Well, good evening, Providence Baptist Church.
Our text this evening is going to be 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 17 through 21.
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2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 17 through 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.
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,
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,
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.
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.