2 corinthians 5:11-15 11 since, then, we know what it is to fear the lord, we try to persuade...

2 Corinthians 5:11-1511Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain

to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an

opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen

rather than in what is in the heart. 13If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we

are in our right mind, it is for you.

2 Corinthians 5:11-1514For Christ’s love compels us, because we are

convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live

should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5:16-6:216So from now on we regard no one from a

worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

2 Corinthians 5:16-6:217Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:16-6:218All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself

through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the

world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore

Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin

for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” [Isaiah

49:8]

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor,now is the day of salvation.

REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn, Apostle Paul, 1635Oil on canvas, 135 x 111 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna


REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn, Apostle Paul, 1657Oil on canvas, 131.5 x 104.4 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington

Old Paul vrs. New Paul:God’s Persecutor to God’s

Ambassador


The old Paul – worldy view of others and Jesus

2 Corinthians 5:1616So from now on we regard no one from a



Acts 7:54-8:154When they heard this, they were furious and

gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and

the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,

58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes

at the feet of a young man named Saul.


Acts 7:54-8:159While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this

sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. 1On that day a great persecution broke out

against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and

Samaria. 2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3But Saul began to

destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in

prison.


Galatians 1:13–1413For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my

fathers.


Philippians 3:4b-6If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put

confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the

tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting

the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.


1 Corinthians 15:9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even

deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.



The new Paul – a very different view of people!

Acts 9:1-191Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out

murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for

letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way,

whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he neared Damascus

on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and

heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”


Acts 9:1-195“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6“Now get up and go into the city, and

you will be told what you must do.”


Acts 9:1-197The men traveling with Saul stood there

speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9For three

days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.


Acts 9:1-1910In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision,

“Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus

named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his

hands on him to restore his sight.”


Acts 9:1-1913“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has

come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”


Acts 9:1-1915But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before

the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he

must suffer for my name.”


Acts 9:1-1917Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road

as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy

Spirit.” 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got

up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.


Galatians 1:13-1713For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my

fathers. 15But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who

were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to

Damascus.


Philippians 3:4b-11If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put

confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the

tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting

the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.


Philippians 3:4b-117But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for

the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing

greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish,

that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from

the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his

sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the

dead.


1 Corinthains 15:9-109For I am the least of the apostles and do not

even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was

not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was

with me.



The new Paul – a very different view of Jesus

Galatians 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by

becoming a curse for us, for it is written:“Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

[Deuteronomy 21:23]


“It takes no stretch of the imagination to assume that a zealous, law-observant Pharisee would have

pegged Jesus as a charlatan and blasphemer whose crucifixion revealed him to be accursed by God. He

must have raged at anyone who proclaimed the crucified Jesus as the promised Messiah. The rumors

about his resurrection only perpetuated and magnified the original mischief. Paul’s self-centered devotion to the law had blinded him to the glory of God in the person of Christ. Only when the Lord encountered him on the Damascus road was he

constrained to recognize the truth. This compelling encounter caused him to change his mind about

everything he had previously held dear, but it also changed his mind from one corrupted and veiled by sin to one that could now see the very heart of God.

“Jesus had been raised by the power of God; he was the Son of God, and the exalted Lord. Paul

learned that Jesus’ crucifixion was not God’s retribution against some imagined blasphemy

committed by a counterfeit prophet but a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of humanity. God

revealed to him that the object of his spiteful hatred, Jesus, whom the Nazarenes called Christ, had died for him making him the beneficiary of staggering sacrificial love. He also learned that his righteousness according to the law (Phil 3:6)

was nothing more than filthy rags. The crucifixion exposed the deep seated evil hidden

in his own heart.”

~ David Garland, (2001). Vol. 29: 2 Corinthians The New American Commentary, page 285.


The new Paul – Christians are New Creations

2 Corinthians 5:1717Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!




a. Unified “in Christ”



b. Made a New Creation



c. The old is gone



d. The new has come!


The new Paul –Given the Ministry of Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:18-2018All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself










a. All this is from God






b. Reconciled – Def’n





The new Paul –Given the Ministry of Reconciliationc. Gave us the ministry of reconciliation






d. The message of reconciliation






e. There is no Plan B – We are the ambassadors!


The new Paul – Be Reconciled to God!

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:2We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin




49:8]


The new Paul – Be Reconciled to God!

The new Paul – Be Reconciled to God!a. The Big Question





49:8]


The new Paul – Be Reconciled to God!b. The Big Reason





49:8]


The new Paul – Be Reconciled to God!c. The Big Urgency





49:8]


Gospel Application

Gospel Application

Are you reconciled to God?

Gospel Application

Are you reconciled to God?

You are Christ’s Ambassador!

Community Gospel Application

Community Gospel Application

Are we gonna continue being an ambassador for Jesus here in

Minneapolis?

March 25th – Kick OffCommitments for Time, Talents and Treasure

Trying to raise $1,000,000

www.hopecc.com/legacy

March 25th – Kick OffCommitments for Time, Talents and Treasure

Trying to raise $1,000,000

2 corinthians 5:11-15 11 since, then, we know what it is to fear the lord, we try to persuade...

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