Live for Christ

This evening we start a new series called Living Life to the Full and our first topic is Live for Christ.

Introduction

You know a lot of people think Christianity is a form of living death. But what did Jesus say? Well John 10:10 Jesus says that he came that we might have what: religion, death by meetings, quiche eating, unfashionable jumpers, tedium (not the Te Deum which is an ancient hymn) but tedium or boringness? No! He says that he came that we might have life and have it to the full! In the words of a soft drink manufacturer he came that we might live life to the max! Only Jesus Christ can max your life. Only through faith in Jesus can you have new and eternal life, a life with God that begins now and the very fullness of which we have in heaven.

And here in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul says that in Christ we are a new creation – the old has gone and the new has come. And we are to live a new life not for ourselves but for Christ. V15:

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again

And living for Christ is to live life to the full – because living for Christ gives purpose and direction to our lives. Our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. It’s life with God which is what we were created for. Before Jesus rescued me and changed my life I was only concerned about one thing – me! How boring was that! But God got hold of my life, turned it round and began to change me from the inside out. Life has never been the same since! It doesn’t mean that life has always been easy but it has been full! But some of you might be asking so how does this new and full life begin? Well that brings us to my first point:

1. Trusting in Christ

A lot of people also think Christianity is for good people – that being a Christian all depends on how good or religious you are, that this new life and life in all its fullness has to be earned. Well did you know that there’ll be zero good people in heaven, yes zero, that is absolutely none for those of you not sure of maths! Only forgiven people – only those who have been forgiven through faith in Christ will be in heaven. We live by faith, says Paul in v7. You see the Bible says that only God is good. Whereas we all fall short of his glory. We are sinful human beings who cannot save ourselves. A bit like the Chilean miners who could do nothing to get themselves out of the pit of that collapsed mine and see life, except to trust God. Their only hope was for a miraculous rescue, a rescue capsule coming down for them, which amazingly happened this past week. Our only hope of being rescued from the pit of our sin, which separates from God, and have life was also a miraculous rescue mission. So where does Paul say this rescue, new life and life in all its fullness comes from? Well he says, v18:

18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…

V18-21 make three things very plain. One, the gospel message is about a great act of divine initiative. V18 makes it clear that Christianity is not about people finding their way to God but about God sovereignly making a way to himself by a great, yes even a gigantic act of condescension.

Two, the message contains a great act of divine acquittal. V19:

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.

This is the root problem that Christianity addresses: the guilt of the human race. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. We need to be reconciled to God because our sin has separated us from him. It was that problem that God dealt with in Christ.

So three, the message contains a great act of divine substitution. V21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Now do you notice the beautiful symmetry of that verse? You see Paul is describing a great exchange: on the one side there is Christ who is sinless, on the other side, there is man who is sinful. As a result of God’s gracious intervention, what happens? Jesus, fully God and fully man, is made sin, and man becomes righteous in him through faith in him. What other word could describe what Paul is saying here except substitution? It now becomes transparently clear what Paul means back in v15, when he says that Christ died for men and women. Paul doesn’t mean that Christ died just to set us all an example of self-sacrificial love. Paul means Jesus died instead of men and women. Jesus took our guilt upon himself and bore the penalty for it. He was our substitute.

Now some people object to this interpretation of the cross of Christ. They say it’s morally scandalous to imagine God punishing an innocent third party for other people’s sins. But Jesus, though innocent, was not a third party. V19 should be translated: ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.’ God and Christ are not two parties as far as this exchange is concerned. They are one. God was not laying the sins of the world upon somebody else when he placed them on Christ. He was placing the sin of the world on himself. Such is the love of God. And through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ you and I can be reconciled to God. In another of Paul’s letters we read (Galatians 2:16):

…a man is not justified [declared not guilty] by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

It is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone that we can know God personally. Look at v21 again and that amazing exchange. Jesus takes on board our sin and we take on board his righteousness. That’s the only reason we can be accepted by God. So can I ask – are you trusting in Christ alone? If you are then you are a new creation and you have new and eternal life in Christ. If you haven’t yet put your faith in Christ can I urge you, as Paul does in v20, to be reconciled to God through faith in Christ while there’s still time. Don’t miss out on the gift of life in all its fullness! The alternative is terrible. Secondly

2. Living for Christ

Some of the Chilean miners thanked God for their rescue. And in response to our rescue, to what God has done for us in Christ we’re to live a life of thanks to him – we’re to live for Christ as we go on trusting in him, living by faith, not by sight (v7). You see if you love someone what do you want to do for them? Well you want to please them, don’t you? If you love Jesus Christ then you’ll want to please him. Jesus said,If you love him you will obey his commands. Paul makes all this very clear in 2 Corinthians 5. Look at v9 “So we make it our goal to please him…” V14 “For the love of Christ compels us…” V15 “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 6:19-20 he wrote with regard to sex and relationships:

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.

So we’re to flee from sexual immorality for your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, whom you’ve received from God.

If you’re trusting in Christ your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Are you living in the light of that reality? Are you co-operating with the Holy Spirit or grieving him? Well there is forgiveness at the cross and an empowering by the Spirit as we seek to live for Christ in every area of our lives.

You see Jesus is king; He is a demanding king. He demands our all. He wants us to totally serve Him in every area of life. He wants us to hold no area back. There’s a story of a man in Haiti who wanted to sell his house for £1,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one condition: he would retain ownership of one small nail located just over the front door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon it became impossible to live there, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

If we don't surrender all of our life to the control of King Jesus, if we give Him all but one small nail, then Satan will hang his rotting garbage on it and make us unfit for Christ. If Christ is not Lord of all then He’s not Lord at all.

And we’re to serve him with fear and with joy as Paul makes clear in v11. So we’re also to live for Christ by sharing the love of Christ. We’re his ambassadors in this world. So thirdly

3. Sharing the love of Christ

What motivated Paul to do so? What should motivate us?

(a) The fear of the Lord v9-11:

9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.

That Christians as well as non Christians must appear before the judgment seat of Christ isn’t meant to cloud our assurance of heaven if we’re trusting in Jesus, but it is meant to be a spur to our Christian walk and witness. That’s exactly what it was for Paul. Some at Corinth were objecting to his forthright style and wanted him to go to the school of soft sell but how could he and how can we be anything but bold in evangelism when we know that we have to appear before the judgment seat of Christ? Yes, being Christ’s ambassadors will sometimes require diplomacy in terms of being wise in how we act towards outsiders, and being aware of people’s needs. But we mustn’t misrepresent our King and his gospel. How could Paul and how can we face Jesus with a clear conscience if we know we’ve neglected sharing the gospel clearly with people who must one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ themselves?

So can I suggest a practical challenge for us? It’s this: to pray for, spend time with, share with and invite to the Sports Quiz, Christianity Explored, TBT (The Bible Talks), House, Carols by Candlelight people you have contact with. And to help with Christianity Explored. This is an urgent task. If you’re too busy drop something. Sharing the love of Christ is part of our Christian discipleship. It isn’t a Christian hobby. It’s an urgent rescue operation.

(b) The love of Christ v12-17

Before Paul’s conversion his work of persecuting Christians was motivated by hatred. Now his ministry is motivated by love, by the love of Christ. And surely Christ’s love compels us too. V13:

13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Some will think we’re out of our mind to be sharing the good news of Jesus boldly today. And we might then be tempted to water it down. But then it’s no longer the gospel and has no power. Paul is no longer concerned about his own reputation. He lives for Christ. Why? Because Christ died for him. And in Christ he’s died to self, and been given a whole new focus for living. I live no longer for myself but for him who died for me and was raised again, he says. That should be true of us. You see the reference to ‘therefore all died’ in v14 is stating that the death of Jesus procures death to self in all who turn to him.

You know so often our fears about sharing Christ derive from what others might think of us. When Paul was tempted to think like that he turned his mind to the cross. You are not on this planet to live for yourself any longer, he said to himself, Christ has died for you, you were bought at a price, you have no right to live for anyone else but him. Do we think like that? Is Christ’s love compelling us in this way? Christ didn’t just die for Paul or for you and me but for all, for the sum total of individuals, like Paul, whom he loved. Now that doesn’t mean that everyone is automatically forgiven and saved. No! The universal scope of Christ’s love and Christ’s death does not mean universalism – the automatic salvation of everyone. No we’re saved only by grace through faith in Christ.

The Bible clearly indicates that not all will believe. But Christ’s love, his death on the cross for all compels us to go and share this news with all. Perhaps God is calling you to go overseas. He’s certainly calling us all to be on mission to those around us.

16So [v16] from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come!

Does that not motivate us too? Surely the love of Christ should transform the way we view those around us, as we recognise their need for Christ’s love and see what they could become if Christ entered their lives. So how do we view those around us? Do they become the focus of our gossip or of our prayers?

(c) The commission of the King v18-21

Paul’s third motivation was that God had called him to preach the gospel. And although you and I are not the Apostle Paul the ministry of reconciliation has been given to us too. We are Christ’s ambassadors as we see from v18-21. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of Christ… but how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:17,14) And this section of 2 Corinthians 5 stresses this fact three times. V18: God gave us the ministry of reconciliation. V19: He committed to us the message of reconciliation.V20: 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!

Now it’s the Holy Spirit who brings people to new birth in Christ. Our part largely involves communicating the gospel or at least inviting people to hear someone else explain it. He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Yes our behaviour is important if people are to listen and it will be received with more plausibility when it’s heard from those who demonstrate the love of Christ. But we also need to use words. Yes technology has an important role to play. But human contact is vital. One church in America is having a Facebook fast one day a week – not because they’re against technology – but to encourage folks to meet people face to face! We are Christ’s ambassadors, to our schools, universities, workplaces. We are representatives of the King of Kings. What a privilege! There’s no diplomatic car as such but he does promise to be with us by his Spirit.

A couple of years ago Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand were not good ambassadors for the BBC. In fact they brought the BBC into disrepute. Indeed they both need to hear and respond to the message of reconciliation by repenting and believing the good news of Jesus Christ! But what kind of ambassadors are we for Christ? Do you need to repent? Are you going to be flying the flag for him tomorrow wherever you are?