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Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts, and His ways are much
higher than our ways.
We like to fit God into our own
little box, picking and choosing the scriptures we want to focus
on, and often we make our own interpretation of our chosen
verses, without even knowing it.
But according to 2Pe 1:20, no
scripture is open to private interpretation!
And a thorough examination of a
doctrine in the scriptures often reveals something against our
human viewpoint.
Isa 55:8-9
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
NASU
OUR thoughts are that we must
follow all of God’s commands if we want to go to heaven.
OUR thoughts are that we must
remain righteous, or God’s fury will take away our salvation and
send us to hell for eternity.
OUR thoughts are that we must do
the works of the Lord, and if we do not, then maybe we really
aren’t saved. Maybe we really aren’t a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
We are secure BEYOND what WE
thought was possible.
We are safe and secure because of
HIS thoughts, the thinking of a God who bothered to sacrifice
His own Son on the altar called the Cross, so that whoever
believes in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life.
The Doctrine
of Reconciliation
Reconciliation is God’s peace
treaty with the entire human race!
Reconciliation is the result
of the finished work of Christ on the Cross!
Reconciliation removes the
Barrier which separates God from man. (Eph 2:13-16).
Eph 2:13-16
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself
is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the
barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the
enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in
ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one
new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them
both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to
death the enmity.
NASU
Our thoughts tell us that WE have
to make peace with God.
That WE have to appease an angry
demanding God.
But the Bible tells
us that the Lord Jesus Christ is our peace, and that HE broke
down the barrier of the dividing wall.
God’s ways are not our ways. His
thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
The peace offering in the
Old Testament is a picture of Reconciliation (Lev 3:1,
7:11-38, 8:15).
Lev 3:1
3:1 The Law of Peace Offerings
1 'Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he
is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he
shall offer it without defect before the LORD
NASU
This animal offered without
defect, a perfect sacrifice, represented the lamb of God who
would take away the sins of the world.
The peace offering
emphasizes the Person of Jesus Christ!
The peace offering
sets forth God as satisfied and the sinner reconciled!
It represents what God has
accomplished on behalf of helpless sinners!
It is not about what man can do
for God, it is about what God has done for man!
Religion talks about what man can
do for God, these are human thoughts.
Christianity talks about what God
has done for man, these are the God’s thoughts.
You see…
The Author of the Peace
Treaty is God the Father
(2Cor 5:18a Eph 1:3-7,
2:14-16).
2Cor 5:17-19
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the
old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
We are not told to improve
our old nature, we are told that we have an entirely new nature
that is perfect in the eyes of God.
18 Now all these things are
from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was
in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of
reconciliation.
NASU
Notice the doctrine
of Reconciliation, or the Peace Treaty, is from God Himself, and
He has done all the work for us in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:3-8
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless
before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention
of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which
He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.
NASU
Eph 2:14-16
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one
and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by
abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of
commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He
might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the
cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
NASU
Man was the enemy of God
(Rom 5:6-10 Eph 2:1-6).
But God the Father is the
Initiator of the peace treaty with man!
Eph 2:1-6
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you
formerly walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all
formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when
we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with
Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus,
NASU
Rom 5:6-11
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ
died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous
man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to
die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more
then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,
much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His
life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the
reconciliation.
NASU
We HAVE BEEN
RECONCILED. We have been saved, through the peace offering of
Jesus Christ on the cross, the one and final sacrifice.
The Lord has done this for us.
His ways are beyond our ways.
We could never imagine God Himself
leaving heaven to become a man…. And for the purpose of
suffering and dying in the place of unworthy people!
But His thoughts are not our
thoughts.
We are selfish by nature, HE is
not.
We don’t truly understand
self-sacrificial love, He IS self-sacrificial love!
His ways are far
beyond our ways, as much higher as the heavens are from the
earth.
As a reminder, the Bible teaches
that man is totally helpless to make peace with God (Rom
3:10, 23, 8:5-8 Eph 2:1).
Rom 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
NASU
Rom 8:8
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
NASU
Eph 2:1
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
NASU
We could not do
ANYTHING to please a perfect God. We were DEAD in our sins.
What can a dead man do that is effective?
God had to do something, or we
would all perish. And He offered us a peace treaty, and He
offered Himself as the peace offering.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Mediator of the Peace Treaty (2Cor 5:18b 1 Tim. 2:5). The
Lord is the peacemaker (Eph 2:14).
2Cor 5:18
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to
Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation
NASU
1 Tim
2:5-6
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for
all
NASU
This peace treaty took place
inside the Person of Christ, the God-Man (2Cor. 5:19a Eph
2:14-16 Col 1:22 1 Pet 2:24).
2Cor 5:19
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself,
NASU
Col 1:22
22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through
death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and
beyond reproach
NASU
By the way…
When you say your
sins take you away from God, you are saying that this verse
isn’t true, and that His horrible death didn’t complete the job
of salvation.
If His death would
not be enough to save us, why did He bother to come and go
through such agony?
Why did He say “It is finished”
right before He died? Because our price has been fully paid by
Him, and Jesus Christ totally satisfied God the Father.
And we will see more of that
coming up in the doctrines of Redemption and Propitiation.
1 Peter 2:24
24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the
cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed.
NASU
God offers the
entire world a full pardon of their sin through faith in Jesus
Christ. (2Cor 5:19b Acts 13:38 Eph 1:7, 4:32b Col 1:14,
2:13 1Jn 2:12 Heb 10:10,14).
Acts 13:38-39
38 "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him
forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him
everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you
could not be freed through the Law of Moses.
NASU
Eph 1:7-8
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8
which He lavished on us.
NASU
Eph 4:32
32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each
other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
NASU
Col 1:13-14
The Incomparable Christ
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and
transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
NASU
Col 2:13-14
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with
Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of
decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it
out of the way, having nailed it to the cross
NASU
1 Jn 2:12
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have
been forgiven you for His name's sake.
NASU
Heb 10:10, 14
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
14 For by one
offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
NASU
Every believer in the Church Age
has been made an ambassador for Christ (2Cor 5:20a).
2Cor 5:18-20
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to
Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against
them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
NASU
The terms of the
Peace Treaty is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31
Jn 3:16, 36).
Acts 16:31
They said, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved…
NASU
Jn 3:16-18
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world
to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through
Him. 18 “ He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not
believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
NASU
Jn 3:36
36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he
who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of
God abides on him."
NASU
Reconciliation is totally
the work of God! Jn 6:28-29
Jn 6:28-29
28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may
work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has
sent."
NASU
Again the ways of God are far
beyond the ways of man.
True Christianity is learning in
the Bible what God has done for man.
Don’t fall for religion, which
uses scripture to put men into bondage, always asking what can
man do for God.
God has done all the work for us. We
must give Him the credit He is due. And in this way we will
not insult the grace of God.
The Barrier – the barrier that existed between God and mankind
involves at least 6 doctrines.
1.
Personal
sins. Mankind commits acts of sin (Isa 64:6b Rom
3:23).
2.
The penalty of sin, which
is spiritual death
(Rom 5:12, 6:23a).
Rom 5:12
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,
because all sinned
NASU
3.
Spiritual death. All are
born spiritually dead at physical birth (Gen 2:17 Rom
5:12 Eph 2:1).
Gen 2:16-17
16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of
the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat from it you will surely die." NASU
Eph 2:1
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
NASU
4.
Man’s relative
righteousness, which cannot compare to God’s perfect
righteousness (Isa 64:6a Rom 9:30-33).
Rom 9:30-33
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness
which is by faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing a law of
righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they
did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They
stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written,
"BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF
OFFENSE,
AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
NASU
5.
The character of God, which
demands that our personal sins be judged (Isa 46:9b, 64:6b Rom
8:8).
Isa 46:9
9 "Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
NASU
Isa 64:6
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
NASU
Rom 8:8
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
NASU
6.
Man’s position in Adam as a
result of the imputation of his sin (1Cor 15:22a).
The Removal of the Barrier – at
least 7 doctrines help remove the barrier between God and man.
(isn’t it interesting that 6 is the number of man, and 7 is the
number of God?)
A.
Redemption resolves
man’s problem with sin (1Pe 1:18-19 Eph. 1:7 Titus 2:14
1Tim. 2:6a).
Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all
men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires
and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself
for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for
Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
NASU
1Pe 1:18-19
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things
like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from
your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
NASU
1Tim 2:5-6
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom
for all
NASU
B.
The Unlimited Atonement
also resolves man’s sin problem (1Jn 2:2).
1Jn 2:2
2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not
for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
NASU
C.
Expiation resolves
man’s problem with the penalty of sin which is spiritual death
(Col. 2:14).
Col 2:13-14
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with
Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of
decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it
out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
NASU
D.
Regeneration resolves
man’s problem with being born spiritually dead (Jn 3:1-18).
E.
Imputation resulting
in justification resolves the problem of man’s relative
righteousness (1Cor 1:30 2Cor 5:21 Rom. 4:1-5 Gal. 2:16).
1Cor 1:30-31
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to
us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and
redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO
BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."
NASU
2Cor 5:21
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
NASU
Rom 4:1-5
4:1 Justification by Faith Evidenced in the Old Testament;
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according
to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by
works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3
For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT
WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." 4 Now to the one who
works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness
NASU
Gal 2:16
16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have
believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith
in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of
the Law no flesh will be justified.
NASU
F.
Propitiation resolves
man’s problem with the perfect character of God (Rom. 3:22-26
1Jn 2:2).
Rom 3:21-26
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been
manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is
in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a
propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate
His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed
over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I
say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would
be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
NASU
G. Our
position in Christ resolves man’s position in Adam (1Cor
15:22b 2Cor 5:17).
1Cor 15:22
22 For as
in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
NASU
2Cor 5:17
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the
old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
NASU
God’s Peace Treaty
with Man – we see many tremendous principles in our main passage
of 2Cor 5:18-21.
It is the outline of our Peace
Treaty with God!
2Cor 5:18-21
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to
Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against
them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.
NASU
A peace treaty is when 2 enemies
agree to stop fighting against each other.
We are no longer enemies of God
because of the Work of our Lord on the Cross.
Outline of the Peace Treaty (2Cor
5:18-21):
1. Author of the Peace
Treaty (2Cor 5:18a): God the Father
2. Mediator of the Peace
Treaty (2Cor 5:18b): The Lord Jesus Christ
3. Gift
for the Pardoned (2Cor 5:18c): According to Grace
4. Initiator of the Peace
Treaty (2Cor 5:19a): God the Father
5. Location of the Peace
Treaty (2Cor 5:19a): The human body of our Lord.
6. Full Pardon for the
Enemy (2Cor 5:19b): Forgiveness of sins
7. Acceptance of the Terms
of Peace (2Cor 5:19c): Faith Alone in Christ Alone
8. Ambassadors of Peace
(2Cor 5:20a): Church Age believers
9. God’s Appeal
for Peace (2Cor 5:20b): God’s will is that all men be saved.
10. Work of the Mediator
(2Cor 5:21a): Spiritual death of our Lord on the cross
11. War or Peace?
(2Cor 5:21b): Your acceptance or rejection of Christ
determines your eternal destiny!
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