2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Therefore, from now on we know nothing according to the flesh.  And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, rather now in this way we no longer know him.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The things from the beginning ceased to exist.  Look!  A new thing has become.  And all of this is out of God who reconciled us to Him through Christ and who gave the service of reconciliation to us.  This is that God was in Christ while reconciling the world to him while no longer counting their sins against them after also setting up the word of reconciliation in them.  Therefore we are ambassadors for the sake of Christ as God invites hospitably through us.  We plead on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God.  He made sinful the one who did not know sin for our sake in order that we should become righteousness of God in Him. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul reminds us in this passage that we are to be reconciled with God.  In fact, Paul pleads this case to the Corinthians.  We have one primary need in this life: to be reconciled with God.  Anything can happen in this life, but the most important thing is that at some point in time we are reconciled to God.  If we go through this life without being reconciled to God, it will be too late.  It is of the utmost urgency that we do find ourselves reconciled to God while we have the opportunity to experience God’s grace.

Do you know God’s grace?  Have you been reconciled to God?

Second Thought:

When Paul talks about being ambassadors for the sake of Christ, Paul is actually using a really neat Greek word here.  The work Paul uses is the verb presbeuo (πρεσβεύω).  Presbeuo is actually a word that comes out of Roman politics.  When Rome would decide that a geographic area was officially welcomed to become a sovereign province of Rome, it sent presbeutai out to the area.  These presbeutai were responsible for establishing the new government, determining who was to rule the province, and then welcoming them into the sovereignty of the Roman Empire.  Paul is saying that this is the mission of the followers of God.  God sends us out into the world to find new territory, to explain the terms of entering the sovereignty of God’s kingdom, and then welcome people into the kingdom.  That is our task.  We are to claim new territory for God as his political ambassadors.  This is also why Paul says that we are given the service of reconciliation.  God reconciles us to Him.  We are to help others in that process.

Where are you able to claim territory for God?  How do you actively go about this process in your life?

Third Thought:

At the end of this section Paul reminds us why all of this is possible at all.  We are able to be reconciled to God because God made Christ sinful even though He had never known sin.  God made Christ take our sinfulness upon Himself so that Christ could die in our place.  God took our sinfulness and dealt with it Himself because we could not deal with it ourselves.

How does it make you feel to read the words, “He made sinful the one who did not know sin for our sake?”  Does this inspire you to be more about your faith and less about the world?

Passage for Tomorrow: 2 Corinthians 6:1-2