“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal
through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'" – 2 Cor 5:20
(NLT)
Photo by Simon Tullstedt from FreeImages
A long time ago at my church, a preacher shared his
experience in teaching the grace of God we have in Christ to an unbeliever. The man wanted to learn the salvation in Christ as he had an intention to marry
his Christian girlfriend. The preacher told him, that whoever wants to obtain
the salvation from God needs to believe in Jesus Christ. The man made a conclusion that a person just had to mention believing in Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Then he said, “Oh so to have
salvation in Christ is cheap, easy!” The preacher responded, “It is cheap, but
definitely not gimcrack.” It is given freely, but only when the person really appreciates the love of Christ who gave His life willingly to bear the wrath of
God and died on the cross for the atonement of the man's sins. Salvation in Christ must have a personal meaning to everyone who receives it. That is when the sinner becomes a true believer and
no longer lives for himself but it is Christ who lives in him.
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering
for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (v.21). Someone asked me once, “If humans’ salvation was initiated by God the
Father, why did Jesus Christ get all the fame for that?” It is because He was the One who
had to endure everything; He was the One who went through so much torture and humiliation from
sinners and died for their sake. It must be very painful for the Father to see
His Son suffered so much, that is why there is no way to the Father except
through the Son (John 14:6).
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal
through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'” (v.20). Today’s
passage reminds us that Christ’s love controls us. As believers in Christ we
are supposed to have a new life. He died for us, and we die for our old life
(v.14-15). How far can we compare our old life to our life now? Are we the ambassadors of Christ? Can the
unbelievers see Christ in us?
May God help us. Amen.
Reflection on 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 by Desire Litaay
(Listen to the Podcast here)
No comments:
Post a Comment