Who Are You Living For?
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
I want to begin by asking each and every single one of us here, sitting in this place within the sound of my voice—every man, every woman, every young person, young adults, youth, junior youth, whoever you are alike—a very personal question, and in some ways a very simple question, but a question, perhaps more than any others, if not more than really any question that you can think about, will help you to know exactly where you stand before the Living God. And that simple personal question, that simple, personal, pointed question is this: Who are you living for? Very simple. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? It's not a complicated question, is it? Who are you living for?
According to Scripture, every single one of us is living for one of two persons. Every single one of us. Whether you want to admit it or not, acknowledge it or not, it's a fact. Every single one of us is living for one of two persons. You're either living for someone who is tiny, puny, small, insignificant, and in reality unworthy of being the object of your own life, or you're living for one who is great, glorious, magnanimous, infinitely worthy of being the one for whom you live.
So here's the question again: Who are you living for? The youngest child who can take this question and process it in his own brain, and the least who's able to grasp this question and at least grasp what it means, that one is living for someone—someone worthy to be lived for, or someone unworthy to be lived for. The oldest person in this place, in this room, is living for someone—someone worthy to be lived for, or someone unworthy to be lived for.
And we're going to answer that question together, looking at our text, particularly verse 15. 2 Corinthians 5, “And He died”--Christ–“And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” No longer live unto themselves, but unto Him. Here we have the two persons for whom each one of us is living, one or the other. And you know what? You can't straddle the fence. There's no middle ground. It's either the one or the other.
Sitting here this evening, everyone who's here, regardless of age, regardless of background, regardless of understanding, regardless of upbringing, education, every single one, you’re either living for yourself, or you're living unto Him who died and rose again. And as we attempt to wrestle with this question and the guidance this text gives us, will you please note with me, first of all, who we all live for by nature. Who we all live for by nature.
When Paul writes these words, he's explaining what makes him and his fellow laborers in the gospel really tick. He's explaining to these Corinthians what makes him who he is as a servant of Christ, as a man of God, as a ‘doulos’, a slave of Jesus. And in that setting, he says in the previous verse, verse 14, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." The love of Christ controls us. That is, the love of Christ holds us in its vice grip. The love of Christ seizes hold upon us. So much so, he says, that there are times when we may appear that we're not all together up here in the penthouse.
Notice, he says in the earlier part of the text, verse 13, "For if we are out of our mind, it is for God, or if we are of right mind, it is for you." There are times, he says, so constrained by the love of Christ in selfless service, in devotion, that people accuse him of being insane—insane, Christ-obsessed, having something less than a full load up here. And he says if that's so, then you must understand that something—oh something—has taken hold of us. And you know what it was? The love of Christ. Love of Christ. The love of Christ has taken hold of us. And that love, having taken hold of us, has changed us from what once we used to be. For we once were what all men were by nature.
What was that, Paul? Oh, we were creatures who lived unto themselves. Now, that's not the way God designed us to live. That's not the way God intended us to be. You go back all the way to the beginning, Genesis 1 and 2. Read the account of the original creation. What do you see there? You see God creating Adam and Eve, man and woman, in His own image, and placing them in a perfect environment, perfect relationship with each other, giving to them a standard of obedience that was wholesome and reasonable. And the creature, Adam and Eve, in the perfect environment, with no bent to evil, found their delight and joy in living unto God, the God who made them. Sweet fellowship. And it was their joy. It was their delight. Doing His will, enjoying intimate communion with Him, seeking to glorify Him in His world was the deepest delight of Adam and Eve. It was their blessedness as well as their pure joy and delight.
But then sin entered. Sin entered. And when sin entered, all of that turned inward upon themselves. And from the tragic fall recorded in Genesis chapter 3 to this very hour, each and every single one of us by nature is a creature who lives unto himself. Sin brought about nothing less than this horrible, wretched tyranny called self-centeredness. When God was pushed out of the place of being the one unto whom Adam and Eve were living, rushing into that empty place came a new god called what? Self. Self.
And, so, when Paul writes these words, you can rightly assume that all men without distinction in terms of who they live for by nature, they live unto themselves. And very early, very early, this manifests itself—and you could really nod your head really here—this really manifests itself, shows itself very early in what? Little ones, cute little babies, toddlers. You see it in a petulant, pouting self, in a toddler, in hot-tempered tantrum self. You see it in their greedy, selfish self. And soon it merges into lying, manipulative self, into whining, sneaky self.
And as a human personality and mind develops the ability to express this obsession with living unto self, it multiplies in tragic and horrible ways. No wonder the prophet Isaiah could say, "All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to”--what?--“his own way.” His own way. Isaiah 53:6. In other words, we have all turned to living unto the god of self. It's all about me. Because you deserve it. You're worth it.
Now, in some people, living unto self finds expression in a life of open, evident, obvious, and in many cases, a disgusting lifestyle of lawlessness and debauchery. In others, it expresses itself in a moral, upright, cultured, refined self-centeredness. But the common denominator of every son of Adam, daughter of Adam, is that by nature, he, she lives unto himself–hiis own things, his own pleasure, his own satisfaction, his own selfish ambitions, seeking his own ends, pursuing his own happiness by his own rules, with his own standards, he lives unto himself. So that the apostle can write, "And He died for all, so that [they] who live would no longer live for themselves"—because he knows that by nature each of us does indeed live unto himself.
So, who are you living for? Unless you've been transformed by the grace of God, I can say of you, based on the authority of the Word of God, that you live unto yourself. You live for yourself. Who we all live by nature? Who we all live for by nature? We live for this idol called self.
But I want us to note secondly, who some live for by the power of God's grace. Who some live for by the power of God's grace. According to this text, our text, there are some like Paul and his companions who live unto Christ, who for their sakes died and rose again from the dead. Some by the power of the grace of God no longer live for themselves, but they live for Him. They live unto Him. And the “Him” in this passage, obviously to the crucified, risen, exalted Savior. He's referred to as the One who died and rose again on their behalf. A clear reference to the Lord Jesus, who died.
‘Apo thenesko’. ‘Apo’--that first part of the word, it's a marker of disassociation, implying a rupture from a former association, separation, departure, cessation. And ‘thenesko’ is to die, in the aorist tense, indicating a past completed action. In other words, the death of Christ is indeed a historical event. In the active voice, Jesus made the volitional choice, a choice of His own will to die for us as we saw this morning. And the indicative mood is the mood of reality. Jesus really did die a physical death. And as in the previous verse, verse 24, death describes His literal physical death on the cross.
Christ Jesus, the Lord, He was the subject of verse 14. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." And so Paul is saying that with respect to himself and his companions, and as we shall see, this was true of him, not because he was an apostle, but because he was a child of God, he was a Christian. Because in the language of verse 17, he was “in Christ” and being in Christ meant that he was what? A new creation. And so when he says, "so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf," he's not referring to himself because he's an apostle, but simply because he's a Christian. He's a child of God. He's a true Christian. And the one for whom some live for by the power of God's grace is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again on their behalf.
And so His person is lived for in a loyalty that exceeds the loyalty to any other person. His will is chosen as a way of life. His ways are desired, embraced as the pattern of life, not with perfection, not with equal constancy, but according to our text and according to the scripture, the baseline of their lives is this: when you ask them the question, who do you live for? They are enabled by the Spirit of God to answer honestly and to validate it by the pattern of their own life, they live unto Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
So that, you have this expression, “so that”, ‘ina’, which is a conjunction, serves to introduce the purpose for a previous action or truth, and in this case, the purpose for the death of Jesus Christ and for the sinner's death with Christ on Calvary's cross was that he or she would be buried with Christ, raised with Christ, to walk in newness of life, the quality of life in which they no longer live just to please themselves, but now they live for Him.
Earlier in the same chapter, look at verse 9, Paul wrote, "Therefore we also have as our ambition”--what a wholesome ambition. It's a single-minded ambition, there's a singularity of focus, not two ambitions, not three ambitions, we make it, we have it “as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be”--what? Pleasing to self? No, “to be pleasing to Him.” In other words, they can say with Paul, in the language of Philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is”--profit–”gain"—gain, gain—I live unto Him. He is the object of my life's focus, my desires, my ambition, my standards, my goals, my purpose–they all focus and center on Christ and they all flow out of Christ and back to Christ. "For to me, to live Christ"—He's everything. I don't live for anything else or anyone else, He's my life, He's everything.
It speaks to the very reason and purpose of one's life, it speaks of that which is supreme in one's life, that which is dominant in one's life, that which is overshadowing one's life. It speaks of what is driving one's life, what compels, what controls, what constrains one's life, the sum and substance of one's life—Christ. Verse 15, our text: "so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." And the question is, what does Paul mean by living unto Him who died and rose again? What does that mean?
And I want to suggest there are at least four ways that Paul could assert this, at least four ways. Number one, when Paul said that “they who live no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”, involved in that first and foremost is faith in Christ. To live unto Him—involved in that first and foremost is faith in Christ. Galatians 2:20, Paul declares, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Who loved me, who loved me–a wretched rebel, a vile sinner, a hell-deserving sinner—and gave Himself up for me.
In other words, faith in Christ was the dominating, animating principle of his life. And note the language in Galatians 2:20, "the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me," that's sacrificial language. That's the language of substitution. That's the language that embodies the heart of the gospel, that Christ stood in the place of guilty, hell-deserving sinners and bore the wrath of God against sin that they themselves deserved.
Secondly, when Paul said that “they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”–involved in that is love for Christ. Faith in Christ, but also love for Christ. You see, the great preoccupation of true faith is Christ—it's Christ, all about Christ, all about Christ. You know, Paul chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you know, he writes this letter to the Philippians, and what do you find him doing? I mean, it's all about Christ, he's proclaiming Christ, he's speaking about Christ, he's telling the next soldier chained to him about Christ, and then they change shift, the next one comes and he says, have you heard about—let me tell you about Christ—he was Christ obsessed.
The great preoccupation of true faith is Christ, Christ in His love to the sinner, but never is there—mark it down—never is there a believing reception of the love of God in Christ to sinners without the heart that receives that love, responding in love to the object of its faith. Always the case. 1 Corinthians 16:22, "If anyone does not love the Lord, he is”--what?--“to be ‘anathema’", to be "accursed." 1 Peter 1:8, "and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." Whenever there is a genuine faith in Christ, there is love to Christ. Love delights to please its object.
Thirdly, when Paul said that “they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”--involved in that is communion with Christ, communion with Christ. As surely as faith in Christ always begets love to Christ, so love to Christ always gives birth to a desire for and a delight in communion with Christ. You can't have enough of Christ. You want to be in the words of Christ. You want to pray and talk to Christ. You want to hear from Christ by reading His word.
Notice the language, Colossians 3 and verse 4, that is oozing with this desire and delight in communion with Christ. Paul says, "When Christ, who is”--what?--“our life”. He's my life. You want to know? You want a definition of my life? Christ. And in Philippians 3—you studied this, right, young people?—Paul says, my passion, my great desire, what I long for is that “I may know Him.” And this is after many, many years in the faith. I want to know Him more. In other words, my knowledge of Him is not what it ought to be. I am not satisfied. This is a wholesome, sanctified discontentment. I want more of Him. I want to know Him more. The fellowship. The communion of His sufferings.
And lastly, when Paul said, “so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”—involved, beloved, in that is also devotion to the service of Christ. Devotion, devotion to the service of Christ. From the moment of his conversion, the great passion that burned within Paul's heart was a burning devotion to the service of Christ. In Acts 22, verse 10, what was his first question? "Lord, what will You have me do?" What will You have me do?
And so the apostle could stand before the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 and declares this: "I do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." And in 2 Corinthians 12:15, he declares those wonderful words: "I will most gladly”--not just gladly, but most gladly–”spend and be fully spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” In other words, no task too difficult to undertake for the service of Christ my Lord. No burden too heavy to bear for the sake of Jesus Christ my Lord. No affliction too pressing to endure for the service of Christ Jesus my Lord. And no pain too much to bear in the service of Christ Jesus my Lord.
Paul was a man who lived not unto himself but unto Christ. "And He died for all, so that they who live"—that's the first verb—"would no longer live"—second—"for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again”. Live, ‘zao’ describes natural physical life, the quality that distinguishes a vital being from one that is dead. And both uses of the verb ‘zao’, live, here in this text, are in the present tense describing continuous action.
Now I want us to note this: the first use of the word “live” refers more to the literal physical life, and the second use of “live” refers to a believer's way of life, manner of conduct. Living in the light of His death for us. Living in the light of His cross. "Having loved His own, He loved them to the end." What end? Calvary's cross. And living in the light of His death for us serves to motivate a daily life for the Savior rather than for the self. So Christ died that we might live through Him and for Him and that we might live with Him.
So let me ask you again, who are you living for? Who are you living for? By nature, you with me must answer, if we're thinking biblically, we live for ourselves. So who are you living for? If you can say, I'm no longer living for myself, but unto Him who died for me and rose again, it is because the grace of God, the power of God, has come into your life and changed the whole focus and the whole direction of your life, and there was a tectonic change.
Now, note with me, lastly, in the third place, what it is that makes the difference. What it is that makes this difference. We saw who we live for by nature. We live for self. We saw who some live for by the power of God's grace. They live unto Christ. Well, what makes the difference? What makes the difference?
Well, if we read this whole section beginning with verse 14, where Paul says, "For the love of Christ controls us"—constrains us, compels us—we see that the death of Christ on behalf of sinners is the central theme of this whole section, culminating in Paul's words in verses 20 and 21: "So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He”--God the Father–“made Him”--God the Son–“who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
What makes the difference? What makes the difference? Sitting here tonight, there are men and women, young people, various backgrounds, degrees of knowledge, and some may be living for themselves. Some may be living for Christ. Some of you may be living unto self. Some unto Christ. What makes the difference? What is the issue that divides the two groups? According to Paul, in this passage, it is the truth of Christ crucified brought home to the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the truth of Christ crucified brought home to the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the difference. And Paul could say in verse 14, "For the love of Christ controls us." The love of Christ constrains us. Christ's love for us holds us in its gracious pressure, in its gracious grip, because we thus judge. It holds us in its pressure because we think in this way, having concluded this, "that one died for all, therefore all died." And those who receive life by that death should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him, who for their sakes died and rose again.
And what does that language mean? All of that language mean? Listen carefully, beloved. It means this. When we contemplate, when we truly contemplate what the death of Christ signifies, it is our understanding of the significance of His death that has brought us to the place where we no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him, who for our sakes died and rose again. This is what we understand, beloved. This is what we understand. That living for self is such a wretched, abominable, and disgusting thing in the sight of God, so provoking His wrath, so provoking His displeasure, that it demanded the enfleshment of the second person of the Godhead. It demanded that Jesus Christ, the God-man, be handed over to death to die under the billows of the wrath of God and become the curse on our behalf.
Now surely if living unto self is such a disgusting, abominable, wretched thing in the sight of God, that nothing less than the blood shedding of the incarnate deity can satisfy the justice of God against living unto self, then surely anyone who says, I see in a crucified, risen, exalted Christ my only hope of acceptance with this holy God, my only hope of pardon for my sins, my only hope of being right with God. Surely then, if I receive life from the death of Christ on behalf of sinners, that life is not to be lived to the end which demanded His death. Right? Surely the life received because of His death is not to be lived unto myself. It was living unto self that provoked the wrath of God, the anger of God. And surely, beloved, if I received life from the death of Christ, it must be life no longer lived unto myself, but unto Him who for my sake died and rose again.
Do you see the reasoning in Paul's mind? "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died"—that is, all died in Him—and what died in Him and with Him in His death spells now the death to living unto self. "And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but unto Him who died and rose again on their behalf." Oh, this passage clearly teaches that whenever the Spirit of God shows us what we are as sinners and shows us something of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, there is the constraint of the love of Christ, and there is the awareness of the purpose of the death of Christ that we no longer consciously, deliberately live unto ourselves, but unto Him, the Christ who died for us and rose again.
And we learn from this passage that all professed faith in the Christ crucified that leaves people still wedded to themselves is unauthentic faith. It is spurious faith. A professed faith in the Christ crucified, a professed reception of pardon and forgiveness from a crucified, risen, exalted Christ that leaves someone still living for himself as a pattern is not biblical faith. So who are you living for? You see, the faith that is unto salvation, the pardon of our sin is a faith that brings each and every one of us into this attachment to the person of Christ. And Christ does not take second or third place in the life so attached to Him, but that life is found being lived unto Him.
Listen to what one commentator said concerning all of this. "Christ's death must change the way we live here and now on earth. Not simply ensure our entrance to God's eternal presence. Anyone who expects to live in the resurrection must respond properly to Christ's death. This response requires more than intellectual assent to the proposition that Christ's death atones for sins. It must mold how one lives." Let me say that again—It must mold how one lives. "This response provides the essential criterion for discerning who truly belongs to Christ and who does not. Those who belong to Christ do not live for themselves. In societies given to self-promotion, self-fulfillment and self-indulgence, Christians will stand out as distinctively different. They live only for Christ and give up their own rights for the good of others and do not insist on having their own way."
Do you see the tremendous, weighty relevance that this text has for so many matters that we get so really bogged down with, hung up on? Some of you, particularly young people in this place—high schoolers perhaps—you're wrestling with the question, am I really attached to Christ in faith? Is my mom's faith, my dad's faith, the body of Christ's faith, is it really my faith? May I give you one way to come rather quickly to an accurate answer? Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Who are you living for?
You may respond, well, that's vague. Well, okay. How about we get more specific? You and mom and dad are having a discussion over the kind of music you're going to listen to. And at the end of the day, isn't really this—this is the issue? Isn't really this the issue? Do you want nothing to come into your ears but that which is pleasing unto Christ? Isn't that the issue? At the end of the day, the question is not what kind of music do I like, but the real issue is what kind of music I can listen to and know that it actually pleases Christ. Rather simple, isn't it?
You see, something else is at the focal point of your decision about the music that you're going to listen to. It isn't whether or not it fits here or there on the scale of what others say is acceptable or not. The issue, bottom line, is this: you want to please Christ, who is Lord over your life. And, you know that whatever is pleasing to Him is the thing that is good for you. And this is just a simple example, one example, but this applies to every area of your life.
Regardless of the issue in discussion, the real question, the real matter, the real issue is this: I am not my own. The cross of Christ has constrained me. I am now committed to no longer live for myself. The issue is not what pleases me but what pleases my Lord. And I know, He says, "Whether, then, you eat or drink, whatsoever I do, to do it all to the glory of God." And, so, the issue is not whether I will be considered on the cutting edge of the latest style or the latest fashion. It doesn't matter what it is. The bottom line is, am I living in such a way that pleases Him? Is He my ambition? Am I living unto Him or unto myself?
You see, this subject, this theme, this text forms a penetrating, insightful index of the state of your own heart. Can you authentically say, “I am living unto Christ?” Do you love Christ? Be careful. The question is not, “Do you love Him as much as you know you should?” That's not the question. Or as much as you desire that you could? Or as much as one day you shall love Him? The question is, “Do you love Christ?” Do you love Christ? Any indication of that love in your life? Do you delight in His fellowship? What about devotion to His service?
And, you see, when that begins to be the focal point of your life, you carry about with you a constant internal means—the means of finding the right standard in your life—and it is living unto Him, who for your sake died and rose again. And that has ripple effects in the choice of your friends, the company you keep. This begins to be the litmus test. What will the Lord think about my choice of these friends? Will they be instrumental in His hands to help me in my walk with Jesus, to spur me into greater godliness, mutual edification?
Now, I am not talking about friendships, deliberate friendships, that you prayerfully establish with the purpose of being a witness, a light, to the transforming power of the gospel. I'm not talking about those kinds of friendships. I'm speaking about the kind of friends in whom I find delight and with whom I will have voluntary companionship because they welcome what I have to impart to them, and I know I welcome what they have to impart to me, and we do each other good on our way to heaven. He died for all, that they who live should no longer live unto themselves in their choice of their friends, but unto Him, who for their sake died and rose again.
And when you can say, “For to me, to live is Christ—pleasing Christ, doing the will of Christ, knowing what advances the honor and the glory of Christ—that's what I live for”, then I am living unto Him. I say this resolves many of the issues that believers struggle with. To have a passionate obsession to live unto Jesus Christ, the Christ who rescued me from the horrible, nagging guilt of an accusing conscience, the dread and fear of hell, the sense of no purpose, no direction in life, the panic mode that I was in in this life, wondering, what am I going to do in life? What's life all about? Where am I going? All that purposelessness, fear, confusion, lack of direction, an accusing conscience—all of that was swallowed up in Him who died for me and rose again.
And, when you begin to live unto Him as a transformed person, then it is relatively easy to choose your friends–relatively easy to make choices about this and that, what I listen to, what I watch. Relatively easy to make choices about a host of other issues over which I see so many people, especially young people, constantly struggling until these things become almost an obsession.
Can it be that the problem is you're dealing with rules and regulations, but you've never known what it is to be wonderfully arrested and blessedly obsessed with the amazing Christ who alone is worthy to be the One you live for? You see, you're really not that big and wonderful a thing to be the object of your own life. Neither am I. And it's a tragic thing to live unto self because you and I are a small, insignificant thing. You're not worthy to be the object of your life. Apart from Christ, all we are is decorated dust.
But there's someone infinitely worthy. It's the glorious Son of God, whose beauties cannot be described, whose glories cannot be spoken of by mortal tongues. The one who is even now the object of the adoring worship of all of the intelligent creatures in heaven. God pulls back the veil in the book of Revelation and gives us a peek of those that cry with a loud voice, "‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’" He is absolutely magnanimous, glorious.
And you may think you're a pretty special person, and a handful of people think that you're pretty and handsome and nice and attractive and well-built, and you look in the mirror and you think you're God's gift to the world. You can't even draw your next breath unless God gives it. "He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things." Acts 17:25. Who do you think you are to be made the object of your own life? Dependent upon God for your next breath. I mean, God could stop that heartbeat in a split second. And what a tragic folly to make yourself the object of your own life, the one to whom you live.
Our text contains a glorious proclamation of the excellence of Christ, and we've seen that. And Christ is an infinite ocean of knowledge that stretches the most brilliant mind to its fullest with no fear that it will ever find the shores or reach the bottom. So, in eternity, I mean we're constantly knowing more. Oh, the depth of Christ. I mean, listen to what Paul says, “in whom in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3. "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily." Colossians 2:9. Paul says, I’ve found all in Christ. I’ve found everything in Christ, all of it–not in vain philosophy, not in empty creed–but in Christ my Lord, my life, my all.
So, let me ask you, do you have that estimation of Christ? Can you say, I’ve found Christ to be an exhaustless fountain of life, a shoreless, bottomless ocean of the knowledge that fully satisfies—the very knowledge of infinite, perfectly holy God? “[T]his is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." John 17:3.
The idea of living for yourself has so overwhelmed the world today, our culture today, our age, this age, this present, that it's seen in every possible arena. It's what fuels marketing, advertising. It's what determines education, philosophies in schools. It's what determines the counseling of psychologists and every possible professional counselor and life coach. The solution they proclaim: self-esteem, self-esteem. And, by definition, self-esteem is to make the object of that esteem yourself. That is so antithetical to what the scripture teaches.
You love and exalt yourself, pat yourself on the back, brag about yourself. You know, your weekly or monthly meeting with your manager, you have to brag about yourself. Brag about yourself. Here's how we're told today by professionals to boost self-esteem. You know, you're down, you're sad, you're depressed, and here's how you do that. You use affirmation to boost your self-esteem, and you can take little cards and you write statements like this: I like myself, I accept myself just the way I am. Or, I am the master of my own destiny, another statement says. It gets better. Here's another statement: I am somebody. That's profound, isn't it? They get together in groups. Let's say that together: I am somebody. Wow. I mean, right now, it's been raised, your self-esteem, you can feel it. You're right, I am somebody, I love myself. I believe in myself. So, you choose a statement, put it on a card, carry it around with you, repeat the statement several times during the day, especially at night, before going to bed, and when you get up in the morning, same thing. Now, it says this: whenever you say the affirmation, allow yourself to experience positive feelings, positive energy about your statement.
But, beloved, God in Christ is ready and willing in His love and mercy to deliver us from that horrible tyranny of self-centeredness and to set us free into the glorious liberty of a Christ-centered living. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." That is, all died in Him. So wretched, so vile, so unworthy a thing is this living unto self, that those who have thus lived are judged in the death of Christ, so that all who by faith behold the glory of God in the face of a crucified Savior no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
And, that is so fundamental and a radical change that it's called in verse 17 what? A new creation. A new creation. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away.” That includes living unto myself. “[B]ehold, new things have come." And how new they are with this whole new center of life and existence. Listen to this marvelous language.
"Now all these things”--verse 18–”are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Give up the god of self. Be reconciled to the God who made you. The God to whom, in Adam in Eden, you were related as the center of your life and existence, but you turned aside and turned to your own way. And Paul says that's the great plea of the gospel, and it is this: be reconciled to this God because this God has done an amazing work in Jesus Christ, and He has done it not only that we might have a righteous pardon, but that we might have a radically new center of life.
And I come around full circle to where I began with a simple, pointed, personal question. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Are you living for yourself? Are you living for yourself? If the answer is yes, then you have a tiny, shriveled, damning god. Are you living unto Him who died and rose again for sinners? Then you have a glorious, majestic, saving God worthy of being the one to whom you live.
May God help you to ask and realistically answer that question, and may you have no rest if that is you until you are able to say with Paul, "For the love of Christ constrains me, controls us, compels me, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." God put His death sentence upon living unto self and receiving life from a crucified, risen Savior. I now joyfully say, I no longer live unto myself, but unto Him who died for me and rose again. And you too will be enabled to say, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Let's pray.
According to Scripture, every single one of us is living for one of two persons. Every single one of us. Whether you want to admit it or not, acknowledge it or not, it's a fact. Every single one of us is living for one of two persons. You're either living for someone who is tiny, puny, small, insignificant, and in reality unworthy of being the object of your own life, or you're living for one who is great, glorious, magnanimous, infinitely worthy of being the one for whom you live.
So here's the question again: Who are you living for? The youngest child who can take this question and process it in his own brain, and the least who's able to grasp this question and at least grasp what it means, that one is living for someone—someone worthy to be lived for, or someone unworthy to be lived for. The oldest person in this place, in this room, is living for someone—someone worthy to be lived for, or someone unworthy to be lived for.
And we're going to answer that question together, looking at our text, particularly verse 15. 2 Corinthians 5, “And He died”--Christ–“And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” No longer live unto themselves, but unto Him. Here we have the two persons for whom each one of us is living, one or the other. And you know what? You can't straddle the fence. There's no middle ground. It's either the one or the other.
Sitting here this evening, everyone who's here, regardless of age, regardless of background, regardless of understanding, regardless of upbringing, education, every single one, you’re either living for yourself, or you're living unto Him who died and rose again. And as we attempt to wrestle with this question and the guidance this text gives us, will you please note with me, first of all, who we all live for by nature. Who we all live for by nature.
When Paul writes these words, he's explaining what makes him and his fellow laborers in the gospel really tick. He's explaining to these Corinthians what makes him who he is as a servant of Christ, as a man of God, as a ‘doulos’, a slave of Jesus. And in that setting, he says in the previous verse, verse 14, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." The love of Christ controls us. That is, the love of Christ holds us in its vice grip. The love of Christ seizes hold upon us. So much so, he says, that there are times when we may appear that we're not all together up here in the penthouse.
Notice, he says in the earlier part of the text, verse 13, "For if we are out of our mind, it is for God, or if we are of right mind, it is for you." There are times, he says, so constrained by the love of Christ in selfless service, in devotion, that people accuse him of being insane—insane, Christ-obsessed, having something less than a full load up here. And he says if that's so, then you must understand that something—oh something—has taken hold of us. And you know what it was? The love of Christ. Love of Christ. The love of Christ has taken hold of us. And that love, having taken hold of us, has changed us from what once we used to be. For we once were what all men were by nature.
What was that, Paul? Oh, we were creatures who lived unto themselves. Now, that's not the way God designed us to live. That's not the way God intended us to be. You go back all the way to the beginning, Genesis 1 and 2. Read the account of the original creation. What do you see there? You see God creating Adam and Eve, man and woman, in His own image, and placing them in a perfect environment, perfect relationship with each other, giving to them a standard of obedience that was wholesome and reasonable. And the creature, Adam and Eve, in the perfect environment, with no bent to evil, found their delight and joy in living unto God, the God who made them. Sweet fellowship. And it was their joy. It was their delight. Doing His will, enjoying intimate communion with Him, seeking to glorify Him in His world was the deepest delight of Adam and Eve. It was their blessedness as well as their pure joy and delight.
But then sin entered. Sin entered. And when sin entered, all of that turned inward upon themselves. And from the tragic fall recorded in Genesis chapter 3 to this very hour, each and every single one of us by nature is a creature who lives unto himself. Sin brought about nothing less than this horrible, wretched tyranny called self-centeredness. When God was pushed out of the place of being the one unto whom Adam and Eve were living, rushing into that empty place came a new god called what? Self. Self.
And, so, when Paul writes these words, you can rightly assume that all men without distinction in terms of who they live for by nature, they live unto themselves. And very early, very early, this manifests itself—and you could really nod your head really here—this really manifests itself, shows itself very early in what? Little ones, cute little babies, toddlers. You see it in a petulant, pouting self, in a toddler, in hot-tempered tantrum self. You see it in their greedy, selfish self. And soon it merges into lying, manipulative self, into whining, sneaky self.
And as a human personality and mind develops the ability to express this obsession with living unto self, it multiplies in tragic and horrible ways. No wonder the prophet Isaiah could say, "All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to”--what?--“his own way.” His own way. Isaiah 53:6. In other words, we have all turned to living unto the god of self. It's all about me. Because you deserve it. You're worth it.
Now, in some people, living unto self finds expression in a life of open, evident, obvious, and in many cases, a disgusting lifestyle of lawlessness and debauchery. In others, it expresses itself in a moral, upright, cultured, refined self-centeredness. But the common denominator of every son of Adam, daughter of Adam, is that by nature, he, she lives unto himself–hiis own things, his own pleasure, his own satisfaction, his own selfish ambitions, seeking his own ends, pursuing his own happiness by his own rules, with his own standards, he lives unto himself. So that the apostle can write, "And He died for all, so that [they] who live would no longer live for themselves"—because he knows that by nature each of us does indeed live unto himself.
So, who are you living for? Unless you've been transformed by the grace of God, I can say of you, based on the authority of the Word of God, that you live unto yourself. You live for yourself. Who we all live by nature? Who we all live for by nature? We live for this idol called self.
But I want us to note secondly, who some live for by the power of God's grace. Who some live for by the power of God's grace. According to this text, our text, there are some like Paul and his companions who live unto Christ, who for their sakes died and rose again from the dead. Some by the power of the grace of God no longer live for themselves, but they live for Him. They live unto Him. And the “Him” in this passage, obviously to the crucified, risen, exalted Savior. He's referred to as the One who died and rose again on their behalf. A clear reference to the Lord Jesus, who died.
‘Apo thenesko’. ‘Apo’--that first part of the word, it's a marker of disassociation, implying a rupture from a former association, separation, departure, cessation. And ‘thenesko’ is to die, in the aorist tense, indicating a past completed action. In other words, the death of Christ is indeed a historical event. In the active voice, Jesus made the volitional choice, a choice of His own will to die for us as we saw this morning. And the indicative mood is the mood of reality. Jesus really did die a physical death. And as in the previous verse, verse 24, death describes His literal physical death on the cross.
Christ Jesus, the Lord, He was the subject of verse 14. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." And so Paul is saying that with respect to himself and his companions, and as we shall see, this was true of him, not because he was an apostle, but because he was a child of God, he was a Christian. Because in the language of verse 17, he was “in Christ” and being in Christ meant that he was what? A new creation. And so when he says, "so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf," he's not referring to himself because he's an apostle, but simply because he's a Christian. He's a child of God. He's a true Christian. And the one for whom some live for by the power of God's grace is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again on their behalf.
And so His person is lived for in a loyalty that exceeds the loyalty to any other person. His will is chosen as a way of life. His ways are desired, embraced as the pattern of life, not with perfection, not with equal constancy, but according to our text and according to the scripture, the baseline of their lives is this: when you ask them the question, who do you live for? They are enabled by the Spirit of God to answer honestly and to validate it by the pattern of their own life, they live unto Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
So that, you have this expression, “so that”, ‘ina’, which is a conjunction, serves to introduce the purpose for a previous action or truth, and in this case, the purpose for the death of Jesus Christ and for the sinner's death with Christ on Calvary's cross was that he or she would be buried with Christ, raised with Christ, to walk in newness of life, the quality of life in which they no longer live just to please themselves, but now they live for Him.
Earlier in the same chapter, look at verse 9, Paul wrote, "Therefore we also have as our ambition”--what a wholesome ambition. It's a single-minded ambition, there's a singularity of focus, not two ambitions, not three ambitions, we make it, we have it “as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be”--what? Pleasing to self? No, “to be pleasing to Him.” In other words, they can say with Paul, in the language of Philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is”--profit–”gain"—gain, gain—I live unto Him. He is the object of my life's focus, my desires, my ambition, my standards, my goals, my purpose–they all focus and center on Christ and they all flow out of Christ and back to Christ. "For to me, to live Christ"—He's everything. I don't live for anything else or anyone else, He's my life, He's everything.
It speaks to the very reason and purpose of one's life, it speaks of that which is supreme in one's life, that which is dominant in one's life, that which is overshadowing one's life. It speaks of what is driving one's life, what compels, what controls, what constrains one's life, the sum and substance of one's life—Christ. Verse 15, our text: "so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." And the question is, what does Paul mean by living unto Him who died and rose again? What does that mean?
And I want to suggest there are at least four ways that Paul could assert this, at least four ways. Number one, when Paul said that “they who live no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”, involved in that first and foremost is faith in Christ. To live unto Him—involved in that first and foremost is faith in Christ. Galatians 2:20, Paul declares, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Who loved me, who loved me–a wretched rebel, a vile sinner, a hell-deserving sinner—and gave Himself up for me.
In other words, faith in Christ was the dominating, animating principle of his life. And note the language in Galatians 2:20, "the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me," that's sacrificial language. That's the language of substitution. That's the language that embodies the heart of the gospel, that Christ stood in the place of guilty, hell-deserving sinners and bore the wrath of God against sin that they themselves deserved.
Secondly, when Paul said that “they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”–involved in that is love for Christ. Faith in Christ, but also love for Christ. You see, the great preoccupation of true faith is Christ—it's Christ, all about Christ, all about Christ. You know, Paul chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you know, he writes this letter to the Philippians, and what do you find him doing? I mean, it's all about Christ, he's proclaiming Christ, he's speaking about Christ, he's telling the next soldier chained to him about Christ, and then they change shift, the next one comes and he says, have you heard about—let me tell you about Christ—he was Christ obsessed.
The great preoccupation of true faith is Christ, Christ in His love to the sinner, but never is there—mark it down—never is there a believing reception of the love of God in Christ to sinners without the heart that receives that love, responding in love to the object of its faith. Always the case. 1 Corinthians 16:22, "If anyone does not love the Lord, he is”--what?--“to be ‘anathema’", to be "accursed." 1 Peter 1:8, "and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." Whenever there is a genuine faith in Christ, there is love to Christ. Love delights to please its object.
Thirdly, when Paul said that “they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”--involved in that is communion with Christ, communion with Christ. As surely as faith in Christ always begets love to Christ, so love to Christ always gives birth to a desire for and a delight in communion with Christ. You can't have enough of Christ. You want to be in the words of Christ. You want to pray and talk to Christ. You want to hear from Christ by reading His word.
Notice the language, Colossians 3 and verse 4, that is oozing with this desire and delight in communion with Christ. Paul says, "When Christ, who is”--what?--“our life”. He's my life. You want to know? You want a definition of my life? Christ. And in Philippians 3—you studied this, right, young people?—Paul says, my passion, my great desire, what I long for is that “I may know Him.” And this is after many, many years in the faith. I want to know Him more. In other words, my knowledge of Him is not what it ought to be. I am not satisfied. This is a wholesome, sanctified discontentment. I want more of Him. I want to know Him more. The fellowship. The communion of His sufferings.
And lastly, when Paul said, “so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf”—involved, beloved, in that is also devotion to the service of Christ. Devotion, devotion to the service of Christ. From the moment of his conversion, the great passion that burned within Paul's heart was a burning devotion to the service of Christ. In Acts 22, verse 10, what was his first question? "Lord, what will You have me do?" What will You have me do?
And so the apostle could stand before the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 and declares this: "I do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." And in 2 Corinthians 12:15, he declares those wonderful words: "I will most gladly”--not just gladly, but most gladly–”spend and be fully spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” In other words, no task too difficult to undertake for the service of Christ my Lord. No burden too heavy to bear for the sake of Jesus Christ my Lord. No affliction too pressing to endure for the service of Christ Jesus my Lord. And no pain too much to bear in the service of Christ Jesus my Lord.
Paul was a man who lived not unto himself but unto Christ. "And He died for all, so that they who live"—that's the first verb—"would no longer live"—second—"for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again”. Live, ‘zao’ describes natural physical life, the quality that distinguishes a vital being from one that is dead. And both uses of the verb ‘zao’, live, here in this text, are in the present tense describing continuous action.
Now I want us to note this: the first use of the word “live” refers more to the literal physical life, and the second use of “live” refers to a believer's way of life, manner of conduct. Living in the light of His death for us. Living in the light of His cross. "Having loved His own, He loved them to the end." What end? Calvary's cross. And living in the light of His death for us serves to motivate a daily life for the Savior rather than for the self. So Christ died that we might live through Him and for Him and that we might live with Him.
So let me ask you again, who are you living for? Who are you living for? By nature, you with me must answer, if we're thinking biblically, we live for ourselves. So who are you living for? If you can say, I'm no longer living for myself, but unto Him who died for me and rose again, it is because the grace of God, the power of God, has come into your life and changed the whole focus and the whole direction of your life, and there was a tectonic change.
Now, note with me, lastly, in the third place, what it is that makes the difference. What it is that makes this difference. We saw who we live for by nature. We live for self. We saw who some live for by the power of God's grace. They live unto Christ. Well, what makes the difference? What makes the difference?
Well, if we read this whole section beginning with verse 14, where Paul says, "For the love of Christ controls us"—constrains us, compels us—we see that the death of Christ on behalf of sinners is the central theme of this whole section, culminating in Paul's words in verses 20 and 21: "So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He”--God the Father–“made Him”--God the Son–“who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
What makes the difference? What makes the difference? Sitting here tonight, there are men and women, young people, various backgrounds, degrees of knowledge, and some may be living for themselves. Some may be living for Christ. Some of you may be living unto self. Some unto Christ. What makes the difference? What is the issue that divides the two groups? According to Paul, in this passage, it is the truth of Christ crucified brought home to the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the truth of Christ crucified brought home to the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the difference. And Paul could say in verse 14, "For the love of Christ controls us." The love of Christ constrains us. Christ's love for us holds us in its gracious pressure, in its gracious grip, because we thus judge. It holds us in its pressure because we think in this way, having concluded this, "that one died for all, therefore all died." And those who receive life by that death should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him, who for their sakes died and rose again.
And what does that language mean? All of that language mean? Listen carefully, beloved. It means this. When we contemplate, when we truly contemplate what the death of Christ signifies, it is our understanding of the significance of His death that has brought us to the place where we no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him, who for our sakes died and rose again. This is what we understand, beloved. This is what we understand. That living for self is such a wretched, abominable, and disgusting thing in the sight of God, so provoking His wrath, so provoking His displeasure, that it demanded the enfleshment of the second person of the Godhead. It demanded that Jesus Christ, the God-man, be handed over to death to die under the billows of the wrath of God and become the curse on our behalf.
Now surely if living unto self is such a disgusting, abominable, wretched thing in the sight of God, that nothing less than the blood shedding of the incarnate deity can satisfy the justice of God against living unto self, then surely anyone who says, I see in a crucified, risen, exalted Christ my only hope of acceptance with this holy God, my only hope of pardon for my sins, my only hope of being right with God. Surely then, if I receive life from the death of Christ on behalf of sinners, that life is not to be lived to the end which demanded His death. Right? Surely the life received because of His death is not to be lived unto myself. It was living unto self that provoked the wrath of God, the anger of God. And surely, beloved, if I received life from the death of Christ, it must be life no longer lived unto myself, but unto Him who for my sake died and rose again.
Do you see the reasoning in Paul's mind? "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died"—that is, all died in Him—and what died in Him and with Him in His death spells now the death to living unto self. "And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but unto Him who died and rose again on their behalf." Oh, this passage clearly teaches that whenever the Spirit of God shows us what we are as sinners and shows us something of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, there is the constraint of the love of Christ, and there is the awareness of the purpose of the death of Christ that we no longer consciously, deliberately live unto ourselves, but unto Him, the Christ who died for us and rose again.
And we learn from this passage that all professed faith in the Christ crucified that leaves people still wedded to themselves is unauthentic faith. It is spurious faith. A professed faith in the Christ crucified, a professed reception of pardon and forgiveness from a crucified, risen, exalted Christ that leaves someone still living for himself as a pattern is not biblical faith. So who are you living for? You see, the faith that is unto salvation, the pardon of our sin is a faith that brings each and every one of us into this attachment to the person of Christ. And Christ does not take second or third place in the life so attached to Him, but that life is found being lived unto Him.
Listen to what one commentator said concerning all of this. "Christ's death must change the way we live here and now on earth. Not simply ensure our entrance to God's eternal presence. Anyone who expects to live in the resurrection must respond properly to Christ's death. This response requires more than intellectual assent to the proposition that Christ's death atones for sins. It must mold how one lives." Let me say that again—It must mold how one lives. "This response provides the essential criterion for discerning who truly belongs to Christ and who does not. Those who belong to Christ do not live for themselves. In societies given to self-promotion, self-fulfillment and self-indulgence, Christians will stand out as distinctively different. They live only for Christ and give up their own rights for the good of others and do not insist on having their own way."
Do you see the tremendous, weighty relevance that this text has for so many matters that we get so really bogged down with, hung up on? Some of you, particularly young people in this place—high schoolers perhaps—you're wrestling with the question, am I really attached to Christ in faith? Is my mom's faith, my dad's faith, the body of Christ's faith, is it really my faith? May I give you one way to come rather quickly to an accurate answer? Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Who are you living for?
You may respond, well, that's vague. Well, okay. How about we get more specific? You and mom and dad are having a discussion over the kind of music you're going to listen to. And at the end of the day, isn't really this—this is the issue? Isn't really this the issue? Do you want nothing to come into your ears but that which is pleasing unto Christ? Isn't that the issue? At the end of the day, the question is not what kind of music do I like, but the real issue is what kind of music I can listen to and know that it actually pleases Christ. Rather simple, isn't it?
You see, something else is at the focal point of your decision about the music that you're going to listen to. It isn't whether or not it fits here or there on the scale of what others say is acceptable or not. The issue, bottom line, is this: you want to please Christ, who is Lord over your life. And, you know that whatever is pleasing to Him is the thing that is good for you. And this is just a simple example, one example, but this applies to every area of your life.
Regardless of the issue in discussion, the real question, the real matter, the real issue is this: I am not my own. The cross of Christ has constrained me. I am now committed to no longer live for myself. The issue is not what pleases me but what pleases my Lord. And I know, He says, "Whether, then, you eat or drink, whatsoever I do, to do it all to the glory of God." And, so, the issue is not whether I will be considered on the cutting edge of the latest style or the latest fashion. It doesn't matter what it is. The bottom line is, am I living in such a way that pleases Him? Is He my ambition? Am I living unto Him or unto myself?
You see, this subject, this theme, this text forms a penetrating, insightful index of the state of your own heart. Can you authentically say, “I am living unto Christ?” Do you love Christ? Be careful. The question is not, “Do you love Him as much as you know you should?” That's not the question. Or as much as you desire that you could? Or as much as one day you shall love Him? The question is, “Do you love Christ?” Do you love Christ? Any indication of that love in your life? Do you delight in His fellowship? What about devotion to His service?
And, you see, when that begins to be the focal point of your life, you carry about with you a constant internal means—the means of finding the right standard in your life—and it is living unto Him, who for your sake died and rose again. And that has ripple effects in the choice of your friends, the company you keep. This begins to be the litmus test. What will the Lord think about my choice of these friends? Will they be instrumental in His hands to help me in my walk with Jesus, to spur me into greater godliness, mutual edification?
Now, I am not talking about friendships, deliberate friendships, that you prayerfully establish with the purpose of being a witness, a light, to the transforming power of the gospel. I'm not talking about those kinds of friendships. I'm speaking about the kind of friends in whom I find delight and with whom I will have voluntary companionship because they welcome what I have to impart to them, and I know I welcome what they have to impart to me, and we do each other good on our way to heaven. He died for all, that they who live should no longer live unto themselves in their choice of their friends, but unto Him, who for their sake died and rose again.
And when you can say, “For to me, to live is Christ—pleasing Christ, doing the will of Christ, knowing what advances the honor and the glory of Christ—that's what I live for”, then I am living unto Him. I say this resolves many of the issues that believers struggle with. To have a passionate obsession to live unto Jesus Christ, the Christ who rescued me from the horrible, nagging guilt of an accusing conscience, the dread and fear of hell, the sense of no purpose, no direction in life, the panic mode that I was in in this life, wondering, what am I going to do in life? What's life all about? Where am I going? All that purposelessness, fear, confusion, lack of direction, an accusing conscience—all of that was swallowed up in Him who died for me and rose again.
And, when you begin to live unto Him as a transformed person, then it is relatively easy to choose your friends–relatively easy to make choices about this and that, what I listen to, what I watch. Relatively easy to make choices about a host of other issues over which I see so many people, especially young people, constantly struggling until these things become almost an obsession.
Can it be that the problem is you're dealing with rules and regulations, but you've never known what it is to be wonderfully arrested and blessedly obsessed with the amazing Christ who alone is worthy to be the One you live for? You see, you're really not that big and wonderful a thing to be the object of your own life. Neither am I. And it's a tragic thing to live unto self because you and I are a small, insignificant thing. You're not worthy to be the object of your life. Apart from Christ, all we are is decorated dust.
But there's someone infinitely worthy. It's the glorious Son of God, whose beauties cannot be described, whose glories cannot be spoken of by mortal tongues. The one who is even now the object of the adoring worship of all of the intelligent creatures in heaven. God pulls back the veil in the book of Revelation and gives us a peek of those that cry with a loud voice, "‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’" He is absolutely magnanimous, glorious.
And you may think you're a pretty special person, and a handful of people think that you're pretty and handsome and nice and attractive and well-built, and you look in the mirror and you think you're God's gift to the world. You can't even draw your next breath unless God gives it. "He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things." Acts 17:25. Who do you think you are to be made the object of your own life? Dependent upon God for your next breath. I mean, God could stop that heartbeat in a split second. And what a tragic folly to make yourself the object of your own life, the one to whom you live.
Our text contains a glorious proclamation of the excellence of Christ, and we've seen that. And Christ is an infinite ocean of knowledge that stretches the most brilliant mind to its fullest with no fear that it will ever find the shores or reach the bottom. So, in eternity, I mean we're constantly knowing more. Oh, the depth of Christ. I mean, listen to what Paul says, “in whom in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3. "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily." Colossians 2:9. Paul says, I’ve found all in Christ. I’ve found everything in Christ, all of it–not in vain philosophy, not in empty creed–but in Christ my Lord, my life, my all.
So, let me ask you, do you have that estimation of Christ? Can you say, I’ve found Christ to be an exhaustless fountain of life, a shoreless, bottomless ocean of the knowledge that fully satisfies—the very knowledge of infinite, perfectly holy God? “[T]his is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." John 17:3.
The idea of living for yourself has so overwhelmed the world today, our culture today, our age, this age, this present, that it's seen in every possible arena. It's what fuels marketing, advertising. It's what determines education, philosophies in schools. It's what determines the counseling of psychologists and every possible professional counselor and life coach. The solution they proclaim: self-esteem, self-esteem. And, by definition, self-esteem is to make the object of that esteem yourself. That is so antithetical to what the scripture teaches.
You love and exalt yourself, pat yourself on the back, brag about yourself. You know, your weekly or monthly meeting with your manager, you have to brag about yourself. Brag about yourself. Here's how we're told today by professionals to boost self-esteem. You know, you're down, you're sad, you're depressed, and here's how you do that. You use affirmation to boost your self-esteem, and you can take little cards and you write statements like this: I like myself, I accept myself just the way I am. Or, I am the master of my own destiny, another statement says. It gets better. Here's another statement: I am somebody. That's profound, isn't it? They get together in groups. Let's say that together: I am somebody. Wow. I mean, right now, it's been raised, your self-esteem, you can feel it. You're right, I am somebody, I love myself. I believe in myself. So, you choose a statement, put it on a card, carry it around with you, repeat the statement several times during the day, especially at night, before going to bed, and when you get up in the morning, same thing. Now, it says this: whenever you say the affirmation, allow yourself to experience positive feelings, positive energy about your statement.
But, beloved, God in Christ is ready and willing in His love and mercy to deliver us from that horrible tyranny of self-centeredness and to set us free into the glorious liberty of a Christ-centered living. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." That is, all died in Him. So wretched, so vile, so unworthy a thing is this living unto self, that those who have thus lived are judged in the death of Christ, so that all who by faith behold the glory of God in the face of a crucified Savior no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
And, that is so fundamental and a radical change that it's called in verse 17 what? A new creation. A new creation. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away.” That includes living unto myself. “[B]ehold, new things have come." And how new they are with this whole new center of life and existence. Listen to this marvelous language.
"Now all these things”--verse 18–”are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Give up the god of self. Be reconciled to the God who made you. The God to whom, in Adam in Eden, you were related as the center of your life and existence, but you turned aside and turned to your own way. And Paul says that's the great plea of the gospel, and it is this: be reconciled to this God because this God has done an amazing work in Jesus Christ, and He has done it not only that we might have a righteous pardon, but that we might have a radically new center of life.
And I come around full circle to where I began with a simple, pointed, personal question. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Are you living for yourself? Are you living for yourself? If the answer is yes, then you have a tiny, shriveled, damning god. Are you living unto Him who died and rose again for sinners? Then you have a glorious, majestic, saving God worthy of being the one to whom you live.
May God help you to ask and realistically answer that question, and may you have no rest if that is you until you are able to say with Paul, "For the love of Christ constrains me, controls us, compels me, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died." God put His death sentence upon living unto self and receiving life from a crucified, risen Savior. I now joyfully say, I no longer live unto myself, but unto Him who died for me and rose again. And you too will be enabled to say, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Let's pray.
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