Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NRSV)
DEVOTIONAL:
In today’s Scripture, Paul is telling us that as Christians we should not be far off from God. We are no longer to use human judgment. We have been created anew in Christ. And as the apostles once saw Christ as a man living among them and their understanding was transformed, with the resurrection our understanding must also be transformed.
It is Christ who is pivotal in our reconciliation with God. Paul tells us that Christ has made us his ambassadors, his resident representatives, on Earth. In these terms we are God’s hands, feet and voice living here. God sent Christ for our sake so that we could become God’s ambassadors.
To be an ambassador of Christ is to be “in Christ” and be reconciled with God. When we are in Christ, we are not self-contained individuals, but rather we are part of the community of the body of Christ and are shaped by these relationships. To be in Christ is to understand that we are changed and enriched by our relationships with others.
To be reconciled with God is to not be separated from God. Christ’s life has allowed us to draw close to God. And even though we live here in this world, we live in a new way. We can have a relationship with God that shapes us so that we are strengthened and enriched in our lives. Paul calls us to be reconciled with God so that we can be ambassadors and do God’s work in the world.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NRSV)
From 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 know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All 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 he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.