The Heart of the Matter (SERMON)
The Heart of the Matter
You search the scriptures and they testify of me
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.[1]
12 Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart[2]
Verse 13 has an interesting Greek word for “beside” ourselves. It is ἐξίστημι exístēmi; imperf. existámēn, fut. ekstḗsō, aor. exéstēsa, 2d aor. exéstēn, from ek (1537), out, and hístēmi (2476), to stand. To remove out of a place or state. In the NT applied only to the mind, meaning to be out of one’s mind, beside oneself[3]
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised[4]
Love – ἀγάπη
אַהֲבָה
אֲבָ - Father
Controls –
“Hold together, maintain,” is said of fabric that is held together and stitched and quite early becomes a technical term for the holding together of the universe in unity;3 with the Stoics, it refers to the divine link that holds the world together. Philo calls God “the One who created all, who unites and sustains earth and heaven, sea and air,”5 in accord with Wis 1:7 (“The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe and contains all things”) or Job 3:23 (God hedges man in on all sides). [5]
Synechō is the ordinary term for the power behind the execution of a judicial verdict[6]
Hebrew connection – עָצַר - restrain, detain, retain.
ע - Ayin - To see, know, experience
צַ- Tsade – Hook. This letter is interesting. It is often referred to as “righteous person” because it is constructed of bent Nun and a yood signifying that a faithful and humble person whose hands are lifted to heaven, a faithful servant in humility before God.
ר – Reysh – Man or chief
Connections: naked hook, Ayin, Resh is naked. Tsade, reysh is trouble or distress.
Ancient Assyrian customs of securing prisoners.
Hebrew, is the “Hooked man”
The primary idea is that of surrounding, enclosing[7]
חבר—ally oneself; be coupled, touch one another; join together[8]
Concluded – κρίνω English- Krinos.
The word krínō means “to sunder,” then “to select,” “to decide,” “to judge,” “to assess,” “to go to law,” “to seek justice,” also “to expound,” then “to believe,” “to resolve.” The LXX mostly has krínō for legal terms, though it may also denote deliverance for the oppressed (Ps. 72:2). The NT sense is usually “to judge” with God or man as subject and in either an official or a personal sense. [9]
The role of a judge
In Hebrew it is Dan – Dalet, Noon – Strong door of life, that is what a judge is.
Daniel – Dalet, noon, yood, (yood can mean “my”) aleph, lamed (the name of God, i.e., EL) God is my judge or God is my strong door of life! What is Paul saying about the apostles? Considered the evidence and made a decision like in a court, careful consideration of the evidence…
For
No not FORE!
ὑπὲρ[10]
A. With Genitive.
1. Over, Beyond. The local sense of “over” or “beyond” is common in classical Greek, but it yields to the widespread transferred use in the Hellenistic age.
2. a. With the sense of protection the closest meaning to the spatial sense is “for,” “on behalf or in defense of.” Cf. in the NT Mk. 9:40; Phil. 1:7; 1 Cor. 4:6.[11]
In Place Of. Often “on behalf of” carries an implication of “in place of,” “in the name of.” It is hard to avoid this sense in 1 Cor. 15:29, and this is the obvious meaning in Phlm. 13. In 2 Cor. 5:14–15 Paul plays on the double sense of hypér. Christ’s death is first “in our place,” but it is then “on our behalf” or “for our sake” at the end of v. 15.[12]
In place of…a substitution
Algebra: If two quantities are equal, then one can be substituted for the other in any formula or expression; thus, X can equal Y, if they are “equivalent.”
X = Adam made from the dust of creation, the Jews believe from the dust of Mt. Moriah, in the image of God.
Y = Jesus, was made flesh from the residue of man!
Celestial Algebra: Man made in God’s image equals God made in man’s image to redeem sinful man. How does this work? Law of the Kinsman Redeemer.
Image – צֶ֫לֶם
Means shadow. Stand in the light and have a child trace your shadow with chalk on the concrete. Is it a representation of you? Yes. Is it exact? Is its form the same? In science, we say, form follows function. The form of something tells you its intended function. Thus, the Shadow of God from which man is made tells you man’s function, to be God’s representation! This is still true in Hebrew thought, where the word image is more concerned with the function and less with exactness, not rigid adherence to the appearance of something but its function.
Interesting that a cognate of this same word is used to describe a very common item in our world…a photograph. It is the Hebrew word Matzlemah’ מצלמה.
God made man in his own image (shadow) in the shadow of Man came God! X = Y
“that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all,” that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.[13],[14]
Redemption of man was God’s plan
Redemption -
Celestial Algebra explained:
God, who is righteous, made man in his own shadow to reflect his purpose and function, and in the image of sinful man, God came to make man righteous.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.[15]
Righteous – Hebrew – צֶ֫דֶק H6664
Hebrew - can mean what follows door or way of life, of the humble, faithful servant.
Greek 1343. δικαιοσύνη dikaiosúnē; gen. dikaiosúnēs, fem. noun from díkaios (1342), just, righteous. Justice, righteousness. It is the essence of tó díkaion, that which is just, or díkaios, of him who is just or righteous. The súnē ending makes this an abstraction. Righteousness fulfills the claims of díkē, which, in the case of the believer, are God’s claims; and in the case of the nonbeliever, the claims of that higher authority which a person adopts as his own standard. Dikaiosúnē, righteousness, is thus conformity to the claims of higher authority and stands in opposition to anomía (458), lawlessness.
In both the OT and NT, righteousness is the state commanded by God and standing the test of His judgment (2 Cor. 3:9; 6:14; Eph. 4:24). It is conformity to all that He commands or appoints. Since God Himself is the standard of the believers, the righteousness of God means the righteousness which belongs to God or to oneself from God, or God–like righteousness (Matt. 6:33; James 1:20). Thus righteousness, in general, is God’s uprightness or standard, without reference to any particular form of its embodiment, to which man is expected to conform.
The righteousness of God is the claim which God has upon man. In order for man to recognize and fully submit to that claim of God upon his life, he must receive God as He offers Himself and His righteousness to him as a gift (Rom. 5:17). Man can only accept the claims of God upon his life as he repents of his sin and receives Christ as His Savior by faith. He thus becomes a child of God, realizing God’s claims upon him by the miraculous regenerating action of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12; Rom. 4:11–13; 5:21; 6:16; 8:10; 9:30; 10:6; 2 Cor. 6:7, 14; Eph. 4:24; 6:14; 2 Pet. 1:1).
The recognition and acceptance of God’s claim upon man, realized through faith, stands in opposition to the righteousness which is of the Law (Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:21) and which is man’s acceptance of the claims of the Law upon his life. Man in his natural, fallen condition tends rather to accept his own set of standards, creating his own righteousness (Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:6). In reality, however, such a set of standards is not righteousness (Rom. 10:3, 5; Gal. 3:21) and does not satisfy God. God’s righteousness is imputed and imparted as a gift to man and not earned. It results in God’s act of justification by faith through Christ.[16]
Connection – Redemption
early 15c., redemen, "buy back, ransom, recover by purchase," also in a theological sense, "deliver from sin and spiritual death," from Old French redimer "buy back" and directly from Latin redimere "to redeem, buy back," from red- "back" (see re-) + emere "to take, buy, gain, procure"19
Thesis: Redemption is connected to God’s nature and essential to ours!
The word for Redemption in Hebrew is גָּאַל (gā·ʾǎl):
This word contains the name of God…EL as in Elohim אֱלֹהִים
It has the Hebrew Letter ג which means to exalt, to lift up, to be proud and ָּאַל
16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” [17]
6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.[18]
redeemed, i.e., pertaining to an object or person who has been delivered from danger by being purchased from indenture or slavery, with a focus on the relationship to the new master (Ps 107:2; Isa 35:9; 51:10; 62:12+),[19]
God made sure there was time for redemption
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. [20]
Thesis: Redemption is connected to image to creature
Kistis - κτίσις (ktisis). n. fem. creation. Usually refers to what is created; occasionally refers to the act of creation.
The noun ktisis is related to the verb κτίζω (ktizō, “to create”). It can refer to the act of creation but it more often refers to what was created; Mark 13:19 explicitly identifies “the creation” (ktisis) with that “which God created (ktizō).”[21]
kistis is used in the LXX Psalms 104
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures. [22]
If we are in Christ we are created new! See John 3:1-14, Ezk 36: 24-27
How is someone to live for Christ, if they are reminded of their old life.
Restore and Release are 2 sides of the same coin.
Thesis: Form is connected to restoration and release
With my new life, I can glorify God. Looking at other in the flesh and not in the new life is a form of control, not “the Love of God controls us” control.
Restore:
It is about the Heart, not just your physical heart, your mental heart. In his book The God-Shaped Brain, Dr. Jennings lists the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex(VMPFC) as the place where moral and ethical decision-making occurs. The idea is that while the heart is essential for existence if we do not change how we see each other, we will see individuals not as redeemed but as still subject to the past life that died when they committed themselves to Jesus. That prevents restoration and Release! So the Apostle says, do not view anyone who is in Christ through the old lenses, they have been restored and released, that is after all one of the words for Redeem…to loosen!
Understand that Jesus, God, came in the Image of man, his own shadow, to restore the function of mankind. That those who accept him are no longer of the flesh ,but the spirit!
how we once knew someone, but a new creature.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 5:11–13.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), 2 Co 5:12.
[3] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 5:14–15.
[5] Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 337–338.
[6] Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 339.
[7] Wilhelm Gesenius and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2003), 648.
[8] The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Septuagint (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).
[9] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 469.
[10]W. Hall Harris III, The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear New Testament: SBL Edition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2010), 2 Co 5:14.
[11] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 1228.
[12] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 1228–1229.
[13] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 5:15.
[14] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 5:14–15.
[15] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 5:18
19. “Search ‘Redeem’ on Etymonline.” 2025. Etymonline. 2025. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=redeem.
[16] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
[17] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 48:16.
[18] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 6:6.
[19] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
[20] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 1:3–5.
[21] Michael E. Peach, “Creation,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
[22] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 104:24.