2 Corinthians 5

Hey, good morning friends Welcome to Coffee and devotion so good to be with you this morning. I'm gonna jump online here, send out the text message, make sure everybody's able to join us live. Let me do that here real quick, sending out the text message. By the way, if you're ever interested in getting the text messages every morning when we go live, feel free to just shoot me an email Brian B ry A n at Sharon RPC dot O R Jean, and we'll get that out. To you. Let's just make sure that we are alive on Facebook. Wonderful. Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and devotions is where every day you and I we get together with a little bit coffee. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year. 2022 will make it from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon. So glad to be with you this morning. While we have some coffee, we'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's word. Let's pray. Father thank You for Your word. Thank You that You have given us your word. And it is good and perfect and pure, sweeter than honey and God we pray that as we read your Word this morning that Your Holy Spirit might teach us. We pray that you would conform us to the image of Christ let us know what you have for us this morning in Jesus's name. Amen. Here we go. We're at Second Corinthians Chapter Five Second Corinthians chapter five. For we know that if our earthly house this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God a house made not with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan being burdened not because we want to be unclose but further close, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God who also has given us the spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident knowing that we all while we are at home in the body. We are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight, we are confident Yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing. To him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. We persuade men, but we are well known to God. And I also trust we are well known in your consciences. For we do not commend ourselves to you again, 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 no longer live for themselves. But for him who died for them and rose again. 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. 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. Well, we need to ask ourselves a What is this about? B, what's the best first to summarize this and see, what are we called to do in response to these words, right, so first A What is this about? Well, there's a few different sections that are tied together logically here and the first part is speaking about the truth of the resurrection, this reality that we desire to be with the Lord. And we're thankful that when we die, that we inherit a spiritual body. Alright, it's going to be the literal physical resurrection of the dead but when Christ comes again, we're gonna be like him. When Christ comes again, we're not going to be found naked, but we're gonna be fully clothed. We're gonna have a body like Christ. And as Jesus is the firstborn of the resurrection, so we will also raise and how do we know that this is true? Because God has put a downpayment. God has redeemed us and has sealed us with His Holy Spirit. His spirit is a guarantee for us. And so we have this hope in the resurrection, because Christ is raised from the dead and he's given us His Holy Spirit. And so verse five says, now he who prepared for us, for this very thing is God who also has given us the spirit of a guarantee. And then I love this part, right? So we are always confident knowing that we while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. Isn't that true? Right for us who are Christians, like we longed to be with God. We we know that we're at home while we're in the body, but we wish we could be with the Lord. For we walk, by faith, not by sight. There's so many people who have that on their kitchen walls, you know, or above the threshold of their house or something like that. I love it. Right? We walk by faith, not by sight. And this faith is specifically this confidence we have in the resurrection. Right? Let's keep this in its context. Right? This is talking about the faith we have this firm hope in the resurrection. And so in light of that, we need to remember that we make it our aim, right while we're absent from God. While we're not walking before Him in heaven, while we live our lives now we walk in the light in the hope of the resurrection. Right Hebrews is clear for his appointed for every man to die once and after this, the judgment. So question is here in verses nine through 11? Is how do you live your life in light of the coming of Christ? For will all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive whether good or bad whether we walked by faith or whether we walked by sight whether we did the good works prepared in advance for us to walk in them, or whether we walked in sinful ways. How do we live our lives? How do we walk before God this is what verses nine through 11 is getting us to knowing verse 11. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are well known to God and I also trust we are well known and your consciences right. This is the apostle Paul again, this is a very personal apologetic type letter. He says, you know that we have walked before you, meaning Paul and Timothy the other Titus, the other guys who had gone to corrente says you know how we walked before you. We know the testimony we're going to have and then verses 12 through 21. This last section here is a plea for people to be reconciled to God. Right. This is a plea as a calling out this is a gospel message This is a evangelistic section. For we do not commit ourselves again to you but we give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance, but not in heart. He wants them to know that they have a true boast, right now boasting in their apostolic message that they received from Paul himself, but they he wants them to know in their own hearts that they have walked before God that they can go before the judgment seat of Christ with a pure conscience. And so he says, in Verse 16, and following, therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know him thus, no longer and Paul knew Christ in the flesh. The disciples walked with Christ, but they no longer know him that way because he's in heaven. Why is he in heaven? Well, verse 14, for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that one died for all that if one died for all, then all died. I need to warn you here, right? There are some people who will take this on a Universalist bent, they'll say, oh, look, see, Jesus died for everyone. But notice what it says in the next verse as often. You need to read the full paragraph and this doesn't even have a period. It's got a semicolon, right? Verse 15, and he died for all okay, maybe we might still be Universalist that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again. Oh, oh, it's for those who love him. It's for those whom He died for. It's for those who walk in him who no longer live for themselves. Do you see it's for those who have been redeemed is for those who have the Holy Spirit's for those who have been called his children. He died for all of his children. He died for all of his people. He's redeemed us. Therefore, oh, this is so good. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Are you a new creation? Has he remade you from the inside out? See renewing your heart is he changing your mind? Is he moving your affections towards himself as he making you fill your eyes? And your heart with the glory of Jesus Christ? Are you in new creation? Has he redeemed you? Has he taken you out of darkness and made you light? Has he taken you from being a sign of disobedience and made you a royal heir of the kingdom of God? Behold, all things have become new. And so he says he's reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And just to wrap this up, right, Paul is saying I'm an apostle first warning. I'm an apostle for Christ. As a god we're pleading through us We implore you on Christ behalf, be reconciled to God. Be reconciled to God, how maybe you found yourself in your life and you're torn over your sin. Maybe you've done things in your life that you're ashamed of. You've seen things that you ought not to have ever seen. You've said things that you could never take back. How do you be reconciled that God who judges the thoughts and intents of our hearts? How can you have a clean conscience? Though your sins be a scarlet, how can you be as white as snow? For he made him this is Christ, who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. I urge you today to go to Jesus Christ. I'm just going to say yeah, I'll let you let me know down in the comments what the best verses but I've got one calling for you today. Be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, there is one way to God through our reconciler Jesus Christ. It is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ that you can be washed from your sins. If you are holding back today. I encourage you I implore you if the Holy Spirit is pressing upon you, confess your sins, for he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and clean us from all of our unrighteousness go to Christ. Go to Jesus Christ, and in him you will find the righteousness of God that He imputes to you if you want to be declared not guilty on the judgement day if you want to be declared not guilty today. Go to Jesus Christ. Run to him now. Confess your sins. Get on your knees. I encourage you pause this video and right now. Go pray. God, I want to be reconciled to you. Confess your sins. Tell him the things that you have done, and then turn from your sins. And cling to Christ. become a new creation. inherit an eternal body and it presents before a king who invites his children into His kingdom. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the work of Your Holy Spirit. We thank you for the hope that we have in the resurrection and God I pray that you might turn our hearts towards you. Father, I don't know who's listening to this today. I don't know what people have done. I don't know who might need this message that there is hope that they can be made right with you this moment. Father, I pray that Your Holy Spirit might drive people to their knees to confess their sins, to cling to you to hope in Jesus Christ alone for the remission of sins, and that they might have life everlasting. God, I pray that you would make us new creations, that your Holy Spirit would renew our minds and change our hearts turn our ways or that we might repent. believe in you and have life before you forever in Jesus's name, Amen. May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with you always. May you walk in the hope of the resurrection and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai