1 What is all the Excitement About?
2 Corinthians 5:12-17 Paul's definition of a Christian is one
of the most dynamic and revealing to be found anywhere in the New
Testament, "If any
man (not a few believers, not some who would live on
one standard and some on another; but – 'if any man') be in Christ
(in whose life the great miracle of the new birth has taken place and who has
been born form above), he is a new creation…"
"New," is not used to convey the sense of
something recent, as you would buy a new automobile to replace an
old one; it is used in the sense of becoming a totally different kind of
person.
At the moment of his new birth there has come to live within
him a new life; and because of this he is now governed by a new
principle, arrested by a new motive, moving in new company, and
surrendered to new objectives.
This is not a question of a man having reformed his life, or of some new things that
have been added to old things.
He has not merely changed for a few practices or habits; Paul
says that if any man be in Christ, he is a totally different kind of person,
"old things are passed away; behold all things are become new."
Notice the contrast: "…if any man…all things
have become new."
Here then is the New Testament definition of a Christian.
It prompts the question, "What kind of people
are we?"
In the light of some things that confront us, I believe it
is the most significant question of the hour.
We who, claim to be in direct succession of the
church, in this line of inheritance in which we are also in Christ, and
therefore have this same experience, what is all the excitement about?
You will notice verse 6 begins with the word "therefore," and
which obviously implies the outcome of reasoning and argument.
Paul has come to this inevitable conclusion and summation of his
argument: if any man is in Christ, then he is a totally different kind
of person; and because of it he has certain evidences and
characteristics about him.
Going back to the context, Paul says in verse 2
11, "…we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made
manifest in your consciences."
In other words, there are some things about us that are so self-evident that we
do not have to argue for them; they are manifest to God, and we trust
they are manifest to others.
But remember, as Paul goes on in his argument, that we are
not commending ourselves to others; and we are not boasting, but
we are giving others some evidences that Christ has made a
difference in our lives.
What are these evidences?
First, in Paul's life there is an excitement that was revealed constantly, "…the
love of Christ constraineth us…"
In the previous verse Paul said that some people
thought he was mad (had lost his mind), and beside himself.
In fact, Festus said he was made when he gave his testimony
before the court on one occasion; but Paul no doubt reminded himself
that Christ was terribly misunderstood, even by His own family.
And then Paul gives us the reason for the excitement in his life;
"the love of Christ."
Notice, it was not Paul's love for Christ, it was Christ's
love for Paul.
What was it about the love of Christ that caused so much
excitement in Paul's life?
Part of the answer is given for us in Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
You see, Paul understood that the love of Christ is love eternal, having no beginning
or ending.
The love of Christ was so saturated with grace that He
willingly stepped from the heaven to the manger.
And the love of Christ took Him from the manger to the gutters of humanity that some
might be saved.
The love of Christ Him through all the shame,
all the lies, and all of the rejection of His own people.
John 1:29 tells us that the love of Christ took Him to the cross where He offered His
life as "the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world."
Paul described Christ journey from the manger to the cross this way in Philippians
2:5-8, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus;
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in 3
the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
And Paul understood that it was the love of Christ that caused the
holy Son of God, who knew no sin to be made sin for him.
And it was the love of Christ that caused the excitement
to be present in Paul's life.
And when we can catch a glimpse of such love, I promise
you it will cause us to be excited about God's call on our life.
The reason for the excitement in Paul's life was that the love of
Christ was not just a theory to Paul; it was something that he had
experienced in his daily living.
He had seen something of the glory of God's love and he knew it was this love
that constrains us.
The word "constrains" is difficult to translate
from the original into the English language as it has multiple meanings.
It could be used to mean, "the love of Christ restrains," as the reins
on a horse hold him back, holds him in check, keeps him on the right
path, and guides him around the bend.
In that setting, Paul is saying, "God's love is the
guiding force in his life that keeps him from doing the things that would
bring disgrace to the name of Christ."
Another meaning of "constrains" in this verse could be translated,
"The love of God coerces us."
Jamieson, Fawcett, and Brown's commentary explains this verse like this:
"There is an irresistible object which so controls the life of a Christian
that he loves with one objective in view to the elimination of any other possible
consideration."
Just as a river is dammed up and restrained in order
to produce power, to carry ships of cargo, boatloads of supplies to meet
the needs of others, in this setting, Paul is saying, "The love of God
is the driving force in my life that causes me to strive to meet the spiritual
needs of others."
Therefore, the Bible is simply teaching us that something has so
gripped the Christian's heart and so possessed his life until the
world sees us as fanatics, someone who has lost our minds.
Hearing these words, someone might say, "That is not true, it is
faith that saves us."
The Bible does say in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by
4 grace are you saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not of works, so that no man
can boast."
But I must also remind you that we have been told in 1 John
4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us."
You see, faith moves our heart because of the love of God.
When a man can see the love of God in spite of his
lostness, that realization will cause that measure of faith that God
has planted deep in the innermost recesses of his heart to come alive
and reach out in belief.
Love always blooms on the plant where faith has taken root in the soil of redemption;
and where faith takes root, love springs up and bursts out.
That is the excitement that Paul was not able to contain.
History has proven that any man who counts for anything in
the world, whether good or bad, is a man controlled by one
principle.
People, who are something for a little while, then
something else for a little while longer, and nothing for very long,
are just like the jet stream that follows a jet plane and disappears in
a moment; it does not count for anything.
But there are men who are gripped by one principle: your Caesars, your
Alexanders, your Napoleons, your Stalins, your Mussolinis,
your Hitlers, your Sadaams, and others like them.
Sure, they have been bad men, but they were men of passion, one principle, and one concern.
And you also have your Wesleys, your Whitfields, your Moodys,
and your Grahams: men of one passion, but good men.
Paul had looked with Spirit-enlightened eyes into the heart of
God, and he saw a love that gripped him, propelled him, and
impelled him along one line of life to the exclusion of any other
attraction.
If any would say that this is madness, Paul would simply
answer that he was "drawn with cords of love" (Hosea 11:4) to do
the will of God.
It is that kind of insight that caused Paul to agree with
Peter in 1 Peter 1:8 when he described the Christian life as "joy
unspeakable and full of glory."
5 Paul life was filled with commitment and emotion.
Why?
The answer is seen in verse 14, "…because
we thus judge (with the Spiritenlightened minds and eyes), that if one died for all,
then were all dead."
Therefore, Paul commitment and emotion was based on two dynamic
facts: substitution and identification.
Paul says, "He died for all…"
Paul mind must have gone back to Isaiah 53:5 that says, "…he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; and the chastisement
of our peace was upon him…"
The great fact of the substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus
is basic; and that truth puts fire into the heart of the believer.
The Christian's excitement also springs from the fact of his
identification.
Paul says, "…if one (Christ) died for all, then were are
dead."
Paul is simply saying, "When I was born in the physical realm of
life, I was involved in condemnation, guilt, sin, and judgment.
And because of the fall of Adam I was one with
him in my first birth.
But because of the cross, when I gave my life
to Christ, I became one with Him.
By faith I died with Him, I was buried with Him, I arose with Him,
and I ascended with Him into heaven.
And although my feet are on the ground, I am seated with Him in the heavenlies.
Therefore, His victory is my victory; His triumph over temptation is
my triumph; His resources are my resources; His grace is my grace; His
patience is my patience; His meekness is my meekness; His strength
is adversity is my strength; His power to overcome is my power.
I was one with Adam by my first birth, but I am one with Christ in my second
birth."
To make his point, Paul talked about a slave who escaped from
prison.
A search was organized to find him, but when the news is
received that the slave is dead, immediately the search is called off.
Because of the slave's death, the law has no more hold on him.
The law has no more power to enforce its condemnation
or its judgment on him.
The man died and therefore he is free.
When I was a slave to sin, I had no power, no ability to overcome.
Once the things that I wanted to do I did not do them, and the things that
I knew better than to do, I did anyway.
In other words, I was in bondage to sin!
But one day, 6
in Jesus Christ I died, and from that moment the law of sin and death
had no more power in my life – its power could not touch me.
Not only am I free, but "greater is He that is (me)
that he that is in the world"!
Therefore, there is an excitement in the life of the believer because
we have been set free by the blood of Jesus.
Last of all, there is excitement in the Christian life because of
our victorious living.
Paul says in verse 15-16, "…he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him
which died for them, and rose again.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more."
Paul is simply saying that because of the love of God in our life, we
can love one another.
In other words, the Bible teaches us that love begets love.
Listen to the words of Jesus in John 13:34, "A
new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have
loved you, that you also love one another."
He continues in John 13:35, "By this shall all men know
that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another."
He says in John 15:12, "This is my commandment, That
you love one another, as I have loved you."
He says in John 15:17, "These things I command you,
that you love one another."
Paul says in Galatians 5:13, "For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."
He continues in 1 Thessalonians 4:9, "But as touching brotherly
love you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught
of God to love one another."
Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter 1:22, "Seeing you have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned
love of
the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart
fervently."
The Phillips translation reads like this in 1 Corinthians 13,
"Love knows no limit to
its endurance, no end to
its trust, no fading of its hope.
It can outlast anything.
It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen."
7 The Bible is teaching us that love has answered
love, deep has called unto deep, and
in
a life that was so barren, cold, and dead, the
Holy Spirit has come and kindled a flame of sacred love in the heart.
Is it
any wonder that Jesus could say, "By this shall all men know
that you are my disciples, if you
have love one
to another"?
What is all the excitement about
in the
Christian life?
The love
of God!
Love
for
you and love
for me.
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