“Therefore, 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; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:17-21)
As Americans, we find ourselves at a very difficult moment in our nation’s history. We’ve continued to endure the chaotic mess that Covid-19 has caused. We’ve watched yet another unjust death of yet another unarmed black man. We’ve seen the public protests that have turned into lawless riots. Everywhere around us, people struggle with anger, negativity, frustration, confusion and fear, and if we’re honest most of us have shared in these feelings. What hope does our nation have? Christian, I hope that the hope you envision for our country is the hope of Jesus Christ. Politics and platitudes can’t fix what’s broken. Belligerence and bickering only deepen the divide. Perhaps the best place to start is to ask “what fixed me?” If you’re a Christian, the answer to that question MUST be the wonderful, beautiful, priceless grace of God shown to me at the cross.
In today’s passage, Paul begins by pointing out that as a Christian I am something new: “the old has passed away; behold the new has come.” Hopefully, as a follower of Christ, you have experienced newness of life- new peace, new strength to do the right thing, a new conscience, a new favor with God, a new experience of communion with God in prayer, a new EVERYTHING. God is doing a new thing in you. But ask for a moment where that newness comes from. Paul says “this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself.” In other words, the most wonderful, the most dramatic change you have ever experienced was a RESCUE STORY. When you were utterly lost – indeed worse than that- when your heart was bent against God, he took the initiative to reconcile you to himself at a very steep, very personal price. What was this price? Today’s passage says “He made him to be sin who knew no sin”. The price God paid to reconcile you was to associate his beloved perfect son with your sin so much that to punish Jesus was to punish your sin. That is a heartwrenching, breathtaking thought if you truly believe it. And why did he pay this price? “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God associates you with the righteous deeds and life of Jesus Christ to such a degree that the blessings which belong to Jesus fall upon us. The gospel is scandalous- how can a holy God favor sinners? As a sinner, to have received Christ is a humbling and life-changing mercy, and it is something I ought NEVER forget. I ought never forget that the ongoing blessings I experience at God’s hands are, each and every one, undeserved kindnesses that God is pleased to give me out of the compassion of his heart because of Christ. Every answer to prayer that I’ve experienced, every hope of heaven, every comfort in sorrow, every ray of sunshine in this life I have received has been a gift from God given to me out of his kindness, and certainly not OWED to me. That is what has ‘fixed’ me; it is why I am a new person.
If it took the crucifixion of God’s son to fix what was wrong with me, can I not see that such is what my world needs as well? Indeed God calls me to ask that very question. This is why he adds in today’s passage “Therefore we are ambassadors of Christ, God making his appeal through us.” Paul is doing nothing short of suggesting that your duty on this earth, unworthy and yet favored child of God, is to represent Jesus to those around you. He suggests that God wants to make his appeal to the world through us. Our words, and our actions before the world around us, and indeed even the attitudes we hold should commend the scandal of the cross to those around us. We must be careful about how we use the opportunities that we have to speak. Friend, we hear a lot of voices with opinions about how to fix what’s wrong with our country. Before we respond to those voices or align ourselves with whatever course of action they loudly commend, can’t we please stop and ask “what fixed me”? Won’t you ask “whom does my savior call me to represent?” We have a unique opportunity to connect people to One who can truly make a change, just as He made a change in us. All it takes is a heart that thrives on God’s mercy, a voice ready to be an ambassador of the cross, and a will to submit any other thing I might desire to represent before that singular calling.
Sealed By Grace 