THE NEW WAY WE SEE EACH PERSON

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 24, 2021 under 2021 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; January 24, 2021 from 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

Theme: Because of the cross and the resurrection, we are to now look at each person in terms of his or her relation to Jesus Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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The cross of Jesus Christ—and the resurrection that followed—are the most consequential events in all of humanity.

In those two events, the Son of God—who had become a full member of the human race in His incarnation—took the guilt of the sin of all humanity upon Himself; and opened the way to eternal life. He paid the death penalty, before God His Father, for the sin of the whole world; and then, to show that God is satisfied with the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, God raised Him from the dead. As it says in Romans 4:25, Jesus

was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:25).

Every single human being is impacted—in some way—by those two events. It may not be that every human being believes that they are impacted by them. But they are impacted by those two events nevertheless. If Jesus—the Son of Man; the Head of humanity; the second ‘Adam’—died for all, then all have died. And He has now made salvation available to all who want it. Now all people are put at the crossroads of decision. Whoever turns from their sins and places their faith in what He has done for them is risen with Him into newness of life. That’s the good news of the gospel.

Now; we have been studying together about this from 2 Corinthians 5. The apostle Paul felt a great sense of privilege in being able to declare the message of that good news—showing people what God has done for them through Christ. He was often criticized—and at times even physically attacked—for the message of the gospel of Christ that God had given him to preach. But it was still his delight—and the delight of his co-ministers—to preach it.

In 2 Corinthians 5:12-15, he wrote to the Corinthian Christians and said;

For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:12-15).

And all of this brings us to the stunning words in verses 16-17 that we’ll be looking at this morning. Those two verses show us that because of the two events of the cross and the empty tomb—and because of the impact of those two events on the whole of humanity—we are now to see all people in a way that is different than we have ever seen them before. Paul went on to write;

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (vv. 16-17).

In other words, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; from now on, all other temporal, external, fleshly-focused distinctions between people fade away into unimportance. We are no longer to consider people on the basis of what we see on the outside. From now on—no matter who they are, no matter how they look, no matter what background they were born from, no matter what their past experiences may have been—we are to think primarily about all people in terms of their relation to Jesus Christ. Are they ‘in Christ’ by faith, or are they still ‘outside of Christ’? If they are ‘in Christ’, then we love them as our brother or sister—destined, along with us, for eternal glory. If they are ‘outside of Christ’, then we appeal to them—lovingly and earnestly—“Be reconciled to God”.

From now on, no other distinction ultimately matters. Only Christ.

* * * * * * * * * *

This was an important thing for the Corinthian believers to understand. As the previous verses said, they had been interacting with those who “boast in appearance and not in heart” (v. 12). And as we discovered some time ago when we worked our way through Paul’s first letter to them, they themselves had been making a big deal about ‘outward’ and ‘external’ distinctions. Just like so many people do today, they were evaluating themselves and other people on the basis of ‘outward’ and ‘fleshly’ criteria. They were even dividing themselves from one another because of those outward standards.

But they were forgetting that none of those outward things are ultimately important to God our Savior. No one is made any more or less acceptable before God on the basis of how wealthy or successful or talented they may be—or how wise and educated they may be—or what color of skin they have—or on what nation they or their parents or their grandparents were born in—or what they can nor cannot physically do—or how old they are—or how they look. The only thing that is important is this: Have they placed their faith in Jesus Christ—the Savior of all humankind—who died and rose again for them; and are they now living in dependence upon Him as those who are destined for eternal glory in Him? Are they ‘in Christ’?

In fact, we can even say the way that God saves us—that is, by grace through faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus alone—intentionally puts all of those other external things into a state of irrelevance before Him. Paul wrote about this to the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31;

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

And this truly underscores the importance of what we’re told in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17. Many today are trying desperately to bring about unity between people through strictly human efforts—mainly by eradicating all the differences on the outside. They are trying to eradicate all external economic distinctions, or racial distinctions, or physical distinctions, or social distinctions, or ethnic distinctions, or intellectual differences, or differences of background or experience or behavior. They are even trying to eradicate all moral and ethical distinctions. And in the effort to bring about unity by concentrating on all these external and fleshly realities, the only thing that has resulted has been more and more division. This is because human beings cannot do in their own power—through external things—what only God can bring about by the transformation of the heart on the inside.

Only God can make us into ‘new creations’ from within, and bind us together in unity—on the inside—by Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is the great Unifier. He died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. And that’s the message that it’s our joy and privilege to bring to the world. That’s the gospel.

As these two verses show us, because of the glorious realities of Jesus’ cross and resurrection, we are—from now on—to look at all people in terms of their relation to Jesus Christ.

* * * * * * * * * *

Let’s look first at verse 16; and at how this means …

1. NO LONGER REGARDING PEOPLE ACCORDING TO FLESHLY STANDARDS.

Paul wrote, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.”

Why does he say “Therefore, from now on …”? What was it that happened that made the difference?—the ‘before’ and ‘after’? First, it’s because of the historic fact that the Son of God came into this world as one of us—taking our full humanity to Himself and dying on the cross in our place.

Have you ever thought about the significance of what happened at Jesus’ baptism? We’re told about it in Matthew 3. John the Baptist was baptizing people for the repentance from sin, as they looked ahead to the promise of the coming Messiah. And as he was baptizing, Jesus Himself came to be baptized. Do you remember how John tried to prevent Him? He said, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” John knew that Jesus was the Son of God in human flesh. He knew that Jesus Himself had no need for baptism unto repentance. And yet, Jesus—the sinless Son of God—stepped into the waters of baptism unto repentance, and thus identified Himself with us sinners. He told John,

“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

I love how Jesus used the word “us”; don’t you? Jesus identified Himself with your and my sin problem; so that we could be identified by faith with His death on the cross for our sin. That’s what happened on the cross; and that’s one part of the great “therefore” that makes the “from now on” happen.

But there’s more. Jesus died on the cross for your and my sin; but He didn’t stay dead. God raised Him from death three days later. And this was to show that Jesus’ death for sin completely satisfied the penalty for our sins before God. Jesus had identified Himself completely with humanity. If Jesus had died for the sins of the world—but if our sins had not been paid for by that death—then Jesus would have remained in the grave. But by means of the empty tomb, it is now demonstrated to the whole world that the debt of sin has been completely paid; and now, the offer of new life has been made freely available to all who will receive it. That’s the other part of the “therefore” that makes the “from now on” happen.

You and I—dear brother or sister in Christ—have placed our faith in what Jesus has done for us. We, by faith, have died with Him for our sins; and we have now been raised with Him in newness of life. That’s the new situation for anyone who places their faith in Him. And that means that, therefore, “from now on, we [that is, we who have been saved by Him] regard no one according to the flesh”. From now on, we do not regard anyone anymore according to those old outward, external standards and distinctions. We only consider people with regard to whether or not they are ‘in Christ’ by faith.

The implications of this are truly world-changing. Do you realize that this means, for example, that the cross of Jesus Christ takes away the race problem? That’s a problem that seems to almost dominate our thoughts in these times. The Bible teaches us that we are all of one race—the fallen race of Adam; and Jesus has died for all people. And now, through faith in Him, we are to no longer regard one another on the basis of the color of our skin. That’s an external distinction that—in Christ—is no longer important. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the color of their skin. The only thing that matters between us is our relationship by faith to Jesus Christ—His cross and His empty tomb.

The cross of Jesus also takes away all ethnic distinctions. All the nations of the earth were formed by how the families separated from one another after they went out of the ark, and after they were scattered from one another in the confusion of the languages. But no matter where our ancestors ended up, we all share a common heritage in Adam’s fall and in Jesus’ redemption. Now, through faith in Him, we no longer regard one another on the basis of our ethnic origins and nationalities and languages. Those are external distinctions that are no longer determinative. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to their place of origin. The only thing that matters is whether or not they are our brother or sister in Christ.

The cross of Jesus also takes away all divisions that come through economic and social distinctions. It may be that God has given honest wealth to some and not to others. It may be that God has given certain talents to some and certain other talents to others. It may be that some come from a small-town background and others from a high-class background. But in Christ, we set aside all attitudes of contempt or covetousness with regard to these things. We treat one another justly and with love and respect—whatever our background. This means the end of all systems of caste; because in Christ, none of those external distinctions matter. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to social class or with regard to possessions. All are equally welcomed by God in Christ.

The cross of Jesus even takes away the distinctions and divisions people have often made on the basis of gender. God has made humanity distinctly ‘male and female’. In His wise design, He has made a difference between women and men; and He has given equal but distinct family roles and functions to each. But there is no value distinction between them—as some cultures have sought to distinguish them. One is not better than the other. In Christ, both are equally born under the sin of Adam, and both are equally invited to draw near to God through faith in Jesus. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one’s value according to whether or not they are born a male or a female. Both are welcomed by God in Christ equally.

This is what Paul meant when he said such things as this:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28) …

or that by faith,

… you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:9b-11).

Paul went on in verse 16 to give an example. He wrote, “Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer” (v. 16b). There was a time when we understood Jesus only in terms of His fleshly appearance. When He walked on this earth, we’re told;

He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him (Isaiah 53:2).

He looked like us. He slept like we do. He ate the food we eat. He grew weary as we also do. He was even presented to us as one who suffered in this world as we suffer;

who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:7-8).

We once knew Him according to the flesh. But after His death on the cross and His resurrection from the tomb, we now no longer know Him only by the external, fleshly appearance of things. Now, we know Him in His resurrection glory. And in the same way, we are to look at one another—who have trusted in Him and have been crucified with Him and have been raised with Him—no longer according to the flesh.

We’re to see one another in a completely new way.

* * * * * * * * * *

What is that new way that we are to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ? Paul goes on to tell us that, because of what Jesus did for us, we’re to be …

2. SEEING THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST AS BRAND NEW CREATIONS.

He says, in verse 17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (v. 17).

Look carefully at those words. First, there’s the word “anyone”. There is no distinction. Whosoever will may come to God through Jesus Christ. Then there’s the phrase “in Christ”. That’s a phrase that describes a spiritual relationship through faith. He died on the cross for our sins; and when we place our faith in Him, we died to sin “in Christ”. He rose from the dead; and when we have our faith in Him, we also rose from the dead “in Christ”. And for those who are thus “in Christ”, there’s the description that he or she is “a new creation”. The word means truly ‘new’—not in the sense of something old that is cleaned-up into a new outward appearance, but completely new.

Paul explains it this way; “old things have passed away”. What good news this is for sinners like us. In Christ, God no longer looks upon us and judges us on the basis of our past. We’re no longer bound to what we once were; but are set free to become what God wants us to be in Christ. And what’s more, “behold, all things have become new”. Paul put it this way in Ephesians 2:1-9

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:1-9).

And notice especially what he says in verse 10

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (v. 10).

New creations. That’s how we are to see ourselves in Christ. Old things have passed away. All things have become new. And that’s also how we are to now see one another in Christ—as brand new creations in Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

So, it’s true; the cross of Jesus Christ—and the resurrection that followed—are the most consequential events in all of humanity. They’re what gives hope to the world. And they’re what are to transform the way we now see all people.

Jesus died for all; and therefore, all died. And He died for all that those who live by faith in Him should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who rose again. And now, we are to no longer view people in terms of the external, fleshly-focused, outward matters. We’re to view people by what Jesus has done for them in love; and whether they are “in Christ” by faith, our still “outside” of Him. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus’ sacrifices for us, and who are now “in Christ”, are to be loved by us as our brothers and sisters—destined with us to be fully glorified in Christ forever.

And what do we do with regard to those who are still “outside” of Christ? Paul goes on to tell us this:

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that 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. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (vv. 18-21).

EA