2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-20
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH
The Ministry: Its Message
Introduction: this is one of the great passages of Scripture. So much is covered, a life-time could be spent in its depths. It is here that we see the message of the ministry.
The message of the ministry is powerful, and it offers the only hope for a sinful person who is aging and moving ever so rapidly toward death.
Every time we see a hospital, we are reminded of the frailty of life…
Every time we hear an ambulance, we are reminded of the uncertainty of life…
Every time we pass a cemetery, we are reminded of the brevity of life…
Every time we open a newspaper, we are reminded of the reality of sin…
When we walk out on the porch of this church, we can take off and any direction and it won’t take us long to find someone who is hurting.
Dr. Vance Havner once said…”speak to those who are troubled and you will always have an audience”.
As I looked at this passage of scripture this week I was led to ask this question…what is the MINISTRY of Holland Baptist Church? If we are going to be enlarging our ministry…do we not need to know what that is?
How can I expect to get each and every member on board without a clear cut purpose???
In this passage of scripture the Apostle Paul tells us expressly what the ministries of the local church are supposed to be…
2 Corinthians 5:17 - 20 (NKJV) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
To put it simply folks, we are to be a hospital for the sin sick!!!!
The church ought to be a symbol for those who are hurting and have needs…this church is not just a place for us to come worship…but a place for us to MINISTER to others as well…
It is to be a battle headquarters where plans are drawn up to engage the enemy…
It is to be a place of refuge for those who have been wounded in the fray…
It is to be a place of healing for those who have been hurt in the world…
The ministry of the church today is threefold…
1. The 1st ministry of the church is the making of "new creatures."
HOLLAND BAPTIST CHURCH IS TO BE A CREATURE CREATOR!!!!!!
The key to new solid church growth is to Grow more Christians in God’s Garden!!!
1. What does it mean for a man to become a "new creature"? Very simply, it means just what the Scripture says: the man actually becomes a new creature—his whole being, nature, life, and behavior changes:
⇒ Whereas a man was dead to God… as a new creature he becomes alive to God.
⇒ Whereas a man had no relationship with God… as a new creature he is given a relationship with God.
⇒ Whereas a man was not sure about God… as a new creature he is absolutely certain about God.
⇒ Whereas a man never fellowshipped and communed with God… as a new creature he fellowships and communes with God all the time.
⇒ Whereas a man was living in sin and immorality… as a new creature he lives in righteousness and holiness.
⇒ Whereas a man had to face death… as a new creature he never has to die.
John 5:24 (KJV) 24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
⇒ Whereas a man was doomed to judgment and eternal separation from God… as a new creature he is destined to live eternally in the presence of God.
Luke 23:43 (NKJV) 43And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
2. How does a person become a new creature? Note the words of this Scripture: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." It is being "in Christ" that makes a person a new creature. When a person truly believes in Christ, God places and positions him in Christ, in all that Christ is. Christ lived and died and arose, so to be in Christ means that a person lives, dies, and arises in Christ. The person who believes in Jesus Christ is identified with Christ: that is, he is counted and considered to be "in Christ," reckoned and credited as "in Christ."
Spelled out in a little more detail, when a person believes in Christ, God places and positions the believer "in" Christ. The believer’s faith actually causes God to identify the believer with Christ...
• to count the believer as having lived in Christ when Christ lived upon earth. Therefore, the believer is counted sinless and righteous because Christ was sinless and righteous.
• to count the believer as having died in Christ. Therefore, the believer never has to die. The penalty and condemnation of his sins are already paid for in the death of Christ.
• to count the believer as having been raised in Christ. Therefore, the believer has received the "new life" of Christ. Just as Christ had a new life after His resurrection, even so the believer receives the "new life" of Christ when he believes in Christ
To be in Christ means that a believer walks and lives in Christ day by day. It means that he does not "walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit"
It means that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" .
I know what you’re thinking…how can I keep all the commandments??? Doesn’t the Bible say that is impossible??? Yes…but…(always that but) we should always be striving…
We should chart our lives upon obedience to His word…even though minor course adjustments may be necessary…
It means that he bears the fruit of the Spirit.
It means that he abides in Christ, that he becomes as connected and attached to Christ...
From this, it is clearly seen that a person who is "in Christ" is a new creature. This is what is meant by such Scriptural terms as being "born again" and becoming a "new man." However, no better words describe the experience than the words of this verse:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
This is the message of the Christian ministry: a man can start life all over, no matter how corrupt he has become or how far down he has fallen. God longs to make a new creature out of him. And the church plays a big part in the success of this ministry.
2. The 2nd ministry is that of reconciliation—a world of men can be brought back to God. Reconciliation means to change thoroughly, to change from enmity to friendship, to bring together, to restore. The idea is that two persons who should have been together all along are brought together; two persons who had allowed something to come between them are restored and reunited.
In the Greek it means (restoration…as in divine favor) It is the restoration of our Spirit to Gods.
The sinner is...
• rebelling against God
• rejecting God
• ignoring God • disobeying God
• fighting against God
• denying God
• refusing to live for God
When any of us sin, we work against God and promote evil by word and example.
⇒ When the sinner lives for himself, he becomes an enemy of God. Why? Because God does not live for Himself. God gave Himself up in the most supreme way possible: He gave His only Son to die for us.
⇒ When the sinner lives for the world and worldly things, he becomes an enemy of God. Why? Because he chooses the temporal over God. He chooses that which passes away over God. He chooses it when God has provided eternal life for him through the death of His Son.
This is the point of God’s great love or reconciliation. He did not reconcile and save us when we were righteous and good. He reconciled and saved us when we were enemies of the cross.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV) 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It is because we are sinners and enemies that we need to be reconciled.
1. There are three persons involved in reconciliation.
a. God Himself is the first person involved in reconciliation. God is the One who reconciles us. Note the words, "All things are of God." If the time ever comes when a person wishes to be reconciled to God and to change his life and become a new creature, he has to come to God.
God alone has the power to change a man;
God alone can give a man a new birth and make a new creature out of him.
No man has the power to change enough to make himself acceptable to God.
Reconciliation is the act of God and of God alone.
God is the One who reaches out to man and reconciles him.
Man does not earn reconciliation; he receives the reconciliation of God.
b. Jesus Christ is the second person involved in reconciliation. God reconciles us to Himself by the death of Jesus Christ. Very simply stated, when a man believes that Jesus Christ died for him...
• God accepts the death of Jesus Christ for the death of the man.
• God accepts the sins borne by Christ as the sins committed by the man.
• God accepts the condemnation borne by Christ as the condemnation due to the man.
Therefore, the man is freed from his sins and the punishment due his sins. Christ bore both the sins and the punishment for the man. The man who truly believes that God loves that much—enough to give His only begotten Son—becomes acceptable to God, reconciled forever and ever.
John 14:6 (NKJV) 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
c. Ministers are the third persons involved in reconciliation. God reconciled us to Himself by committing the ministry of reconciliation to men. The only way the world can ever hear about the great ministry of reconciliation is through believers. Believers must proclaim the message of reconciliation or it will never be heard.
"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14).
2. Note how God wrought or worked out reconciliation. God did three things to make reconciliation possible.
a. First, God came to earth "in Christ," that is, in the person of Christ. As this verse says, "God was in Christ." This is a phenomenal statement. This means that...
• when Jesus Christ came to earth, God Himself came to earth.
• when Jesus Christ bore sin for man, God Himself was bearing sin for man.
• when Jesus Christ died for man, God Himself was dying for man.
"I and my Father are one" (John 10:30).
b. Second, God does not impute sin to men. The word "impute" (logizomenos PWS: 2110) means to reckon, count, and credit. It means to charge or put to a person’s account.
If God does not impute or charge sin against men, then it means that He forgives their sins.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, God was in Christ dying for the sins of men.
God was making it possible for men to be freed from the guilt and condemnation of their sins.
Picture the scene: hanging there on the cross, God in Christ was not charging men with sin. He was dying for the sins of men. God was not there upon the cross to impute sin against men; He was there making it possible for men to be forgiven their sins.
c. Third, God has committed the word of reconciliation to ministers. God has not left the word of reconciliation up to men. God has taken the initiative. God calls and equips ministers of God to proclaim the word of reconciliation. He has done everything possible to reconcile men.
3. We are to be ambassadors of Christ to a lost and dying world!!!.
Note three things.
1. Ministers are given the highest of titles: they are "ambassadors for Christ." The "ambassadors" (presbeuomen PWS: 131) are persons who are sent forth as official envoys to represent the Sender and to announce the message of the Sender.
Six things are always true about the ambassador.
⇒ The ambassador belongs to the One who sent him out.
He remains a citizen of the sending country…he brings a piece of that country with him!!!
⇒ The ambassador is commissioned to be sent out.
He exists only for the purpose for which he was sent.
⇒ The ambassador possesses all the authority and power of the One who sent him out.
⇒ The ambassador is sent forth with the message of the Sender.
2. Ministers are given the greatest of messages: "Be reconciled to God.
" The message is so critical that ministers are to "beseech" (deometha PWS: 2999) men: beg, intreat, cry, and plead with them to be reconciled to God.
3. The message is unbelievable—
John 3:16 (NKJV) 16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God…The Master and Creator…Sustainer of the universe..discerner of thoughts and intents..
So loved…unconditionally, and universally
The World…Red and yellow, black and white, they are PRECIOUS in His sight
That He…Not Allah…Not Buddah…Not Some Saint…but God Almighty Himself…of His own free will and love for us.
Gave…Freely, as a gift, at great personal cost and sacrifice…at no charge…
His only…Not one of many…but the only one He had…
Begotten Son…He did not ask us for our son, as some religions do, He gave us His ONLY Son…
That Whosoever…The Robber, The rapist, The drug addict, The Drunkard, The Prostitute, The Gossip, The
Talebearer, The Murderer, The Roman soldier who drove the nails deep into His hands
And feet…You…and I…anyone who…
Believes in Him…Trusts in Him and Him alone…accepts His payment for our sins…asks Him to save us…
Those of us who believe in our heart…
Should not…Can’t, will never, to make impossible…
Perish…Die, be destroyed, to taste death…
But have…To possess now…to own…not will have…not may have…but has…
Everlasting…Eternal…never ending…wonderful…
Life.
Man is dying both spiritually and physically, and the fact is clearly witnessed by the dying of people throughout every community of the world.
Thought 1. The message of God’s ministry is an unbelievable yet glorious message. It is the only message that can truly save a sinful, dying person—the message of redemption, of a substitution for sin.
"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" (2 Cor. 5:21).
CONCLUSION
1. Scripture says that the minister "beseeches," that is, urges, begs, and pleads with men to receive the wonderful grace of God. What is that grace? It is the glorious truth...
> That God has provided salvation through Christ and proclaimed that salvation through Christ.
> This morning I beseech you…
2. The message of redemption is not to be received in vain. A person must not hear the message with empty, deaf ears. Redemption and salvation are available. God has made it possible—He even begs and pleads with men—to be saved; but a person can receive the message with empty ears and heart. He can either do nothing about the message or deliberately reject it. In either case he refuses...
• to let the grace of God take effect in his life.
• to let God’s grace work in his heart through regeneration.
• to let the death and righteousness of Christ be counted as his death and righteousness.
3. The decision to be saved is to be made now. Now is the only reasonable time to be saved. There may be no tomorrow; in fact, there may not even be one hour left for any of us. Any person’s life can be snatched away any moment of any day by accident, disease, or heart attack.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV) 2For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”£ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
