ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
BE IN CHRIST
V:17 Therefore if any man is
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
have become new.
18 And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation;
The text says if we are in
Christ, we have become a new creation
God did a heart transplant. God did a mind transplant. God took out the
old and replaced them with the new.
We have a new way of thinking,
A new way of operating, A new way of seeing, and
a new way of hearing. We got a
new smell. We smell like sheep. We are geared for a
new mindset; one of
humbleness,
Not just some things but all
things, but ALL THINGS have become new.
The phrase “all things” in
Greek is “pas ” which means, any, every, the whole
At first glance, It seems to
be a contradiction. The body gets old, it breaks down, and it is decaying.
However, the body is just a temple, an earthly dwelling for the spirit. The Spirit is renewed in Christ. In Christ,
we have a new way of thinking, a new way of living, a new relationship, and a
new reliance. We have designed for us a new immortal
body. We have a new mansion in
heaven prepared for us.
We have a new guardian, God
the Father. We have a new friendship God the Son.
We have a new comforter, God
the Holy Spirit. You have a choice, you can live
in the oldness of life, or
live in the newness of life.
Sometimes we have to wrestle
with the old to get to the new. I know a man
who brought his wife a new car
and parked it in the garage next to the old car.
For months the wife walked
passed the new car and drove her old car. The
husband said honey why are you
not driving the new car. She said I am not
comfortable with it. One day
she drove the new car. Brought it back
home
and drove the old car. It took
some time before she became comfortable driving
the new car.
It is the same with this
Christian life. We grew up in the old life. We are comfortable
with the old. So we hang on to
our old ways. We accepted Christ and immediately
became new. If you are truthful with yourself, there is a
struggle with old. In some
things and some ways we still
revert to our old way of living.
If you don't believe me,
consider these; cursing is the old, Anger is old,
Sadness is the old, Worry is
the old, Fear is the old, and Lust is the old. Being
your own man and own woman is
the old. Trying to handle everything by
yourself is the old. We ought
to be living in the newness of life. We got
Jesus who is everything we
need for all times.
LIVE LIKE JESUS IS WALKING
WITH YOU
ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD
Verse 18 says ALL THINGS ARE
OF GOD. Not some things, but all things.
God didn’t create sin, but He
allowed it. God created the angels to be holy. But
He allowed one angel, Lucifer
to become proud and desired to be Him. Thus
sin entered into God’s perfect
creation. God said I hate the proud. The first
sin entered God’s perfect
creation.
This same angel, Lucifer,
tempted perfect Adam and Eve to eat from the
The Tree of Knowledge and Good
and Evil, thus perfect man became evil.
It was part of God’s plan for
man to need a Savior. We were born in sin, shaped
in iniquity in need of
reconciliation.
Consider this, why did God the
Father put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil in the middle of the
Garden with the command not to eat from it? Since God
is all-knowing, He knew man
was not equipped to handle the temptation.
It appears to me, God left the
door open for Adam to sin. Maybe, because out
of His Love, Grace and Mercy
would flow.
Don’t know what you are going
through, but it is of God!
Look at Job. By God's own
assessment, there was none more righteous
than Job. God allowed Lucifer,
to kill all his animals, kill his 7 children,
and fill his body with sores.
Then Job’s three trusted friends came along and
tried to convince him that he
did something wrong. There are 42
chapters in
the book of Job. 35 of those
chapters, Job’s friends tryed to destroy his confidence in
his righteousness. To top that
off, Job’s wife told him to curse God and die.
Job’s circumstances did change
his worship of the Lord. He never left Christ.
Job’s response was you got to
take the good with the bad. Because
Job endured, God restores double
what he lost. We have to endure the trials
of life to reap the reward God
planned for us (Galatians 6:9).
REMEMBER WHATEVER HAPPENS,
IT'S ALL OF GOD
ACCEPT THE RECONCILIATION
V:18 And all things are of
God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation;
You going to have some good
times and some bad times. Because of God’s love,
and His grace and mercy, He
decided to reconcile you to Himself.
Somewhere in heaven, a
decision was made to send Jesus to die for your sins
and mine.
We know what happen. Man
sinned and became an enemy of God. God didn’t
change, man did. Reconciliation can only take place in the
blood of Jesus. He
who knew no sin became the sin
offering for us.
The story of Job is God’s
example to us THAT BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO
GOOD PEOPLE. The truth is,
good people need to be reconciled by Jesus.
Whatever we desire can be
found in All Things. All things
encompass the
whole of our lives. You cannot
exhaust the resources of God with your needs
and desires. This life is too
much for you to handle. That’s why you must
accept the reconciliation of
Christ. The old man is not equipped to
handle
ALL THINGS.
We got mass murders every day,
parents killing children. Children killing parents.
We got wars and rumors of
wars, earthquakes, famines, hate crimes, crimes of
passion, and the list goes on
and on. It's too much for you to handle, but it is of God
(Matthew 24:6-8). These are
like birth pains before the return of Christ.
This reconciliation to Christ
is the key to your physical and emotional well-being.
You cannot make sense of
what's happening around you. You cannot protect
yourself from what's
happening. It is all of God. God said this;
Isaiah 55:8-10
8 "For my thoughts are not
your thoughts,
neither are your ways my
ways," declares the Lord.
9 "As the heavens are
higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than
your ways
and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
We have a new life, created in
Christ and therefore, we must live in Christ.
The best way to endure
personal tragedies is to be reconciled with Christ.
We must plant this
reconciliation in our thought process because the outworking
of it is our strength in the
Lord. When we are weak, He is strong.
To accept this reconciliation
we must accept the terms of the reconciliation.
First, It is all of God. He is the author
of our reconciliation. He is the first cause of
everything.
Second, The mediator of your reconciliation
is Christ Jesus.
His death on the cross atoned for your sins
and mine.
His righteousness was
transferred to you.
Third,
The Holy Spirit became resident in you.
He is your guide, your
teacher, your comforter, your uncommon
Spiritual sense.
Forth,
You must accept slavery to Jesus. He owns you. He paid the price
for your freedom from sin.
Fifth
Confess your sins before the Lord daily and repent.
Sixth
You must be obedient to the commands of God. The Lord said,
I would rather have
obedience than sacrifice. Obedience comes from the
heart. Sacrifice can be out
of habit.
Seventh
You must trust God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
Eight
You must be committed to serving God, and Him only
You must take hold of all the
benefits of your reconciliation.
First
Develop a prayer life. Spend some quality time with the Lord.
Pray without ceasing.
Make all your request known
to the Lord
Second
Get familiar with the promises of God and put them into practice
Third
Fear no one and no circumstance.
God has not given you the spirit
of fear, but power, love,
and a sound mind.
Forth
Give and it will be given to you, pressed down and running over
Fifth
Expect God to supply all your needs.
Sixth
Expect God to be your protector.
Seventh
Lean on God
ACCEPT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
Consider the responsibilities
of Reconciliation
We are ambassadors for Christ.
We are His messengers. We are the light
of the world.
It is because of His grace and
mercy that we are allowed to represent Him.
The world needs to see the
change the reconciliation by Christ has made in
our lives.
This reconciliation is one of
infinite grace and mercy. It is the favor of God to
choose us for the ministry of
Reconciliation. God is the Fatherhood of all
mankind. Fatherhood does not
mean automatic Sonship. Sonship is by God’s
election. Sonship is a
Hallelujah moment when you realize that by no merit
of your own, you were elected
for reconciliation.
The ministry of reconciliation
can only be performed out of Love. A love
extended to you that you
extend to others. It is a good work ordained and
started by Christ (Philippians
1:6).
The first function of
reconciliation is living a reconciled life. It is a life of
hope, a life of peace, a life
of joy, a life of expectations in
Christ, and a life
of obedience.
The second function of
reconciliation is a life of service. Carrying out the
the great commission is our
work.
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age."
All Things Include some new
things you have not experienced. All
things include
some new people you have not
met. All Things include some new places you have not been to. All things include some new heights. All
Things include some New doors
open to you.
All things include some new
excitements. All Things include some new mercies
and new grace.
ACCEPT HIS FORGIVENESS
V:19 To wit, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.
Every day you can start with a
new plate, fresh and clean. God does not hold your
past sins against you. The old
has passed away, and the new takes place.
His forgiveness gives you a
new start.
SUMMARY
BE IN CHRIST
ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD
ACCEPT THE RECONCILIATION
ACCEPT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
ACCEPT GOD’S FORGIVENESS
CLASS QUESTIONS
WHO DO YOU BLAME FOR YOUR
BAD TIMES?
GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF BAD
THAT WORKED
OUT FOR YOUR GOOD
HOW DOES YOUR ENEMY WORK
FOR YOUR GOOD?
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