700 years prior to the coming of Jesus Christ, the prophet Isaiah spoke about the coming of the messiah into the world and designated him the name, Prince of Peace. Isaiah said the Messiah would be a Prince ushering in peace. Fast forward 700 years, on the night Jesus was born the army of heaven came down and proclaimed this, “glory to God in the highest and PEACE on earth.” The host of angels stormed the beachhead of planet earth not to declare war, but to declare peace.

In other words, God is moving, he is on a mission. And the mission has to do with reconciliation. God came down and said, “my agenda of peace and reconciliation is kicking into high gear.”

And he includes his people in this. All throughout the bible, God advances his mission through his people. To Abraham, God said “I will bless you and make you a blessing and through you I will bless all the nations of the world.” Jesus said in John 20:21, “As the Father sent me into the world, even so I send you.” All through the book of Acts, we see these early followers of Jesus gathering more and more people into this new community called the church.

Here at Real Life Church, we have the exciting and serious privilege of being a part of advancing Gods reconciling agenda in the world.

Let’s look at how Paul explains the mission of God (verse 18):

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…

God does not wait. He does not wait for us to clean up our act, to get with the program. He reconciles. He is a reconciler!

RECONCILIATION – WHO?

And before we press into this text any more, let’s consider who God is reconciling. Let's consider what sort of people God is after. The fact that God reconciles and gives us a ministry of reconciliation, assumes that there is alienation from God. In fact, Romans 5:10 says that people are not only distant but they are also not neutral in their distance from God. There are

no distant but innocent and neutral bystanders. No, prior to reconciliation we are hostile to him. Romans 5:10 says,

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled shall we by saved by his life.

While enemies? The song “All I Have is Christ” says, “If you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still.” Nancy Scott, an author and former atheist shares personally of this:

On the day I picked up a Bible on a whim, I could not have been less interested in what it said. Rather, as a confirmed atheist, I was intent on winning an argument against my Christian co-worker. Looking back, it was clear that I was God’s enemy. Yet on that day, the words on the page came alive to me in a way that I never could have expected. Within a few hours, I was asking this God, whom moments before I believed did not exist, to show me His way. Since then, it has been clear to me that this salvation is God’s. God pursued me; I did not pursue Him.

This is what is so amazing about reconciliation. It is God coming for completely undeserving people! He pursues enemies and offers friendship. And here is what God does in reconciliation - he brings us close. He does merely tolerate us. He does not have to hold his nose to come close to us or draw us near to himself. He brings us to the deepest part of his heart; he withholds nothing from us. Have you received this offer of friendship with Christ? This is love. Radical love. For the undeserving – like you and me; It is here for the taking today.

RECONCILIATION - HOW?

But how does God’s reconciling love for the undeserving come down from above into our actual experience? Verse 19 explains:

… that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

So how does God reconcile? Verse 19 answers this question on two levels. Back in the past and now in the present.

In the PAST, 2000 years ago, God accomplished reconciliation by not counting our trespasses against us. Trespasses is another word for sin. But how could he do that? We have really trespassed. God has held out “No Trespassing” signs through his law and we have run roughshod over the signs, we’ve cut them down, and burned them. So God does not count our sins against us, but how can he do this and still be good and holy? This is an important question – one the bible wants us to grapple with.

In our day, the wrong questions are asked so often. People as the question, how can a good and loving God send people to hell? The bible never presents this as a problem. Nothing at all needs to happen for that! The real question is, how can a good and holy God reconcile rebels and enemies? How can God be both righteous and forgiving, both just and gracious? We are told here. Here’s how: he doesn’t count our trespasses against us, instead he counted our trespasses against Jesus 2000 years ago. God dished out the punishment we deserve on our willing substitute – Jesus. He took what we deserve – namely punishment, in order to give us what we don’t deserve – namely mercy - reconciliation. Here's how verse 21 says this,

For our sake he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus took all your sin in order to give you all of his righteousness.

If you have received Jesus with the empty hands of faith, here is what God wants you to know. He has exchanged all of your evil for all of his goodness. He has exchanged all of your sin for all of his mercy. He has reconciled you and nothing can change that. The cross changes everything for you – and for God. This is what has been called, “the great exchange”! This is why Jesus is called our Substitute. Thanks be to God.

And so David, speaking prophetically hundreds of years prior to Christ said, “How blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, whose transgressions are covered. How blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.”

This is fulfilled in Christ as Paul says in Romans 4. This is how God brought reconciliation down – back then (2000 years ago). In this sense God has reconciled the world to himself!

In the PRESENT. How is the agenda on the move presently? How is reconciliation invading actual lives today? After God reconciles us, he enlists us I the ministry. Or as verse 19 says, “he entrusts to us the message of reconciliation…”. So, God has entrusted to people like you and to gospel-centered churches like Real Life Church, the ministry and the message of reconciliation. What does this ministry look like?  Four things:

1. It identifies real need
2. Its goal is a new creation
3. It is a partnership with God
4. It is urgent

It identifies real need. Verse 16 says, "From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh."

We live in a city where you can go days without seeing anyone who has visible, substantial need. The clothes people wear, the cars they drive, the smile on their face, the success in business, the house they live in, the vacations they take, etc. On the outside, it may appear

that the majority of people are just fine. But we shouldn't fool ourselves that because people appear to be getting along just fine without Jesus, that they really don't need him. We know better, don't we? That is to look merely at the externals. Paul says, this is to regard people according to the flesh (verse 16).

Here’s the fundamental distinction that needs to be made if we would be faithful in the ministry of reconciliation. People are either in Christ or not in Christ. People are either reconciled to God or alienated from God. People are either dead din in or alive in Christ. This is the new perspective that characterizes the ministry of reconciliation – we want to see by faith underneath the surface and discern the real and eternal need that people have. There is no other Savior. As the children learned last week in Sunday School, "The ONLY Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ."

Its goal is a new creation. This ministry of reconciliation is after new creation. The goal is not to try to get people to be nicer, or follow a code of conduct (thou shalts and thou shalt nots), it is not to get people to pray a prayer or take on a group of spiritual disciplines. It is not to create an “us versus them” culture. The ministry of reconciliation is fundamentally about new creation! It is about people being made new!

Ezekiel 36 explains it this way,

I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This is not normal – it is supernatural thing; it is a miracle! When Jesus said, “you must be born again” – which is to say, made a new creation, Nicodemus response is not out of line – “how can this be.” It is a miracle from God. Imagine if Jesus would have said, “You must pray a prayer in order to see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus would have shrugged his shoulders and said, “No biggie, I can do that.” But no, this ministry of reconciliation is about people being made new – brand new from the inside out. This is what is needed. This is what has happened to you if you are in Christ. This is the great need of the world. This is reconciliation!

And in a world with so much anger, strife, bitterness, un-forgiveness, war, divorce, murder, broken relationships, backbiting, and all the rest, I can’t think of anything more relevant than reconciliation. Some might be thinking – no we need something more than that! Well, this is God’s agenda – I think we ought to get on board with Him.

George Whitefield was an evangelist that God used so powerfully during the Great Awakening. He spoke of the need of the new birth in many of his messages during the Great Awakening. When asked why he said so often, “You must be born again,” his response was, “because you

must be born again.” The ministry of reconciliation is about people being brought back to God as a new man, woman, child in Christ – a new creation!

It is a partnership. This ministry is a partnership with God. This idea runs through the whole passage! I think this is amazing. The language almost feels like we are stepping over into Area 51 - off limits area. But it is not off limits because God has spoken so clearly. You see, this is more than God calling us into service. It certainly is that, but so much more than just that. Here's how verse 20 describes it,

We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ.

This is holy ground, this is holy ground! And Paul continues, verse 1 of chapter 6 and says, "working together with him..." there is nothing in ministry that is insignificant. Way too many Christians simply want to make sure that they are saved for eternity and then want God to bless them in their own earthly endeavors. But you were saved for so much more than that! You are an ambassador for Christ! There is no vain labor in this ministry of reconciliation that we are called to because we are working together with him. It is wrong to think that God needs us because he doesn't need anything. Here's how it works...

Charles Spurgeon, speaking on God's ongoing mission in the world said, “Without God, we can’t. Without us, God won’t.” We are nothing! And yet, God is making his appeal through us! We speak, we minister on behalf of Christ. Do you know what this means? When we plead, Jesus is pleading. When we implore on behalf of Christ, it is Christ imploring, Christ pleading, Christ entreating, Christ begging!

It is urgent. This ministry is urgent (5:20, 6:1-2). One thing that struck me this week was the urgency of this text. Paul is serious. He is urgent. Paul is wearing his emotions on his sleeve here in this text. There is urgency and lots of emotion here. Check this out:

• Paul says "We IMPLORE you, be reconciled to God" in verse 20. The New American Standard bible says, "We beg you." Paul says, "we beg you to be reconciled to God.
• Then Paul says, "we appeal to you..." in 6:1. This phrase communicates coming to someone, alongside him or her, putting your arm around and entreating.
• Then he puts the emphasis on "today".

There is nothing casual about this appeal. Why the urgency? Well 6:2 tells us plainly enough. Today is the day to receive favor, to receive savlation! It's urgent because today God is appealing through me and therefore grace is raining down - it is a favorable time! The time is always now, it's always today; not tomorrow, not next week, not when it seems like better timing. Not when you

think you get your act together - NOW. Nobody is guaranteed another day. It is urgent because the stakes are high – eternity.

APPLICATION

Today, if you don’t know God to be near, your Father, your Friend, your tender Companion – be reconciled to God!

If you have been reconciled, know God as your Father, Friend, and Savior, then you have received the ministry of reconciliation. You are an ambassador for Christ!

Let’s work to be a place of reconciliation. Let’s work to be this for our city. I'm willing to bet that your home hasn't seen too much peace, too much Jesus. I don't think we have too much here at RLC. I know our city doesn't…let's marinate in this truth so we can be ministers of reconciliation and peace.