Welcome

[00:00:03] Hey there, and welcome back to The Gospel Course. My name's Thomas, and I'm your host here in our course on what the gospel is and why it matters. So far, we've seen things like what the gospel is, that it is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is good news. We saw also that there is, uh, the sin problem that we have that we need to deal with, and that God wants to change in our lives.

[00:00:29] We've learned also that God wants to save us because He loves us. And today, we're gonna see the change that God wants to make in your life through the gospel. Or you could say the change that's made because you believe the gospel.

Our Need for Reconciliation

[00:00:45] We're gonna look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and see that there is a huge change that's made in your relationship with God whenever you choose to hear and believe what Jesus did for you. We see in verse 18, it says that, "God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." In verse 19, it says, "To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself."

[00:01:12] And in verse 20, they're told, "Be ye reconciled to God." So we first come upon our greatest need. Reconciliation with God is our greatest need, and we are naturally estranged from Him. This is not man's natural state, to be right with God. Maybe you've heard people say things like, " I've always been a Christian," or, "I've always been a believer."

[00:01:38] And according to the Bible, that is just not true. We may have always had an understanding of God, but as it concerns the change the gospel makes in our life, that comes at the time that we choose to believe it. And that greatest change is in our relationship with God. See, the Bible says in a few other places that we were previously, alienated and enemies.

[00:02:01] And then it goes on to say, "Yet now hath he reconciled." So our original state is not in right standing with God. Romans says that when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God. So when we get into God's family, it happens not because we were good, it's because God is the one who brings us back into reconciliation.

[00:02:25] It's kinda like if you have a family relationship or a friendship, that something happens in between you, and you know that it's not right, and maybe you drift apart, and maybe you become enemies. This is your relationship with God. You are an enemy of God because of your lifestyle as a sinner. But God wants to change that in you.

[00:02:48] But you must know that you are lost and separated from God in order to be saved.

[00:02:54] There are many people that think they need to do something, like they need to atone for some wrongdoing, or there's some works, or there's some group that they need to join, that something they need to do to be right with God. And the Bible says that Jesus has already done all of that work. In verse 21 it says, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."

[00:03:20] So Jesus is the him. God has made him, Jesus, to be sin for us, who knew no sin. He is the righteous one, as John says in chapter one. He's the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

[00:03:36] You see, we're not able to do enough good stuff to be made right with God. That is what Jesus did for us on the cross. And whenever you believe that, he gives you all of his righteousness. Verse 21 says, "That we might be made the righteousness of God." In Him. And, and, and this radical change happens. In verse 19 it says that, " God is not imputing their trespasses unto them."

The Great Exchange

[00:04:06] To impute is to put in or put on or to reckon. So when you believe what Jesus did, there's an exchange made, the greatest exchange made in the world. On the cross, your sin was placed on Jesus, and when you believe the gospel, His righteousness is placed into you, and you become a child of God. You are made righteous.

[00:04:31] So righteousness with God, it's only obtained through faith in the gospel. When you believe this, you are reconciled to God, and then there is a change made in you spiritually. You are given a new spiritual identity.

The New Creature In Christ

[00:04:49] Let's look at this change that's made. In verse 17 it says, " Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.

[00:05:02] Ephesians says it this way, that you were created in Christ Jesus. God made you a new person into Jesus, which means that there are some other things that have passed away. Verse seventeen, old things are passed away. So this change that's made in you gives you a new identity that identifies with Jesus, and it puts your old sinful lifestyle behind you.

[00:05:29] It- it's essentially a death, to pass away, that I'm no longer that. Those things are behind me. I've repented, I've turned, I'm now living for Jesus.

[00:05:40] We're also made new. So not only do you put old things away, but you are made something that you were not before. Verse seventeen, He is a new creature. Verse 17, "All things are become new." And verse 18 says, "All things are of God." So when you choose to believe the gospel, you are given a new identity, and you have a new future ahead of you.

Born Again for a New Start

[00:06:10] All things are become new. So can I ask you, have you ever wanted to start over? Have you ever wanted to just press the reset button, get a second chance at life, and be able to start again? Well, that is what happens when you believe the gospel. You get a second chance. In fact, Jesus calls it a second birth.

[00:06:32] In John, chapter three, he says you must be born again, to be reborn a second time. But the second birth is a spiritual one that is a new nature given to you by God because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. This new creature, the new person you are, the change that God made in you, has a new purpose.

Ambassadors With Purpose

[00:06:56] In verse 20, it says, " We are ambassadors for Christ." So the new creature now has a new identity. Since it's not associated with the old one, the old one has passed away. The new one now has some way in which we serve God and others with our life. Remember, all things are of God Jesus says in Mark chapter 10 that the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

[00:07:28] And since your identity is now in Christ, you're also gonna live your life to minister to other people. So can I ask you, if you have believed the gospel, how do you represent Christ to the world? Are you choosing to serve others? Are you a good representative of him? Or perhaps we could say, how can we leverage everything in our new identity in Christ to reach other people?

[00:07:59] Because the gospel is the best news in the world, and other people, if we're gonna love them well, we need to get it to them. The new identity, the new person, and the new purpose also is compelled to share this message with others. As it says in verse 19, " That God hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

Sharing the Word

[00:08:22] The word of reconciliation is the word of God, that God has given us a message, the saving message of the good news that Jesus died for you, was buried, and rose again. So at very least, you have the gospel. If you don't know what to say or what to share, but you wanna live this new life and new purpose for God, at very least you have the gospel.

[00:08:48] You can go back through this course. You can take some of the things that I've said, and you can get that to other people, or something as simple as John 3:16. But you also have what you know of the Bible.

[00:09:03] the word of God is necessary for people to come to saving faith. For the change to be made in another person's life, they must hear from God's word. As Romans tells us that faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. And the new creature has been changed in such a way, when we believe the gospel, that we now are compelled to say, " I need to take what I have received and give that to other people."

[00:09:33] But how about you? Have you had this change made in your relationship with God? Has that exchange on the cross happened, God's righteousness applied to you, your sin applied to the cross?

Next Lesson

[00:09:47] And if that's true, you've had this new spiritual identity. Have you recognized that? H- are you living in the new purpose that God made for you? Man, I hope that you are, and I hope that you'll continue to take the gospel course to learn more about things like grace and how God has saved us. What is the means of salvation?

[00:10:09] And then security. Can I truly know that I'm saved? Like, do I have to keep redoing this, or am I saved indefinitely? So I hope that you'll follow along, continue to learn in the gospel course. We'll see you on the next video.