All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…
– 2 Corinthians 5:18a
From the beginning of creation, we have made an incomprehensible mess of things. We have looked God in the eye and chosen anything and everything but Him. The putrid mess we made is unchangeable, inescapable on our own. The reality is that our sin and brokenness is sending us barreling forward to an eternity of death and separation from the only One who can provide any hope for change. We have made ourselves enemies of God.
We have nothing else to boast than the cross where Jesus bled…
But God…
In His divine grace, it pleased God to ordain His Son to be the Mediator of reconciliation. God looked at this great chasm filled with our sin and shame and sent His Son to come to earth, dress in flesh, live in perfection, and shed His blood to secure for His children an eternal redemption once and for all. The blood of Christ brings peace in the midst of brokenness and bridges the breach of sin.
We know what is to come, a home where men no longer thirst…
Because of this, we wait in anticipation to be taken to our future home, a home where pain and suffering will have no place to haunt or hinder us. We fix our sights on a place where nothing vies for the throne of our hearts and we worship in full adoration. We wait for a home in which our hearts are eternally and solely tethered to Him.
…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.
– 2 Corinthians 5:18b-19
But until that great day when Jesus returns to take us home, we have the undeniable privilege to bear the name of God and go out into the world, entreating those who remain enemies of God to lay aside their rebellion and be reconciled to God.
We have been redeemed to redeem the world around us. We have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation. We are called, commissioned, made ambassadors to bring the truth of the gospel to those around us.
We are called to authentically show a life that has been transformed by the power of the cross. We are called to see the world around us through the lens of the gospel of peace and grace. We are called to live now as Jesus did then, bringing the truth and freedom of reconciliation to others.
With our reconciliation to God comes the indispensable duty to share the love, life, and freedom in Christ with others. We are sent out to the world around us to live in love and grace with our eyes set on the kingdom before us and our feet established on the earth below. What a joy and mystery it is that God would allow us to be a part of His plan of redemption for others.
It was not without purpose that God invited us into the covenant of redemption. We have been redeemed to redeem the world around us.
We’ve been redeemed to redeem the world around us
We have been loved to love one another
We’ve been pursued to pursue Your kingdom
