So from now on we regard no one from a
worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do
so no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16
Everything
proceeds from the cross. A Christian is a man who glories in the cross. If the
cross is not central to you, you are not a Christian. You may say that you
admire Jesus and His teaching, but that does not make you a Christian.
The
apostle tells us that the cross governs his view of himself and that he has a
new view of himself as a result of the cross. This is one of the most glorious
aspects of the doctrine of the cross. It gives a man an entirely different view
of himself.
Now, how
does that happen? If you read 2 Corinthians 5, you will find that he there
expands this aspect in a particularly clear manner. He has two great things to
say: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though
we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” That is one. But here
is another in verses 14-15: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are
convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for
all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again.”
What he
is saying in that chapter is all summarized in verse 17 when he puts this
astonishing statement before us: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
And among the “all things” that have become new is man’s view of himself. This
is one of the most glorious deliverances a man can ever know, to be free and delivered
from himself.
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