2 Corinthians 5:16-21
16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. 21For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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In “The Message” by Eugene Peterson, he writes, “The Corinthian Christians gave their founding pastor, Paul, more trouble than all the other churches put together.” In his first letter, he tried to turn them away from their “sinful and pagan” practices and live moral lives. But over time, false teachers came and tried to turn them away from the truth. So in this letter, he tried to set his people straight and get them back on the right path once again.
What is the truth? Paul states that in Christ, we are part of a new creation; our old life is gone. All this is from God, and through His spirit, we are reconciled, made right, with God. He goes on to say that as ‘ambassadors for Christ,’ we are commissioned to live and share this news with everyone around us.
What does that mean for us? We have work to do. Living a life for Christ is not a spectator sport. We are to actively engage in sharing our faith. As Eugene says, “We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We are speaking for Christ himself now.” In Christ, we can and must do this.
Prayer: In your spirit, we have been given the power to share your love with all those around us. Help us to do that daily, in your name.
–Dave Dynneson