Introduction
This passage contains words
and phrases that need explanation – new creation, reconciliation, ambassadors,
the righteousness of God; if we’re confused, imagine others. The
ministry of reconciliation, which I want to address, involves being prepared to live and share what we have been
privileged to receive.
Paul is using
these concepts (and bringing them together) to inspire a response. The church
in Corinth could well have needed these words to focus their minds on what was
important. Paul was passionate about the Gospel, and desired that others would
become just as passionate as he was. Paul explains the impact of God’s
reconciling work for us, so that we would have no ground to hold this back from
others.
Seeing Through
Spiritual Eyes (verse 16)
There is
something happening! Something that cannot be defined in human terms. It is
spiritual! We have received Jesus into our life, and things are changing. We
now know Jesus, and life looks different! We have become, and are becoming …
more and more so, a new person. We have begun to think about other people in a
different way. They have greater value now. We have more positive things to
say. We see other people through the eyes of Jesus. We acknowledge that there
is more at stake than we once thought!
Paul himself had
this sort of major turnaround, which allowed him to speak like this. He had
once seen Jesus in a purely human way, and rejected that Jesus (as a misguided
pretender). Then he came to know Jesus as the Divine Messiah who brings life
out of death, and everything changed. Jesus became the centre of Paul’s new
existence, which had radical consequences for Paul’s entire life – requiring
him to abandon old values and to reorient himself on new values (J M Scott).
Because of coming
to know Jesus, Paul’s whole outlook changed. Not only did Paul now see Jesus
properly, he also saw all other people in a different way (even those who might
oppose him). Heaven knows how frustrated Paul was with the Corinthian church!
Yet, these were people that God loved, and desired to know, and was offering
grace to (through Jesus). These people needed a ministry of reconciliation.
They may appear far from God, or be totally disruptive … but then, so was Paul
(when he was known as Saul).
We might look at other people purely from a
“human point of view” – with superficial human judgments. In doing so, we would
be neglecting a whole lot of spiritual factors. Firstly, there is how much all
people are loved and valued by God. Secondly, there are all sorts of prospects
for each of these people as they better come to know Jesus, or indeed come to
know Jesus for the first time. To look at someone from a “human point of view”,
is to look at them in a ‘worldly way’, rather than in the way God looks at
them. Once we meet Jesus, like Paul did, we should see people differently.
New Creation (verse 17)
We should
strongly desire to become this new person, to grow, to become mature. We do
have setbacks; but we should continue to embrace the “new”. Part of moving to
maturity is to have learned from all the experiences of the past, especially
the less than good ones; to have put all this in perspective, and channelled it
into service to God. I should quickly add that, it is nearly impossible to do
this in isolation. We need the extended ‘body’ to bring insight, and to aid
reflection, if we are ever to become the person we were created to be.
When we become a
new creation, “everything old has passed away” (v.17). What exactly has passed
away (or should)??? We could list many areas of sin (especially those sins that
are destructive to other people). But maybe it’s bigger than that. Maybe it’s
the whole way we look at our life. Maybe it’s the whole way Jesus lived that we
need to look at – the most selfless person who ever lived! The way Jesus interacted
with others!! And Jesus said to his disciples, You will be my witnesses
(Acts 1:8).
Just prior to our
passage, verse 15 reads: And [Jesus] died for all, so that those who live …
might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for
them. So what is it that needs to pass away?? It’s like when we talked
about the ‘idols’ that Paul encountered in Athens. What needs to go?? Anything
that stops us following Jesus. This is because there needs to be space for the
“new”. And, as we shall see, the “new” doesn’t have to be invented, it already
exists (for us to attach ourselves to). The Jesus-following life is NOT just
about what we won’t do, but much more so about … what we can now do! This is
what the Holy Spirit will do through us.
The “new
creation” referred to here, is not just about the individual. There is a
broader context. We can look at the translational issues here. The Greek does
not have subject and verb – in English the “he is” (e.g. NIV). The literal
translation is, “If anyone is in Christ – new creation”. So for flow in
English, we might translate, “If anyone is in Christ – a new creation”, or, “ –
there is a new creation”. Often this is individualised, but the meaning is
really that God is bringing about a new creation and we are becoming a part of
that. Change in one person connects with change in others … all working toward
God’s purposes.
For each newly
‘saved’ or ‘reconciled’ person there is a broader significance – the ministry
of reconciliation. However it does all start with us – and what we allow God to
do {or not do} in us! Neil Cole wrote a good book entitled “Search and Rescue”.
In this book he writes (p.119): We are not fit to share the good news of
God’s Kingdom unless first we are transformed by it; personal transformation
precedes community transformation. So if we look around us and see
everything that is wrong (in the local community), we would then need to first
look within ourselves … to see what needs to become new (in us), so that we can
lead (or at least be involved in) this community transformation (with
integrity).
Being
Reconciled (verses 18-19)
God made all this
possible – freedom from all that separated us from Him, and a role in what God
wants to do in the whole world, i.e. a bigger number of souls coming to Him
from across the earth {unlimited in number}. Our “trespasses” will not
be held against us, which is such a positive opportunity for others to hear
about as well. God’s mercy rules!! Imagine life without pressure from sin or
addiction! Imagine others, imagining life, without any pressure from sin or
addiction!! Can we pray into this? Can we live as part of the solution to
this??
Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven,
Whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
Whose lives are lived in complete honesty! (Psalm 32-1-2, NLT)
To reconcile
means to bring into harmony with – to bring together without barriers. To
reconcile is to make peace. God achieves this through Christ’s work of
forgiveness on the cross, whereby our trespasses are not held against us
(v.19). All those actions that demean humanity or offend God’s majesty, and
form barriers all over the place, can be overcome and taken out of the way.
We can forgive
(even when it’s not sought), and deliberately look beyond failure, in an
attempt to restore relationship (just like Jesus did). It is God’s acceptance
of us, warts and all, that frees us not to hold grudges against others.
Forgiveness doesn’t ignore past hostility – much more powerfully, forgiveness
acknowledges sin and removes it from any relevance.
Reconciliation is
complete, in that God has done everything possible, through Jesus, to make it
available. However, reconciliation is also a work in progress (or a currently
incomplete process), because it requires people to respond, and also for
people, like us, to promote it.
An Ambassador (v.20)
Paul uses the
term here: “ambassador” – we are “ambassadors for Christ”. Our nation’s
“ambassador” to, say, China, represents Australia’s interests in that other
nation. An “ambassador” is a representative or an agent of another. An
“ambassador for Christ” then, represents Christ’s best interests wherever they
travel. They are literally a ‘representative’ or ‘agent’ of Christ. God [who is
no longer physically present in Jesus] is making his appeal through us.
As Jesus
represented us in his death, we now represent him in his physical absence. This
means that those who are looking towards our representation of God, make their
judgment (or decision) about God based on what they observe of us!! At this
point, we may want to resign. However Paul, Jesus, and the entire Bible, give
us NO get out clauses! The ministry of reconciliation is a non-negotiable!!
Since this is the
case, we surely need ourselves to be reconciled to God. If we are to be God’s
agents of reconciliation … if we are to truly speak for him, then first we must
be sure to seek our own reconciliation with God. This is NOT just another
missional call for the church; although the Bible is first and foremost a
missional book – right from the moment that Abraham was called forward to be
father of many nations. A missional call though, is also a deeply personal call
to our own personal devotion to God. We decide if we are going to be
part of God’s new creation.
But to look at
this another way – without the social engagement of witnessing to Jesus through
the challenges of life, we will NOT grow! We only grow as our faith is tested
in the dialogue of life. I believe in times of personal silent retreat and deep
reflection, but when this becomes all that we do (or if this becomes an end in
itself), it often becomes just about ourselves, rather than the will, purposes
and mission of God (that we are here to embrace).
A Ministry of
Reconciliation
Part of a
ministry of reconciliation is demonstrating what reconciliation is about. So
many people now will NOT understand this concept of being separated from God.
God is often not part of the conversation. Go out to dinner with your
non-church going friends, and see if God comes up naturally. However, what will
likely come up is: human hostility, family division, community dislocation,
neighbourhood disputes, world turmoil – these things, unless you’re avoiding
this type of subject matter altogether.
We can
acknowledge the pain that separation brings. We can weep with those who weep.
We can also speak into this: we can reflect the sort of views and values that
Jesus would bring to this conversation – e.g. “Blessed are the peacemakers,
love your neighbour, love your enemies”; and, “as much as it depends on you,
live at peace with all (Romans 12:18)”. Have all possible steps been taken to
repair a situation? Have we applied gentleness and patience? Or, have we just
given into fear? Have divisions been allowed to form for no good reason?
There would be no
greater reconciliation challenge than national reconciliation with our
indigenous peoples. Here are people who historically have been stripped of
their land, and thus lost their spiritual roots as well (much like when the
people of Israel were taken into exile on various occasions). Issues like
health and the stolen generations stick out like a sore thumb. Yet, many people
are currently participating in the process of reconciliation (and
constitutional recognition), as well as making strong contributions to
long-standing problems.
As all dissension
and disruption has its source in separation from God, pointing towards the
benefits and blessing of reconciling as humans, may also lead to reconciliation
with God. As love for God and neighbour go hand-in-hand, as does reconciliation
with God and neighbour. We will always be guaranteed a good hearing from God;
however, there are no guarantees with people, as they have often drawn lines
from behind which they will not move. If we have done all we can, we
have done all that can be expected of us.
Conclusion
Today there is an
opportunity to reconcile with God. There is also an opportunity to pray for
reconciliation with others (and consider what the next steps might be). Don’t
miss that opportunity. God offers this safe place in which to reconcile. Once
the church has caught the vision of living as a sign of the new creation,
anything could happen! If God is the creator of the whole world, who ultimately
wills to redeem the whole creation, and who bears no favouritism – how can we
scorn anyone!?
We started out
thinking about a time of spiritual change – old becoming new. The potential of
this is unlimited – even described (in verse 21) in terms of us becoming the
“righteousness of God”. Pardon me!! Here is the second big turnaround in this
passage. Jesus, who knew no sin throughout his life, ironically and
majestically had all our sin piled on him. Then we, who were separated from God
by our own sin, gained the potential to be the “righteousness of God”. In some
sense, we come to share the righteousness that characterises God.
And the plural
“we” is used here (in v.21b), indicating that the righteousness of God can
really only be embraced collectively. Just as the righteousness of God
co-exists in the Trinity (the community of God), it can co-exist in the
children of God. It is ‘the church’ that embodies, in its life together, the
world-reconciling love of Jesus Christ (R B Hays). May Jesus, who knew no sin,
but took our sin upon himself, have his way with us!! We live in God’s embrace!
To be continued.
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