Reconciliation

When my husband and I got excited about some new endeavor, we’d get carried away talking about the plans. At some point, one of us would quote a one-liner from the movie True Stories, “I personally believe I can see Fort Worth from here.”  It’s kind of obscure as far as jokes go, but we’d poke fun at the way our imagination wanders—as though saying what we’ll do makes it so.  Unlike this quip, these verses in 2 Corinthians say we are something new. What we had been is now gone.  This is an unbelievable claim!

If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that Christ reconciled himself to us while we were still sinners.  He took the initiative to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, while we were still his enemies. Christ came to earth, full of mercy, grace and forgiveness. Because of what Jesus has done, those who follow him are right with God. We are in a process of discipleship, which involves following God in this work, by helping others become reconciled. We are to live and interact from the perspective of what we are becoming, instead of who we have been. So, how is this different from working to please God? At the beginning of this passage, we are declared to be a new creation—we are given a new life before we have a chance to “earn” it. We respond to that gift by allowing God to re-order our priorities and transform our lives.

How Do We Live Like This?

The Christian life is a process.  We make mistakes, we fail to live up to expectations, we hurt other people, and we have trouble forgiving when others hurt us.  So how do we really live like this? In addition to spiritual disciplines, we need the support of the Christian community. Ideally, this would be a source of encouragement, advice, challenge, and love.  It’s in this atmosphere that we need to share the difficult aspects of life.  That can be a tall order because it’s nice to know ahead of time if that support will be there before making ourselves vulnerable.  If we can get to a place where we humbly give and receive support, we not only help others grow closer to God but we will also grow. We not only help others become reconciled to God, but we become more reconciled to God in the process.

Let’s believe these verses. Let us respond in humility and participate in this great calling as much as we’re able.

Photo credit: Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash