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2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Pastor Christopher Chelpka
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Father, we praise you for Your goodness to us, your great mercy, and this great work of resurrection that you have done in our lives.
[00:00:09] You have in Christ set us free from sin. It no longer has dominion over us. It no longer enslaves us, though certainly sin and the flesh wage war against us.
[00:00:23] It is a war that cannot be won because Your Spirit is at hand, even in us, fighting on our behalf, growing us and changing us from glory to glory. Your sanctification is a powerful work, even as Your justification is so sure and certain. We ask, Lord, that you would continue Your work in us that we might live unto you and see the world and ourselves and other brothers and sisters, as you have called us, to see things. We ask for these things in Jesus name and we pray, asking for the blessing on the reading and preaching of Your Word. Amen.
[00:01:09] Please remain standing. And let's turn our attention now to two corinthians, chapter five, verse 14.
[00:01:44] For the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this that one has died for all, therefore all have died, and he died for all, that those who might live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who, for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Praise God.
[00:02:21] You may be seated.
[00:02:50] I, like you, have changed my mind on many things in life. I once thought calvinists were unfeeling, cold, spiritual robots. I no longer think this. Um, I once thought that even having a bottle of alcohol in your house was a danger and a sin. I no longer think this. I once thought Dachshunds were the worst dog breed ever.
[00:03:16] I no longer think this either.
[00:03:20] We all have changes in perspectives right throughout our lives. Some of them no big deal. Our tastes, our preferences change. And some of them are a very big deal. They change our outlook. They even change the way that we act and treat others.
[00:03:37] We have these changes of perspective throughout our lives, and some are very, very important. Paul talks about a very important one today.
[00:03:48] His words here reflect a change in perspective that he had that was life changing. He talks about how he once viewed Christ and his people and how he views them. Now, I want to consider this with you today and invite you to Paul's perspective, to call you, encourage you, urge you to take the perspective that he has because the perspective that he has on life and on other people, particularly on Christ and Christians, is a perspective that is true, based in reality and brings a lot of hope and change in our lives.
[00:04:30] What is the change in perspective that Paul has? Well, he describes it this way. He says, I once regarded Christ according to the flesh. And he speaks also of other creations. Those who are in Christ are in new creations. And he says he thought about them according to the flesh as well, but no longer.
[00:04:53] He sees things in a different way. So what I'd like to do this morning is talk about the before and the after, talk about how he used to think about things, what it means to think about things according to the flesh and what that change was, the kind of implications that has for our lives.
[00:05:12] What was the before perspective for Paul?
[00:05:15] Paul says he judged people according to the flesh. But what does he mean by this? That word flesh has a variety of means. Not an infinite variety, but a few different meanings in Scripture. Paul uses it here in the way that he means it in Philippians chapter three. So I'd like to turn there and read this passage with you. This will help us in understanding what he's saying here in two Corinthians.
[00:05:40] In Philippians three, verses two through twelve, paul begins by talking about the flesh in a very physical sense, a physical marker of the flesh, particularly circumcision of flesh, of skin, of the body.
[00:05:59] But he uses that as it was often used and understood as a symbol for something greater, which we'll see what he means here. So let's hear Philippians chapter three, verses two through twelve.
[00:06:13] Paul says, look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Let me pause there and just say so he's talking about those in verse two who would require Christians, would require believers to be circumcised. And what he's saying is here is that we are the circumcision. We should be considered those who are circumcised not because of something that happens physically in our flesh, but because of these things, those who worship by the Spirit of God, glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.
[00:07:04] So when he says there put no confidence in the flesh, he gives some details. Now he explains more what he means. So picking up in verse four, he says though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh. Also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised. On the 8th day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law, a Pharisee as to Zeal, a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law blameless.
[00:07:39] But whatever I gain or but whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own. That comes from the law. But that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. That I may know him in the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead.
[00:08:29] So there's a lot there which we won't unpack at all. But I hope you get the gist of what Paul's saying. He says, if you want to judge me according to the things of the flesh, if you want to judge me by how good I have been under the law, how perfect of a Jew I am or if you want to judge me by these outward things, whether that's education or inward things moral aptitude and these kinds of things, he says I'll take you on and I can exceed anyone that you would put in front of me.
[00:09:06] I can have confidence in these things. So you see how flesh there stands, not just for a circumcision, a physical act, but his taking on the works of the Law, his being a good person, a good person in terms of the Law, a good person in terms of status, a good person in terms of his faith and religious things.
[00:09:30] This mark of becoming Jewish was more than that. It was the symbol of being good, of being impressive. And Paul says on that, by thou standards, I'm doing well and better than most.
[00:09:46] But he also says something else, doesn't he? He says, as good as that is, he counts it all as loss for the sake of one thing, for the sake of knowing Christ, the righteousness that is his own under the Law. He counts it as rubbish, as garbage, as crud.
[00:10:10] One dictionary definition describes it as useless or undesirable material that is subject to disposal.
[00:10:18] All of the outward good things that he could gain, he could care less about them. In fact, he rejects them and he refuses them. He pushes them away for the sake of knowing Christ, for the sake of gaining Christ is another way he puts it. He says, I have suffered this is in verse eight I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. The things in Himself, the outward value that is in Him, the things in the world, he counts it all as loss in order that he may gain Christ.
[00:10:55] This is an important point. Then when we talk about perspective, right, the way we look at things, it means that there aren't just two ways of thinking, right? Putting confidence in the things of this world and ourselves and being a good person as one and putting ourselves our confidence in Christ and his good works and his righteousness on the other. These aren't just two ways of thinking. These are two ways of thinking that are opposed to each other. They're at war with each other. He says that he counts the one as loss in order that he might gain the other.
[00:11:33] You might imagine having room in your fridge for only one gallon of liquid, let's say, and the one gallon of liquid that is in your fridge is a gallon of rotten milk, right? In order to have something good to drink, you need to remove, count as loss, that rotten gallon, and get rid of it. Refuse garbage, not worth keeping around. It'll make you sick. It'll kill you potentially, if you drink it. It's a dangerous thing, Paul's, saying something like that. In order to have something good to drink, in order to have Christ, you need to get rid of this old way of thinking, this old way of living, this dependence on the things of the flesh, dependence on one's being a good person, or the status that the world would offer.
[00:12:27] The problem with the works of the flesh is that, like old milk, it starts out good. It promises all kinds of good things, but eventually it goes bad.
[00:12:40] And that's not true just of milk, but honestly, the whole created order, including ourselves, god made all things good, right? He made man good. But because of sin, this world, milk and everything else, becomes subject to death, decay, corruption, futility.
[00:13:03] There are, of course, good things in this world. Beautiful things, wise things, valuable things, good trees, good things to drink, good buildings, good people.
[00:13:14] But eventually they all kind of wind down. Eventually they end up in this state of sin and misery and brokenness and futility.
[00:13:26] We all know this thinking about perspective. The world sees this and recognizes this. It's an undeniable part of our reality.
[00:13:39] But if that's the only perspective you have, if that's all you have and you don't have Christ, what do you do?
[00:13:46] What does the world do?
[00:13:49] Well, different things often ignore the problem.
[00:13:54] Just pretend that death isn't a problem.
[00:13:58] Pretend that you might not or that you will certainly die someday, or that riches can't secure you, or other kinds of things. We just sort of pretend and kind of move on and hope for the best. And sometimes that works for a time. But eventually we have these kind of ecclesiastes moments where life under the sun bites you on the backside, where we realize that things decay and there is real misery and real vanity and futility in the world.
[00:14:33] Then you get depression and despair, or some people embrace it and commit unspeakable acts of evil. This is where these things go. This is where this perspective leads us.
[00:14:47] Well, is there an alternative?
[00:14:49] Because this is reality.
[00:14:52] Well, there is an alternative, and that's what Paul's embracing it. He embraces it not because it's a non reality or because it's a fictional thing that just makes him feel better. But he embraces it because God has done something in time, in space, in reality, to change things.
[00:15:12] He embraces, in other words, a more complete picture of history, of what things have done and of what has happened in this world.
[00:15:22] And that's this that God in Jesus Christ enters into the world, into brokenness. And as Paul says in Galatians, he's born of a woman, he takes on flesh, he's born under the law, he takes on the requirements that are of this world and he's born under the wrath and curse. And eventually he takes on death itself and he dies.
[00:15:48] He enters into the futility, he enters into the misery, he enters into the curse. And he experiences it all, just like we do, but with one huge difference.
[00:16:02] As the Son of God, he overcomes these things. He does what only God can do, and that's he defeats death. And he earns for us a life that we could never have because of our sin, because he is sinless.
[00:16:23] Jesus enters into this life on our behalf and he fixes the problem, he fixes the disruption. That's why Paul talks in the way that he does in Romans six, which we read earlier. Jesus Christ comes into this world and he dies and he undoes the slavery of sin. He undoes death and he creates something new by overcoming death. Jesus receives this glory as the obedient and worthy one, and he creates a new creation. He rises from the dead as the beginning of the resurrection, and he does what was promised. In Isaiah, in Isaiah 60 517, god says, for behold, I create new heavens and new earth and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
[00:17:20] God says he is not going to just let this world spin on forever and its vanity and its frustration and its curse. But he is going to undo it and do something else. Create something new. A new heavens and a new earth so good, so wonderful, that the former things shall not even be remembered or come to mind. The sorrows and the heartbreak and the death and the loss.
[00:17:48] No wonder Paul says he's willing to give it up.
[00:17:51] Wouldn't you?
[00:17:53] If you could have new creation, eternal life, perfect happiness, glory in the presence of God, wouldn't you give up some extra money and time or sorrow or sufferings in this world? Wouldn't you give up your very life?
[00:18:13] I hope so.
[00:18:15] That's what Paul does. That's why he says, sure, I've done all these things. I am all this thing. I'm a big deal. I could care less and I will suffer and I will die. And we know that he is doing that as we've read in various passages in two Corinthians during our time there. Paul's not just words, he's living it. He's walking the walk. He's suffering, for Christ's sake, and he's totally fine with it.
[00:18:47] Not fine because suffering is a good thing in and of itself, or fine because death is wonderful, but fine because he has his eyes on something greater, something that will swallow up death itself in life. An amazing image.
[00:19:05] Let's look at another passage in Romans chapter eight, where Paul addresses these themes.
[00:19:11] Romans, chapter eight. I think we'll begin at verse 19.
[00:19:19] Paul has in mind here this glory that is to come, but is also even now begun.
[00:19:29] So I'll begin let's start at verse 18, and I'll read to 25.
[00:19:37] Paul says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed.
[00:19:46] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not willing it, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
[00:20:12] You see what he's saying there? He's saying that creation itself, the milk, the trees, everything, right? That it's subject. It's not just subject. It's in bondage to corruption, right? It's not getting out of this, except for the fact that it will one day obtain the freedom, the same freedom that the children of God have, the freedom of the glory of the children of God. In other words, that same glory of the resurrection that Christians are promised, the earth itself will experience matching theirs.
[00:20:49] He says in verse 22 for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we await eagerly of the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we were saved. Now, hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
[00:21:23] Now, this brings us back to Two Corinthians five, when we think about perspective, right?
[00:21:29] Paul is seeing things in a particular way, although he doesn't see them with his eyes, right? He perceives things. He understands things. Or as he puts it here in Two Corinthians five, he regards things, understands them in a certain way, even though the brothers and sisters around him are not shining with the eternal glory of God.
[00:22:01] Why does Paul look at this brother and that sister who are obviously in their bodies, suffering in various ways? He's in his own body, suffering in various ways, right? Why is he able to look at them, see that, and yet not consider them according to the things of the flesh, the things of this world, the things that are passing away it's because of Christ.
[00:22:30] He once regarded Christ according to the flesh, but we regard Him thus no longer. Why? Because he rose from the dead.
[00:22:39] He doesn't regard Christ anymore in the way that he does. One, because he rose from the dead, and two, because Christ now controls his heart.
[00:22:48] Christ changed him. Christ did something in his life to bring about faith so that Paul would no longer be chasing after his own works, but would be chasing after faith, receiving the gifts of faith that come to him in Christ Jesus.
[00:23:06] In Romans eight, we see where the works of the flesh are going, where the world and all of these things are going, futility and ending.
[00:23:16] But Paul also tells us what the hope is ahead. It's a hope of new life, a hope of glory, a hope of new creation.
[00:23:26] And so when he looks at Christ, when he looks at himself, when he looks at his brothers and sisters, he regards them not according to the flesh.
[00:23:36] As he says in verse 17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, it's already begun to happen. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
[00:23:51] And this is amazing thing. Paul is not just saying I'm understanding you in a certain way based on a future hope.
[00:24:01] He is saying that, but he's saying something even more than that. He's saying I'm understanding you in a certain way, not only because of this future hope, but because of something that has already happened, something that has already come, the spirit that is now at work in you, christ, who is now risen from the dead, and you are in Him.
[00:24:26] Now, Paul doesn't get into all the implications of this right here, right now, in these few verses, but the implications are vast here. He says that he no longer regards Christ and his people the way he once did. But we can ask ourselves in some ways what difference this might make.
[00:24:47] What difference this makes in the Scriptures?
[00:24:51] What happens in a life where you stop trusting in the fleeting things of this world, the good ones and the sinful ones?
[00:25:02] What happens if you stop trusting in them to decide what's truly valuable and lasting and true?
[00:25:10] What happens if you stop valuing yourself based on the things that the world would demand of you and instead define yourself and find your identity in Christ?
[00:25:23] How would things change if you saw yourself as to being, as being one of the glorious ones of God who have already begun in the new creation?
[00:25:36] Instead of letting things like your family history or your wealth or your poverty or your mental illness or your good works or your skin color or your old sins or your relationships or the part of town you live in or any of these things that we think about?
[00:25:57] What happens if all of those got dropped from ultimate identity perspective to somewhere down here where we don't care that much, where it has an impact on our lives? And yes, there's good things and bad things, but at the end of the day, it just doesn't really matter that much.
[00:26:17] What would happen if we thought and things in that way, what would happen if we treated others, brothers and sisters in Christ, with that kind of perspective.
[00:26:28] I'm not saying that these things don't matter at all, but it's the relationship, right? Paul doesn't say suffering isn't hard. He says, I don't consider them worth comparing right. With the future weight of glory. It's like, does it matter what brand your shoes are in a car crash? Not really.
[00:26:51] Not really. There are these relative things and Paul is calling us.
[00:26:57] God is calling you to consider things according to what he has done and to who he is.
[00:27:08] Jesus isn't just exposing to us the futility of the world.
[00:27:13] He's telling us about a new world, a new life, a new creation to which we can be and must be born again, made new.
[00:27:28] And when we are made new, things start changing in our minds and in our hearts. We open up the fridge and we see that milk in there, and instead of in the old way, saying, I don't know, maybe a little bit, and this is all I've got and it's the best I have, we just throw it out.
[00:27:47] We throw it out. Why? Because God has given us the eternal water of life, the springs which well to eternal life in which we will never be thirsty again.
[00:27:59] He gives to us not just replacement milk. He gives to us something of a whole new order, a whole new life.
[00:28:09] Instead of putting our faith in our good deeds or the things that earn us value in this world, instead of being tied to the things that are passing away, we learn to see ourselves as part of the new creation and the resurrection that has already begun.
[00:28:29] God.
[00:28:30] Our Lord wants us to wake up with Paul here to see what he has done in Christ, to see what the future holds and then to act accordingly.
[00:28:41] To walk in the newness of life, to treat other people according to the newness of life, to those who are bound to this world in this age, to call them out of it, to tell them about something better, about something new, about something eternal and lasting.
[00:29:00] Because of Jesus and what he has done, we no longer need to regard Christ and ourselves in the way the world does. We no longer need to race, to position ourselves over and against each other. We can just rest in Jesus and all that he is and all that he gives and wait for his coming and call others to join us as we do.
[00:29:26] Let's pray and ask that God would give us eyes to see and ears to hear let's pray.
[00:29:36] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can call you Father and that we are your children being made and conformed more and more to the image of your perfect Son, the only begotten Son of God, begotten before all worlds. God of God, light of light, very God of very God.
[00:30:00] Lord, let us see Him and follow Him, hear his voice and respond as the sheep of his pasture.
[00:30:10] Lord, shepherd us into every good thing and shepherd us through every sorrow and every suffering, through the valley of the shadow of death. Let us not be afraid, for you are there beside us, comforting us, calling us, guiding us, leading us into green pastures and still waters of eternal life.
[00:30:34] We have the guarantee already of the Holy Spirit within us. We have the first fruits of the resurrection in Jesus Christ.
[00:30:44] We have come to a heavenly city, to Mount Zion that cannot be shaken. We are seated in Christ in the heavenly places.
[00:30:55] We have been promised an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, being kept protected in heaven for us.
[00:31:05] Lord, let us live in light of that reality.
[00:31:11] Let us not cling to the things of this world or our own righteousness or the guilt of our own sins. Instead, let us see ourselves entirely through the lens of our justification and our sanctification and our glorification. In Christ, help us to see ourselves as those adopted sons and daughters of God who not only are loved by you, but have a right to the inheritance that is to come because of your promises in Christ Jesus.
[00:31:45] Lord, help us to have this perspective not only for ourselves, but for those who are around us, for those who are not in Christ. Lord, help us to have compassion and pity. Help us to show them the way so that they might know Him too.
[00:32:01] And for those who are in Christ, those who walk with us and follow Him who are a part of his flock. Lord, let us learn to treat them as such, with the dignity and honor that they deserve in Him.
[00:32:19] Lord, teach us to live as citizens of this heavenly kingdom. Let us reform our lives and walk in the newness of life, considering every thought and word, indeed in accord with the things that you have done and the dignity that you have given to us. In our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen.
