Transcript

Author Randy Alcorn recalled a two-month missions trip that he and his family took some years ago that included a visit to Egypt. While in Egypt, Alcorn’s hosts took him to visit an abandoned graveyard located at the end of a garbage-lined alley.

The host pointed out one tombstone in particular—that of William Borden (1887-1913), heir to the Borden dairy estate. William was a millionaire by 21, but he renounced his fortune, giving nearly all his wealth to missions.

His heart’s desire was to take the gospel to Muslims in China. On his way to China, William stopped in Egypt to study Arabic, but four months later he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of 25.

Alcorn writes: I dusted off the inscription on the headstone of Borden’s grave.

After describing his love for Christ and his commitment to and his love for the Muslim people; the inscription ended with some words that set me back, and I have never forgotten them to this day.

The inscription ended, “Apart from faith in Christ there is no explanation for such a life.” Then Alcorn wrote, “And I thought, Lord, what’s the explanation for my life?”

To exhaust all our efforts in living for self and living for the temporal things of this world only, is not the purpose God has placed us here, and is to find emptiness. God doesn’t want us to waste our lives. He wants to use our lives for His glory and honor.

The world looks at William Borden and says, “How tragic. What a shame. What a wasted life.” We look at it by the eye of faith and say, “What a testimony. What faith. What a life.”

The world, who does not know our Savior or respect or live by the Word of God, they often think believers are crazy that we live by faith in Christ and for eternal things we cannot see. But we know that to live by faith in Christ and by the Word is to truly live for what is real, for what has meaning, and what is lasting.

2 Corinthians 5:13 reads: “For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.”

The Greek word translated as “beside ourselves” means, in this context, to be out of one’s right mind, insane, or mad.

Because of his zeal for the truth and constant drive to live for the Lord and get the gospel out to the lost, the Apostle Paul was viewed as being crazy. With his fervor for serving the Lord, he seemed like a man out of balance and fanatical to the world.

In Acts 26:4-23, we learn how Paul shared the testimony of his conversion before Governor Festus and King Agrippa. In verse 24 of that passage, we read that “Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.”

This statement put Paul in the best of company. People also said our Lord was “beside Himself” and “mad.” Mark 3:21 tells us, “And when His [the Lord’s] friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself.”

Likewise, in John 10:20: “And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad….”

Being called crazy for the sake of Christ is not an insult, but a compliment for the believer. If people think we’re crazy because we live for the Lord, that’s a good thing.

It shows we’re following the Lord and His Word. Following the Lord and living by His Word will make us appear different to the world because we’re not going with the flow and we are not living “according to the course of this world” as Eph. 2:2 says, and so it seems to them that we’re a bit off and crazy.

Dogmatism, belief that the Bible is absolute truth, also makes people think you’re crazy. Dogmatism is uncommon and unacceptable in a society that demands tolerance.

When you say that, based on the Word of God, something is the absolute truth, the world will think you’re crazy. The Word of God, however, is an absolute. It is our authority.

When it says that there is only one way to God, and it’s through the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s the truth of the Word of God, and we must proclaim it, even if people call us crazy.

As we follow Paul as he followed Christ (1 Cor. 11:1), we too, like Paul, should have a deep-seated devotion for the Lord, consumed with a zeal for the things of God, living for unseen, eternal things.

This will make people think you’re out of your mind, but that’s alright. It’s good to be called crazy for the Lord. Like Paul, we remember that if we appear to be out of our right mind because we hold nothing back and are zealous and dogmatic, “it is to God,” it’s to please, honor, and glorify Him.

Then on the other hand, Paul says, “Whether we be sober, it is for your cause.” “Sober” means to be of a sound mind, sane, in control. Paul was crazy and sane at the same time.

He was passionate and zealous for God which made him appear crazy. And yet he was of a sound mind and meek, modest, patient, gentle in ministering to the Corinthians in showing them God’s love and grace, and helping them to grow in the truth.

Paul’s behavior could be explained in one of two ways: either it was zeal for God, or it was for the welfare and good of fellow believers.

2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.”

Paul goes on here to talk about his zeal, which was based on of his concern for the eternal destiny of people’s souls.

Paul says in his ministry, “the love of Christ constraineth us.” To constrain here has the idea of hold in, keep in, shut in, in order to compel to a given end.

It’s like the wind that the sails in a sailboat catches that drives and compels that boat forward. It’s also like a river with its banks. Unconstrained, a river would spread out into a marsh. But constrained and held in by its banks, it flows to its given end.

It’s like being in a large crowd at a ball game or amusement park, or when you’re Christmas shopping, that you’re held in and moved along and compelled forward.

Paul says the “love of Christ constrains us.” The love of Christ keeps us from living a wandering and unfocused life, it catches and takes hold of our lives, it holds us focused, fixed on Him, and it drives and compels us forward in living for Him.

When Paul says “the love of Christ,” he is not talking about his love for Christ, he’s talking about Christ’s love for him. In verses 14,15 Paul speaks of Christ’s death for all. It was the love of Christ shown in the death of Christ that overwhelmed and drove Paul forward in his life and ministry.

He was constrained in life and held captive by his gratitude for Christ’s love for him, to live a passionate life for Him. Christ’s love for Paul held him in a grip, and was the compelling force in everything he did. Christ’s love for us is our motivation too.

In Ephesians 3:17-19, Paul says “that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.”

Paul says in Romans 8:38,39 that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Christ’s love for us is incomprehensible and unbreakable. It was knowledge of the truth of Christ’s love and that out of that love Christ’s voluntarily gave up His life on his behalf, a love expressing itself in a way that surpasses comprehension, that love constrained Paul.

Paul said that he was controlled and driven by this love that Christ has for me and out of gratitude for that love he wanted to give Him back everything he had to offer. He want to give Him back his life and his ministry as an act of worship. We should too.

As Paul contemplated the love which Christ had shown to him, he could not help but be moved along and driven in His service for his Savior, so much so, that as he said in verse 13 people thought that he was crazy and beside himself.

Paul says, “because we thus judge” or “we have thus concluded,” or I have come to a settled conclusion, I have come to a conviction, and the true conclusion by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is, “that if One died for all, then were all dead.”

Paul is saying, let me explain to you why this love is so powerful. Let me explain to you why this love puts such extraordinary pressure on me to be grateful and drives me to live for Christ, and it’s that “One,” that is Christ, “died for all.”

Paul had a conviction about Christ, and he had a conviction about all men. His conclusion is that if the death of Christ was for all, then it must follow that all are dead in their trespasses and sins. Mankind as a whole is under the sentence of death.

As God looks at men, all are spiritually dead, void of spiritual life. And there’s nothing we can do about this in ourselves. We can’t give ourselves spiritual life.

We are helpless and hopeless. We are spiritually dead in our sins and if Christ didn’t die in our place for our sins, then we have to die for our sins, which means eternal death and separation from God in the lake of fire forever.

But praise God, Christ “died for all.” The power of Christ love extends to all people. He died for all, and that love drove Paul to serve his Savior and reach out to all, knowing that Christ loves all and died for all, and His salvation from hell is available to all.

“But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8 says. Here Paul says “He died for all.” Christ died “for” or in the place of all. He died in our place personally. This is substitution. Christ is our Substitute.

He died as a substitute in our place. He bore a punishment that should have been ours. We should die and He dies for us in our stead. We should pay the penalty for our sin and He dies in our place, and pays the penalty for us, and satisfies the wrath of God against our sins with a perfect sacrifice in our place.

Christ died for all, for the world, He died for all people who have ever lived, who are living, and who will ever live. Every single person who lives in this world is born dead in trespasses and sins and He died for the sins of every single person.

Thus, Christ is the Savior of the world, the Savior for all men. His work is abundantly sufficient to secure the salvation of any and all who put their faith in Him.

That truth of Christ’s love for the world, that the scope of His love is limitless in dying for all, that the “all” included Christ dying for him personally, the chief of sinners, constrained Paul, it overwhelmed him and kept him focused and driven to live for Him and to reach out to lost sinners with the good news of the free gift of salvation.

The love the Lord had for him and for all pressed against Paul hard. It touched his heart and it kept pushing him on for Christ and to share His love and salvation with all.

Verse 15 says, “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

Paul’s logical conclusion about the truth that Christ died for all who were dead in their sins and couldn’t save themselves is that we who have trusted Christ and who live in Christ, we should not now live unto ourselves, we should live for Christ.

Christ saved us, we live forever in Him, we belong to Him. Now we should asked the Lord as Paul asked Christ on the Damascus Road, “Lord, what would you have me to do?”

What matter most now is to be His will, His purposes, His goals, His glory, His truth. Paul had a conviction that the redeemed who are set free in Christ, are not set free to live for themselves, we are set free to live for the One who died for us and rose again.

The Savior did not die for us and rise again so that we might go on living our lives the way we want to live them. Rather He died for us so that we might turn over our lives to Him and devote it to Him out of gratitude, willingly, gladly, because of His love.

As Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

Christ gave Himself for us, we are now to give ourselves to Him to serve and live for Him.

For Paul there was no other option, there was nothing else but to live for Christ. So Paul lived for Christ and lived His love out through his concern for the truth, for the church, for his testimony, and out a tremendous burden for those who had not believed.

After we get saved, our lives echo the words of Isaac Watts’ hymn: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:

“When I survey the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

“Forbid it Lord that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

“See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down: Did ever such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

“Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

2 Cor. 5:16 says, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”

The word “Wherefore” points to a consequence from what was previously said.

So in light of Christ dying for us, and us living in Him and living for Him, since the time of conversion, since the moment we were saved and trusted in the subsitutionary provision of Christ personally by faith, “wherefore henceforth,” from that point forward.

Paul says, “know we no man after the flesh.” We recognize no man according to the flesh. We no longer evaluate people externally. We now have a new perspective on life and on people, we have spiritual knowledge and spiritual sight.

We no longer see people purely from the outside. We no longer see them purely from the physical perspective, in the light of their physical appearance, their behavior, their personality, that’s not how we evaluate people anymore.

You might have a neighbor who is very kind, who helps snowblow your sidewalks, who gives you a gift at Christmas time. You might have a co-worker who you’ve worked with for years who you know works hard and loves his family. You’re at Wal-mart and the cashier is ringing up the things you bought and you chit-chat with them.

And you look at these people in life, but you have a lingering question in the back of your mind. Do they know Christ as their Savior?

Now we see people as souls for whom Christ died, because we know Christ “died for all,” and because we know that outside of Him people are dead in sins and headed for hell.

You can’t take people at face value. You can’t just walk away and say, “Well, that’s really a great person.” Instead, the more impressed you are about them, the more deeply burdened you become for them. You see people as people for whom Christ died.

On the other side of things, you see someone who is a derelict, who is a homeless person, who is a drug addict or an alcoholic, someone who can’t seem to get their lives straight.

When you look at them now, there’s an ache in your heart, because you understand that Christ is the answer, that the grace of God saves anyone and can transform anyone. We don’t see people according to the flesh, “henceforth,” or after we trust Christ.

We no longer estimate people on the surface according to worldly standards. We no longer see people the way we once saw them. We don’t see people on social, political, and racial terms. When you trust Christ, what we see is just eternal souls who need Christ. You realize that everyone’s important, everyone is someone for whom Christ died.

This carries over to even among believers. “No man” means everyone, believers or unbelievers. When you look at believers now, you look at them spiritually, in terms of their walk with the Lord. Oftentimes other believers challenge you spiritually by their faith, other times you see their struggle in their walk and you become burdened for them.

Knowing “no man after the flesh” is about looking at the heart like God looks at the heart and discerning spiritual conditions of people, looking at people like God does. After we get saved, we no longer look at life the way we used to, we have a whole new perspective.

The new perspective carries through even to Christ. Paul says, “yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.”

Before we were saved, we made a purely, fleshly, human assessment of Him. To know Christ “after the flesh” means to evaluate Him from a human point of view. Many know the stories and facts of Jesus of Nazareth.

Many know that He was born in Bethlehem, laid in a manger, did many miracles, taught parables, was betrayed, and crucified, and rose again and ascended.

But after we are saved, now we have a new view of Christ. It’s one thing to know about Him, it’s another to know Him. After we get saved, now we know Him spiritually, we have a personal relationship with Him by faith. We know Him as our Savior, as our living and exalted Head of the Church, we know Him as our loving Lord, as our Guide, as our all in all.

And as we know Him, we know His love and that He loves all. We know that He died for all. And thus as we join our hearts and minds to His, may we look at life and people as our Savior does, as precious, eternal souls for whom Christ died and share the good news of salvation with others, that Christ died for our sins and rose again.