This second aspect of reconciliation corresponds to what Paul says in Romans 8. Romans 8:3, a verse that is very similar to 2 Corinthians 5:21, says, “God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” This corresponds to the word in 2 Corinthians 5:21 about Christ being made sin for us. The Son of God was sent in the likeness of the flesh of sin and then, on the cross, He was made sin for us. When Christ was on the cross, God condemned sin in the flesh. This means that God crucified, killed, the flesh, including sin, which is actually Satan himself. God condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to flesh, but according to spirit. The flesh dealt with in Romans 8 and 2 Corinthians 5 is illustrated by the inner veil in Exodus 26. If we did not have the veil in the tabernacle as a type, we could not have a full understanding that the flesh must be dealt with. We have seen that the rending of the inner veil signifies the tearing of our flesh.
Second Corinthians 5:16 says, “So that we, from now on, know no one according to flesh; even if we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer.” Those who know Christ according to the flesh are, at best, in the outer court. In many cases, they may not even be in the outer court. It is possible that the Corinthians knew the apostles according to their soulish understanding, for many of them were in the Holy Place, which signifies the soul. In verse 17 Paul speaks of the new creation: “So that if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.” To be a new creation means to be absolutely new. This is to be in the Holy of Holies.
In 2 Corinthians 5:14 Paul says that One, that is Christ, died for all. This verse does not say that Christ died for our sins so that we may be forgiven. As we have seen, the forgiveness of sins is the first aspect of reconciliation. Christ died for us so that we may live to Him. Living to Christ in 2 Corinthians 5 is equal to walking according to spirit in Romans 8. Living to Christ by walking according to the spirit is much deeper than simply having our sins forgiven.
In the past I was troubled by certain matters in 2 Corinthians 5. For years, I did not know the real significance of this chapter. Although I had a clear view of chapters two, three, and four, I did not have a proper understanding of chapter five. For this reason, in the past nineteen years I have not given many messages on this chapter, especially on the last few verses. But now my view of this chapter is becoming clearer and clearer. As we shall see when we come to this chapter in the Life-study of 2 Corinthians, here we have a dealing which brings the believers into the second aspect of reconciliation. This aspect is to have our flesh torn so that we may enter the Holy of Holies and have the full enjoyment of God.
In 2 Corinthians Paul uses many metaphors. For example, in 2 Corinthians 2:14 through 16 he says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ, and manifests through us the savor of the knowledge of Him in every place; for we are a fragrance of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing: to the one a savor from death unto death, to the other a savor from life unto life.” There are two metaphors in these verses. The first is that of the triumphal procession. Paul regarded himself and the other apostles as captives in such a procession. They had been fully captured by God, and now they were marching in Christ’s procession. The Corinthians, however, had not yet been wholly captured by the Lord.
The second metaphor in these verses is the bearers of incense. On the one hand, the apostles were captives; on the other hand, they were those bearing incense, the fragrance of Christ. As the apostles marched in Christ’s procession, they bore the fragrance of Christ as incense.