THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
Keywords 5:19
that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed
to us the message of reconciliation.
1.
Paul has been earnestly defending his ministry to the Corinthian Christians. He
shows that everything he does is before God, whether people judge him as being
in his right mind or out of his mind. He lives the way he does because he is
compelled by the love of Christ to no longer live for himself. Paul himself is
an example of how Christ makes people a new creation (17). Since we are new
creations in Christ, we should not judge people from a worldly perspective but
learn to live before God, as Paul did (16).
2. Paul reveals that the gospel
ministry is essentially a ministry of reconciliation (18). To reconcile means
to restore a broken relationship. On the cross, our sin was put on Jesus,
making it possible for sinners to have a restored relationship with the holy
God (21). Our message is that reconciliation is possible in Jesus, both with
God and with people. When we understand what Christ did, we can overcome human
differences, being reconciled to each other through forgiveness.
Prayer Father, thank you for your great
love in Jesus that gives me a new way to live. May we see a great work of
reconciliation in our time.
One Word We
have the message of reconciliation
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