Are you living a reconciled life? - Part 2

I wanted to finish up 2 Corinthians 5 so in this post I'm going through verses 11-21 which in my bible is titled "The Ministry of Reconciliation"

Verse 11: Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

In the previous verse we learned that we will sit on the judgement seat of Christ and be held accountable for what we do in this life...good or bad. But is that what the "fear of the Lord" is? I think it's deeper than what we consider "fear" these days. To have a fear for the Lord is to have reverence for Him.

Verses 12-15: We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

What I take from these verses is that Paul and those with him were living a life different or apart from others. A life that because of Christ's love in which he died and was raised for us, doesn't make since to others. A life where He would seem not in his right mind for the sake of God. A life of glorifying God, having pride in Christ (who is in his/our heart) where others couldn't see. Couldn't understand.

Verse 16: So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

Paul is saying that he doesn't look at people as the world does anymore. Paul has gained an eternal perspective. He no longer looks at Christ from a worldly point of view, he now sees him as Lord.

Verses 17-19: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 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.

This is the good news! Do you know what it means to be reconciled? Some synonyms I found for reconcile: settle, put to rights, bring together, reunite, resolve, merge, patch up, square, join.

The idea of reconciliation is huge. It means he no longer counts our sins against us. It means that we can know through Christ come before our Father. That through Christ we are new again and the the Father has committed this to us.

Verses 20-21: We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Are you living a reconciled life? God through Christ has reconciled himself to you. Have you reconciled yourself to Him? Are you Christ's ambassador? Do you give yourself as a living sacrifice, a living example worthy of His sacrifice? Don't get me wrong here, we are not called to be perfect...but we are called to be different. We will mess up, we will have struggles...but as ambassadors of Christ, it's how we respond that shows others we are different.