The Message of Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5: 16-19

How many of us make New Year’s resolutions?  How many of us make resolutions all year long?

“Okay, Monday I’m going to start eating better.  Or, tomorrow I’m going to get up early and exercise.”

We all tend to set goals, whether they be big or small, that often don’t make it past a few days and then we end up starting all over again.

“I mean it this time!  It’ll be different now, I swear!”

I do this a lot and not just with diet and exercise.  I do it with relationships, devotional time, educational goals and career objectives.

So why don’t my goals “stick?”  Why am I not transformed from old to new??

In all the times I’ve attempted to better myself or try something new, I’ve never really acknowledged the message of reconciliation.  I’ve beaten myself up.  I’ve tried on my own and hindered my progress.

Maybe it wasn’t that I failed to reach my goals, but I missed the mark in recognizing God’s necessary contributions to my success.

It comes down to reconciliation.  “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (v.19).  He gave the world a new start through forgiveness.

I normally don’t turn to Wikipedia in my devotions, but when I searched reconciliation, this is what I found…  Reconciliation is the end of the estrangement, caused by original sin, between God and humanity. Evangelical theologian Philip Ryken describes reconciliation in this way; "It is part of the message of Salvation that brings us back together with God... God is the author, Christ is the agent and we are the ambassadors of reconciliation.

Reconciliation is key.  It’s where we get the strength, the determination, the drive to acknowledge and carry out His plans for us.  It is through reconciliation that we are transformed and brought back into relationship with God.  We are human and will continue to sin, but we worship a God who loves us and wants to make us new each day and will continue to transform us, as long as we let Him.

Father, I need you.  I don’t want to be estranged from you because it’s through our relationship that I’m able to accomplish what you have planned.  Save me from myself and make me new each day.  Amen

Selfless Reconciliation

“Who are you? Who, who, who who? Who are you? Who, who, who who?”¹ You don’t have to have been around in 1978 to be familiar with these classic rock lyrics and the tune that etched them onto our long-term memory banks. Thanks to the band, The Who (who else?!?), millions of people have rhythmically asked billions of times: “Who are you?” Now, we can remain in the same rhetorical refrain for another 40 years if we wish—content to question identity and purpose—or we can flourish in the answer. For the apostle Paul shows us that, for anyone who is in Christ, there clearly is an answer.

Well, who are you?¹ You are new—your sin defines you no longer! “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”² We shrug off our shame once and for all and live this life in freedom!

I really wanna know.¹ You are reconciled to God—completely forgiven and entirely restored to peace in His presence. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ ... not counting [people’s] sins against them.”³ We cease our striving; we rest in renewed relationship.

Tell me, who are you?¹ You are the righteousness of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”⁴ Jesus, who knew no sin, took upon Himself our sin, which we could not bear; then uniting us with Himself and living in us, He gave us His righteousness, which we could not earn. (Martin Luther called this “the great exchange.”) We humble ourselves in awe before such an indescribable gift and such a selfless Giver.

‘Cause I really wanna know.¹ You are an ambassador, for God reaches people through people. “And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”⁵ And here is our message to millions who “really wanna know”—through faith in Christ, you, too, can be new, reconciled and, yes, righteous through the selfless grace of God.

Who’s next?

Father, I cannot begin to imagine the depth of your love or the cost of my reconciliation. Grace me to flourish in your forgiveness and to be a selfless ambassador of your truth and grace. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Christ in me is peace.

¹ Townshend, Peter. (1978). Who Are You [Lyrics]. Retrieved from https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/who/whoareyou.htm
² 2 Corinthians 5:17
³ 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19a
⁴ 3 Corinthians 5:21
⁵ 2 Corinthians 5:19b, 20

See today's Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. 

2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)  We live by faith, not by sight. 

These seven words are a real mouthful.  To live by faith means to never worry...oops.  To live by faith means I trust in God and His perfect timing...oops.  To live by faith means there is nothing I fear, nothing that will keep me awake at night, nothing that causes me to be afraid of tomorrow. I work on this daily, you too?

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 

There they are again, words that paint a picture of perfect peace.  Faith is not visual, faith is a heart thing. Faith is a Spiritual gift, a precious confidence in God's Word.  For me faith is experienced, felt, learned and finally embraced.

When I want to understand faith better I turn to Hebrews chapter 11.  This section of scripture reveals the faith of our Fathers'.  The words are like music and they read like a beautiful story with the happiest of endings.  Read through Hebrews 11 here and see if you don't agree.

2 Corinthians 5