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343. New Inside and Out!

2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Key Verse:  "If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17

Paul may have written this passage of scripture to the Corinthians, but this could just as easily have served as part of Peter's first sermon on the day of Pentecost.  It puts forth so clearly why Christ came to this earth.  His ministry was not one of judgment, but to create a means by which sinful man could be reconciled with a Holy God.

"Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36) Yet Paul says: "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21)  All this is to say, man may have done the deed, but it was all done with God's approval. It was God's plan all along, He was in control, so that we could be renewed. In being renewed, a new creation, through Christ, we could now be reconciled to God. By giving up ourselves and our unholiness, and taking on Christ's Holiness, we can receive the new heart that Jeremiah talked about and draw near to God.

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 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. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." (2 Cor. 5:18-20)  Which, of course, on the day of Pentecost, is exactly what God was doing.

God did not inspire Peter to speak only a message of condemnation and judgment. God did, and still does long to be reconciled with people. Peter was blunt about the sin that the people were guilty of. They had crucified Jesus, God's Son! Could there be any worse sin than that! Yet, it was allowed to demonstrate God's immense love for us so that we could be restored to relationship with Him as was once in the Garden of Eden.

On that day, Peter and the other disciples were Christ's ambassadors to those who were there to celebrate Pentecost. Later on, after his own conversion, Paul saw himself as Christ's ambassador to the Gentiles of his day. We too carry the same responsibility to those around us today. When we come to Christ, and receive what He has done for us, we are no longer citizens of this world. We become Citizens of God's Kingdom. Yet, He sends us back as ambassadors of His Kingdom, to those who do not yet know or understand so that they too can be offered citizenship in God's Kingdom through Jesus. The message of reconciliation is ours as well.  It is hope for the lost and hurting and for the worst of sinners.


Hymn:  "Each One Reach One"

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