Good Friday - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Well, good evening, Providence Baptist Church.

Our text this evening is going to be 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 17 through 21.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21

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2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 17 through 21.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21

Why do we call it good?

I know many of you could probably answer that quite thoroughly.

But at least acknowledge at face value this is kind of a strange name for such a day.

It is a day where we remember the death, the excruciating death, as a matter of fact, of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He was led captive.

He was mocked.

He was stripped naked, shamed, beaten, nailed to a cross, through his feet and his hands, spat upon.

And all of this occurred in an illegal trial with unjust officials whom he created.

Jew and Gentile alike rejected their creator and nailed him to his creation, the tree.

And so there is a really real question here about what on earth is good about that.

And relatedly, why would Christ come to die anyways?

Well, to answer these questions, we will look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 through 21.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21

Paul writes,

Therefore,

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This evening we are going to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the same reason.

This evening we are going to see at least three reasons why Christ came to die.

These same reasons will also help us why it is that we call this day good, and rightly so, because it is truly good.

There are more than these three reasons, to be sure, that are just as important.

But our text today draws us to these three, and so we will follow.

And a quick but important note, I'm not going to go word by word through this passage as would be my normal practice,

nor am I necessarily tracing the argument Paul is making through 2 Corinthians.

Rather, as a day of remembrance, this good Friday, I want our minds to be drawn to the goodness of Christ's death,

with the goal of honoring God and edifying the body.

Three reasons Christ came to die on this good day.

Number one, to create the world anew.

To create the world anew.

Look back at verse 17.

Paul writes,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, look, the new has come.

Since Genesis 3, due to Adam's sin, the world is cursed by God.

Thorns, thistles, tough ground, unproductive ground, weeds,

all these kinds of things pop up after the fall.

If you've ever cut your hand out on a farm or working in your yard,

you can thank Adam.

And likewise, God punishes humanity directly.

To Eve, he says,

You will bring forth children in pain,

and your desire shall be for your husband,

and he shall rule over you.

To Adam, he says,

You will work in pain.

You will sweat.

And you will die.

And of course, because Adam and Eve sinned,

all of their offspring are born as sinners as well.

And this is why King David,

many years later, many generations later,

could say truly and rightly in Psalm 51 5,

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

He's not saying mom was a bad person who got around.

He's saying,

I was conceived as a sinner.

This reality that David understands is made more explicit

and more universal throughout the Bible.

Just one example is Romans 3, 23.

Paul writes,

For all have sinned,

that's everyone,

every individual,

all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God.

And so we get these chilling words from Paul in Romans 5, 12.

He says,

Therefore,

just as sin came into the world through one man,

talking about Adam,

just as sin came into the world through Adam,

and death through sin,

and so death spread to all men,

because all sinned.

sinned.

And so you don't even need a Bible necessarily to know this.

The world around us is broken,

and we ourselves are broken.

Nothing is as it should be.

But God,

but God, as Paul says,

being rich in mercy,

because of the great love

with which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ.

By grace,

you have been saved.

Ephesians 2, 4.

This is why Paul can say

in 2 Corinthians 5, 17,

if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

To be in Christ,

or to be with Christ,

is to be made new.

It is to come alive.

This happens when one has

repented of their sins

and confesses Jesus as Lord.

That confession is made public by baptism,

and biblically,

when a person decides

they are team Jesus,

they publicly pronounce that

through baptism.

And likewise,

the church in turn

baptizes them

as a public recognition

that this person belongs.

This is one of us.

This person

is a Christian,

a new creature.

And hence,

Romans 6, 4,

Paul says,

So if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

If any person is to be saved

and made alive,

Christ had to die.

The only way dead men live

is if death itself

is overtaken.

If the cursed world

and the broken man

are made new,

this can only be because

they have died

and been reborn,

remade.

And so you can see

why this is so good.

Christ is reversing

the curse of Genesis 3.

He is removing the guilt

and the punishment

of Genesis 3.

And we Christians

here and now,

as James says in James 1.18,

are a kind of first fruits

of his creatures.

That is to say that

in God creating

the new heavens

and the new earth,

he actually starts

right here,

right now,

by creating anew

his people.

And so,

brothers and sisters,

you and I

are the beginning

of the new heavens

and the new earth

by the grace of God

right now.

The second reason

we see that Christ

came to die

is that Christ died

to reconcile us

to God the Father,

to reconcile the world

to the Father.

So look back

at verse 18.

We'll read again.

Paul writes,

all this is from God,

who through Christ

reconciled us

to himself

and gave us

the ministry

of reconciliation.

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.

Therefore,

we are ambassadors

for Christ,

God making his appeal

through us.

We implore you

on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled

to God.

Now,

we could rightly

talk a lot

about the mission

of the church

from this passage.

We could talk about

our responsibility

as ambassadors,

the need to be peacemakers,

to preach the gospel

of reconciliation.

reconciliation.

But again,

today,

we want to focus

on why Christ died

and the goodness

of that horrific

event,

the actual content

of the gospel.

And so,

in doing that,

we see a glaring

key word

in these few verses.

It is

reconciliation.

It appears

five times

in this passage,

twice as a noun,

three times as a verb.

And this term

indicates a change

of relationship.

In sin,

we were enemies

of God.

It is not

an exaggeration

to say

we hated

God.

Capital H.

So,

how would a creature

who hates God

be reconciled

to God?

Why would he?

He hates him.

But this is

one of the things

that makes

Christianity

unique from

all other

religions.

Man does not

reconcile himself

to God.

He cannot.

But as Paul

has made plain,

God reconciles

us

to himself.

Read verse 18

again.

God,

who through Christ

reconciled

us

to

himself.

God

did that.

You and I

did not

do that.

God

and God

alone

did that

through

Christ.

It is only

after God

reconciles us

through Christ

that Paul

commands us

to be

reconciled to

God

in verse 20.

So,

Christ's death

is not

merely enabling

our heart

change.

It is not

merely making

us alive.

As good and

great as that

is,

the gospel

is even

more.

God

is reestablishing

his

relationship

with us.

Through

Christ,

the

reconciliation

that God

brings

changes our

relationship

such that

we're no longer

enemies.

We're friends

of God,

as James 2

says.

We're

adopted

sons

and daughters,

as Ephesians 1

says.

We get to

call him

father.

We who

are enemies

call him

father.

We're now

described as

the bride

of Christ

in Revelation

19.

So,

talk about

a turn

of events

from enemies

to bride.

And what

is it that

God does

through Christ

to bring

this about?

Well,

in the words

of the prophet

Isaiah 53,

Isaiah 53:10

verse 10,

God crushed

Jesus.

He has

put him

to grief.

And so,

it is through

Christ's death

on this

Good Friday,

so many

years ago,

that God

reconciled us

to himself.

Paul makes

this connection

explicit in

Romans 5,

Romans 5:10

verse 10.

He says,

for while we

were enemies,

we were

reconciled to

God by the

death of

his son.

Much more,

now that we

are reconciled,

shall we be

saved by

his life.

The cross

is horrific.

Christ's death

is horrific.

That God

the son died

and died

in the manner

he did,

at the same

time,

it is so

good.

It is so

good,

because in

saving us

through the

death of

the son,

we will

walk with

God in

the streets

of the

new

Jerusalem.

In the

many gardens

of the

new earth,

we will

know God,

we will

feel his

breath on

our face,

as Adam

and Eve

once did

before the

fall.

If you're

cold toward

the Lord

right now,

relish in

that.

That is

amazing.

That is

astounding.

And third

and finally,

Christ died

to make us

the righteousness

of God.

He died

to make us

the righteousness

of God.

Verse 21.

Paul says,

for our

sake,

he made

him to be

sin who

knew no

sin,

so that

in him

we might

become

the

righteousness

of God.

God makes

the world

anew,

he reconciles

us to

himself,

and he

makes us

the righteousness

of God

for his

glory.

That's why

he died.

But one

question I've

kind of

skipped around

is this,

why does

Christ's death

accomplish

this?

We don't

normally think

of death

as a

productive,

fruitful,

life-giving

thing.

I mean,

it's

death.

So why

is Christ's

death so

effective at

bringing about

these massive

changes?

Well,

verse 21,

the Father

made the

Son to

be

sin.

That is to

say,

the sin

that God

must punish,

that we

are guilty

of,

Christ bore

that on

our behalf.

Paul says,

for our

sake.

And this

is what

theologians

have called

the doctrine

of penal

substitutionary

atonement,

absolutely

fundamental

to the

faith.

Without

this

doctrine,

there is

no

gospel.

Penal,

meaning

penalty,

substitutionary,

meaning

substitute,

atonement,

meaning

satisfying

the wrath

of God's

justice

towards

sinners.

sinners.

And so,

in short,

penal

substitutionary

atonement

is just a

fancy way

to say

that Christ

died in

your place

for your

sin to

uphold the

justice

and mercy

of God.

And Christ

is the

only one

who could

satisfy the

wrath of

God as

the spotless

Lamb of

God.

The entire

Old Testament

sacrificial

system

prefigures

Christ in

this way.

This is why

when you read

Leviticus,

you see over

and over

again the

importance

that a

lamb or

a calf or

whatever the

animal is

being sacrificed

must be

spotless,

without

blemish,

perfect.

This is why

1 Peter 1

19 speaks

of,

quote,

the precious

blood of

Christ,

like that

of a

lamb without

blemish

or spot.

He's referencing

the Levitical

law.

All of

this is why

Christ's

death is

efficacious

in pardoning

our guilt

because his

death actually

deals with

our sin once

and for all.

It is

finished.

And so you

can see in

verse 20,

for us,

the sinner,

by becoming

sin,

though he knew

no sin,

in other words,

he is righteous

so that we

might become

the righteousness

of God.

He is both

the sin

offering and

the bearer

of the punishment

for sin.

Meanwhile,

we,

the actual

sinners,

the ones

responsible for

this mess,

are made

the righteousness

of God.

In the eyes

of God,

by the grace

of God,

we are seen

as spotless

lambs,

as righteous.

Paul says

it this way

in Colossians

1,

21.

He says,

And you,

who were once

alienated and

hostile in mind,

doing evil

deeds,

he is now

reconciled in

his body of

flesh by his

death in

order to

present you

holy and

blameless and

above reproach

before him,

that is,

as righteous.

the record

of wrongs

that we have

committed

are wiped

out.

We no longer

carry the

guilt of

Adam,

but the

crown of

being in

Christ by

grace.

What love

is that?

Who is

like that?

And so,

friends,

I've said it

before,

and I'll

say it

again.

Behold

your God.

in closing,

we actually

just sang this

hymn a moment

ago.

I didn't know

we'd be doing

that.

Very glad we

did.

But I just

want to read

these words

from the hymn,

his robes

for mine.

And my

prayer is that

you'll set

your mind on

the truths of

these words,

that these will

always be on

your soul and

mind and heart

every day of

the year.

But especially

as we anticipate

this Sunday,

Easter Sunday,

I think it

is appropriate

to,

perhaps more

than normal,

draw our

minds to

these specific

truths.

And so,

I'm going to

read the first

verse and

last verse

of his robes

for mine.

The hymn

writer says,

his robes

for mine,

a wonderful

exchange.

Clothed in

my sin,

Christ suffered

neath God's

rage.

Draped in his

righteousness,

I'm justified.

In Christ,

I live,

for in my

place,

he died.

His robes

for mine,

such anguish

none can

know.

Christ,

God's beloved,

condemned as

though his

foe.

He,

as though I,

accursed

and left

alone.

I,

as though he,

embraced

and welcomed

home.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.