JUL 1-5 | Nothing Was The Same
2 Corinthians 5:16-17, 19-20
16 So from now on we regard no one from a human point of view [according to worldly standards and values]. Though we have known Christ from a human point of view, now we no longer know Him in this way. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
18 But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him],
19 that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God].
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
Reconcile: reconcile, reconciled; reconciling : to restore to friendship or harmony
It’s likely when you woke up today, you didn’t think about restoration or reconciliation. As Christians, our initial response to a crisis or specific circumstance isn’t to restore or reconcile. We see this all over the scriptures, specifically with Jesus.
Men would rather kill than to recognize a moment of restoration. (John 8:5)
Men would rather turn to tribalism and stop moves of God than to maximize reconciliation. (Luke 9:49)
You get it, but why is that? Let’s exclude malice even though Christians can be malicious, let’s exclude arrogance though there’s plenty of arrogance, what’s left?
Legalism.
Jesus refers to the Pharisees in Matthew 23 saying,
you have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done
He challenges traditional thinking and substitutes judgment with justice, mercy and faithfulness. The use of mercy from the original Greek translates to: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them
So when Paul says:
God gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him],
He’s challenging a generation of believers to go against human points of view, and embrace the God committed, God given ministry of restoration. Like any ministry you can’t just put on a uniform and perform, you have to do the work when it matters so that the;
the ministry of reconciliation V.18
can become
the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God]. V.19
The ministry becomes the message.