2 Corinthians 5:16-21
March 30, 2025
Several years ago Tom Hanks starred in a movie titled, “Castaway.” It is the story of a man who survives a plane crash over the ocean and lands on a deserted island. He spends years there not only trying to survive physically, but also emotionally and mentally as he is totally separated from the outside world. In a sense every person on earth has been born as a “castaway.” Because of our sin we were born separated from God. But the problem is we need more than just a rescue, we need reconciliation so that we can have a relationship with God. In verses 17-18 of our second lesson for today it says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.” You will notice that these verses do not say that God was reconciled to us, but that we have been reconciled to God. Why is it stated that way? In the beginning, when God created a perfect world, He put Adam and Eve in a perfect environment. They had perfect relationship with God. But when Adam and Eve sinned, it destroyed their relationship with God as we see that Adam was trying to hide from God. God was not running from Adam, Adam was running from Him. Adam was not looking for God, instead God came looking for Adam. And from that time until today, every person has been born in sin estranged from God. Every person has been born a castaway; but only God can rescue us and restore our relationship with Him.
Martin Luther once said that at the heart of the Gospel is a great exchange. A sinless Jesus took upon himself the sin of all people, bore it to Calvary, suffered and died for it, and in exchange covered all believers with his perfect righteousness. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” This is the Bible’s bottom line. Paul describes this great exchange in the last verse of our second lesson saying, “For our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Or a more modern translation of that verse would be, “For God took the sinless Jesus and poured into him our sins. Then in exchange, he poured Christ’s goodness into us.” Imagine if I was wearing a coat that revealed the state of my soul. Every commandment I ever broke, every needy person I ever ignored, every lustful thought I ever had, every word of anger I ever spoke – all would have left dirty marks on my coat. What a filthy garment that would be. But imagine that I was required to wear that coat wherever I went and there was no dry cleaner on earth who could remove its stains. Imagine Jesus walking up to me one day and I try to hide, because I don’t want Him to see my dirty coat since it is covered with my sin. I try to hide, because my dirty coat reveals everything bad about me. But Jesus finds me and says, “Bill, I know all about your coat. I love you anyway. Give me the coat.”
Embarrassed with shame, I give Him the coat. Then I see Him march off to Calvary wearing my coat and He is nailed to a cross, suffering the penalty for every stain on my coat. And at the moment when He cries out from the cross, “It is finished,” and breathes His last, suddenly I become aware that I am wearing a new coat. Immediately I recognize it as Jesus’ coat. Not a smudge or a stain on it. It’s a coat of perfect righteousness. Now I can walk into the very presence of God, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. What an amazing trade.
As most of you know there are 4 Gospels of Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they are all unique. Two of the Gospels do not even mention the birth of Jesus. Only one of the Gospels barely refers to his youth. All four Gospels have a lot to say about Jesus’ adult life, but here’s the amazing thing. One-fifth of the Gospel of Matthew is devoted to the death of Jesus; one-third of the Gospel of Mark is devoted to the death of Jesus; two-fifths of the Gospel of Luke is devoted to the death of Jesus; and almost one-half of the Gospel of John relates in some way to the death of Jesus. Now why in all four Gospels is there such a devotion and an emphasis on the
death of Jesus? It is because only through His death do we have reconciliation with God. Only through the death of Jesus is our relationship with God restored.
That fact reminds me of a church I visited many years ago. Every year on Veterans Day, this church had a tradition of asking all of the veterans to stand up and be recognized at the end of the service. One year an old veteran with a World War II hat, who was new to the congregation, refused to stand up. Some of the members walked over to him and asked him why he did not stand. He said, “Because during the war I fought on the other side.” Several veterans then gathered around him and urged him to stand, and he finally did. The other veterans gave him a nice round of applause, not because he fought in the German infantry, but because in Christ we are a new creation, we are reconciled to God through the cross of Jesus. These men who formerly viewed each other through gun sights according to the flesh, now saw each other as forgiven children of God.
Paul then goes on to explain in verse 20 that we have been given the ministry of reconciliation saying, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” An ambassador is one who does not speak in his own name, he doesn’t act on his own authority, and he does not communicate his own opinions. He says what he is told to say. He acts on the authority of the one who sent him and speaks in his name. We are Christ’s ambassadors today and the good news for all people is this: God has not declared war on the human race, He has declared peace. He’s not looking for a truce, nor is He looking for a cease fire. He is looking for a permanent peace and an eternal relationship with us. You see, God is not interested in the rehabilitation of criminals; He is interested in reconciliation with enemies. We are to be His ambassadors of peace seeking castaways, telling them because of the cross of Jesus you have been rescued from the island of sin and are reconciled to God.
But only those who hear this message and believe it will personally experience the forgiveness and life it offers. Therefore, we have a responsibility to share this message with others, as God wants every one of us to be in a right relationship with Him. That’s what He explained in our Gospel lesson for today in the story of the prodigal son. In Luke 15:20, after the younger son had blown his inheritance through wild living and was now coming back home, it says, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” This was not simply a restored acceptance of the son by the father. There is compassion, love, hugs, and kisses. This is a picture of a restored relationship and it is a relationship that God desires with every person. And the only person who could restore this relationship was Jesus. So God sent His Son to pay for our debt of sin against Him. The cross made it possible for God the Father to open His arms and welcome us like the prodigal son’s father. So the fact is that the picture we have of God the Father, thanks to the cross, is that of a Father with open arms. It is always a picture of open arms. That’s why we named our child development center “Open Arms,” because we want every person who comes into this place to know that they are welcomed, loved, and reconciled by God.
It seems rather foolish that Jesus would exchange His perfect life for our sin so we could live, but that’s the price He was willing to pay to restore our relationship with Him. It cost Him everything, but it costs us nothing. That’s an amazing love and an incredible exchange. But that’s our God. That’s the Jesus I want everyone to know and this is the time of year, as we prepare for Easter, that people are more receptive to invitations to come and worship with us so that they too may experience this reconciliation with our God who loves them. So let us take advantage of every opportunity to share God’s love with those who need it so they too will be changed.
