her, the Holy Spirit was convicting her of sin and righteousness and judgement in a non-aggressive way. She then said,
“I need to be forgiven by Jesus. Will you pray for me now?”
At this point the nurses sitting at the adjacent nurses station jumped up and pulled the screens round even though they give hardly any privacy. They must have been listening. I prayed thanking God for what he had done for us on the cross, and asking that, just as he had promised, he would put her name in the ‘Book of Life’, forgive her sin and give her his Spirit. She was very grateful. I left her with a list of the verses we had looked up as well as two more on assurance,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has passed over from death to life.” John 5:24
The Lord gave her great joy that continued. Her husband phoned me up the next morning.
“Are you the doctor who spoke to my wife yesterday?”
“Yes,” I replied rather hesitantly as I didn’t know what was coming.
“We are not a religious family in any way, but I would like to thank you for spending the time with her. She has such peace. Would you mind explaining to me what you said to her?”
He phoned me at home a few days later at the weekend and came for tea. I was interested to see that somehow he had obtained a large unused Gideon Bible, Authorised Version, which had the words, ‘Headmistress’ printed in bold type on the outside. We went over the gospel in a very similar way. He wasn’t ready to commit himself but I gave him a copy of ‘Cure for Life’ and said he could phone at any time.
His wife moved to the local hospice where I visited her on one occasion. She was holding firmly onto her Saviour even though she was sleepier from the drugs. We looked at Romans 8:1 which is another great verse on assurance.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because . . . ”
To make this simpler to understand, I wrote her name on a piece of paper and placed it inside the Bible.
“Let this Bible represent the Lord Jesus and this piece of paper represent you. Because you are now ‘in Christ’ when you meet God he will not see your sins at all, he will see that you are in Christ and have ‘his righteousness’. Furthermore Jesus is now in heaven and because you are in Christ he will take you to be with him there.”
The nurses told me that she later asked them to read her the whole chapter of Romans 8. About two weeks later I had a phone call from her husband to say that she had just died. Apparently one of the last things she said to her husband was to ask him to become a Christian and made him promise to “go to the doctor’s church” and get things sorted out. He did faithfully come and he later attended a Christian Basics course when he also committed himself to Christ.
What better way can we finish by reading again by reading together verses 2 Corinthians 5:20 and 21:
“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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
BVP Sept 2017
