Verse 17 is a familiar verse to many of us. “The old has gone, the new has come.” But there is so much more that Paul is trying to tell us here. What does it mean to be a new creation? It means we have a new Mindset, Ministry and Mission.
We used to have a fleshly mindset. We would judge people by appearances, by status, race, class, gender, demeanor and so on. We even viewed Christ this way. Ultimately, this is a self-serving and selfish mindset. We look at people in order to compare ourselves to them (usually favorably) or to determine what they can do for us.
The new creation mindset, on the other hand, springs from an understanding that Christ died for all people. We live for him and model our view of people on his sacrificial love for all people.
We have also been given a new ministry, one of reconciliation. This is ultimately the work of God, but we are called to participate in it. The term “reconciliation” here in the Greek means to exchange a hostile relationship for a friendly one. As Paul writes in Romans, Christ died for us even though we were flat out his enemies. He then entrusts us with this message that Christ is reconciling the world to himself.
This is, then, our mission. We serve as ambassadors, in a foreign country, but with citizenship in another, sent to secure the interests of our home country. This interest is the reconciliation of the world with God.
When presented with this truth, many of us are torn between our sin nature and our new person, with the latter rejoicing and the former recoiling. But the situation is straightforward – we are ambassadors, whether that news excites us or not. We are representing Christ and the goals of the Kingdom regardless of whether we are doing it well or poorly.
How can we apply this directly? Support missions, become directly involved with ministries through a congregation, simply invite people to church on Easter. If you are reconciled, you are called in turn to take up the, Mindset, Ministry and Mission of reconciliation.
– Sermon Notes, Robert Reid, City Church International, Dallas, TX
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com