Now Is the Day of Salvation! 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Introduction
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once sought to describe the incarnation of God in Christ. He used this simple illustrative story: A certain king was very rich. His power was known throughout the world. But he was most unhappy, for he desired a wife. Without a queen, the vast palace was empty.
One day, while riding through the streets of a small village, he saw a beautiful peasant girl. So lovely was she that the heart of the king was won. He wanted her more than anything he had ever desired. On succeeding days, he would ride by her house on the mere hope of seeing her for a moment in passing. He wondered how he might win her love. He thought, I will draw up a royal decree and require her to be brought before me to become the queen of my land. But, as he considered, he realized that she was a subject and would be forced to obey. He could never be certain that he had won her love.
Then, he said to himself, “I shall call on her in person. I will dress in my finest royal garb, wear my diamond rings, my silver sword, my shiny black boots, and my most colorful tunic. I will overwhelm her and sweep her off her feet to become my bride.” But, as he pondered the idea, he knew that he would always wonder whether she had married him for the riches and power he could give her.
Then, he decided to dress as a peasant, drive to the town, and have his carriage let him off. In disguise, he would approach her house. But, somehow the duplicity of this plan did not appeal to him. At last, he knew what he must do. He would shed his royal robes. He would go to the village and become one of the peasants. He would work and suffer with them. He would actually become a peasant. This he did. And he won his wife. So did God consider how He might win humankind. God in Christ became one of us. He took upon Him the form of human flesh to dwell among us. Paul says, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.”
Transition
This evening it is my greatest desire that we will be reminded of persuade toward an ever deepening and constant acceptance that today is the day of the salvation; that the reconciliation which Christ has made available between God and man is for today, for now, for all areas of life. The Easter story is about reconciliation.
Exposition
Today is the day of salvation because God, right now, extends to us forgiveness and compels us to embrace that forgiveness for the renovation of our own souls, just as He compels us to share that forgiveness to others for our and their benefit.
Reconciliation is the reciprocal matter of receiving and sharing the overwhelming grace of God in and through our lives; being united with God though faith, according to the sacrifice of Christ, according to God’s grace, and then living a lifestyle of reconciliation; very often through personal sacrifice in identification with our savior.
Reconciliation is not easy. We were reconciled with God through the death of His Son. We are often reconciled with one another through great personal sacrifice. Pope Paul vi said it very well when he stated that “Reconciliation is not weakness or cowardice. It demands courage, nobility, generosity, sometimes heroism, an overcoming of oneself rather than of one’s adversary.”
Very often the wall separating me from reconciliation with someone else is personal pride, personal pain, and or personal sin. Reconciliation is not easy but it is necessary if we are to have the peace of God in our lives.
In order to have peace with God we must be reconciled through Christ, as we accept the free offer of salvation by faith, as we are covered by His blood, washed continually clean and forgiven; reconciled with God our creator.
In order to have peace with others we must then be ambassadors of that very grace with which we have been washed. It’s not enough to stand under the waterfall of grace. It’s not enough to be cleansed.
The cleansing waters of grace cleanse us most thoroughly when we are not stagnant receptacles, but life giving conduits. “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.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NIV)
This is the plainest definition of what the Cross of Christ is all about.
Jesus, who knew no sin, was sent of God, identified with sin, in order to atone for it, so that you and I might be reconciled to God; that is, restored to our right and intended family relationship as the children of God. It’s that simple.
Jesus died in order to satisfy the wrath of God incurred by human sin. God is just and cannot look upon sin, so He provided the means for atonement, forgiveness for sin. It would have been completely unjust for God, who is holy, to ignore human sin, so, in infinite grace, He provided His own Son as a holy sacrifice, sufficient to give an account for sin.
The depth of the mystery of grace is incomprehensible though, lest we see it through the eyes of faith. So reckless and relentless is the love of God for His creation, so deep His willingness to sacrifice for us to be reconciled, that it can only be known by those who have been reconciled!
The Cross is folly to the world. The sacrifice meaningless to the world:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-24 NIV)
Today is the day of salvation. Truth has come. The wisdom of God has been revealed and the foolishness of this world put on display. And for those who have seen the sacrifice of Christ through the eyes of faith, the beauty of grace has descended into human flesh in Christ and into human hearts in us.
“… Having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (2 Corinthians 6:10 NIV) In Christ we, who were once lost in darkness have found our way. In Christ, we who were once spiritually poor have gained the riches of God as His adopted children!
Conclusion
Today is the day of reconciliation. Today is the day of salvation. The season of Easter is grand in that we look forward to the resurrection of our Lord. But far be it for us to neglect matters of sin and repentance; these are among the greatest treasures and most sacred of biblical truths.
“Sin is the best news there is … Because with sin, there’s a way out … You can’t repent of confusion or psychological flaws inflicted by your parents—you’re stuck with them. But you can repent of sin. Sin and repentance are the only grounds for hope and joy, the grounds for reconciled, joyful relationships.” – John Alexander in The Other Side, Leadership, Vol. 21, no. 3.
As you depart the sanctuary this evening, go in the fulness of the reality that in Christ, no matter what we do or do not possess in this life, we possess all things!
Amen.
