Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

I’ve liked Chris Tomlin’s song Jesus Messiah for a long time now. In it he quotes 2 Corinthians 5:21. Take a minute and play the song at least through the first chorus. Here are the lyrics:

“He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness,

He humbled Himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing, love so amazing,

Jesus Messiah name above all names

Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel

The rescue for sinners

The ransom from heaven, Jesus Messiah, Lord of all”

It’s a great song that illustrates what Paul discusses in 2 Corinthians 5. It’s the foundation of what we as Christians believe. It’s an incredible love, in that God sent His Son, Jesus, to reconcile us to Him. Now He has erased our sins by living the perfect life. It is an unconditional love we don’t deserve but He has given us through grace. Thank you, Jesus!

But that’s not the end. We all know the great commission. We are to tell everyone the message of Christ. Paul reiterates this in verses 19 and 20. He says, “...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 are entrusted with the message of reconciliation! We are His ambassadors. I do not take that likely. No one should. We know the power of Jesus Christ who died for us. We can’t earn it, but He gives us salvation through Him. He is the ONLY way to a perfect eternity. How could we as Christians not shout that to people every day?!

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Think about this past week, and then this past month. How many people did you invite to church or tell in some way about our Savior? Be intentional this week about inviting and investing in telling people about the One who became sin, who knew no sin, that we could become His righteousness!

Family Devos: 2 Corinthians 5  

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset

Head

In chapter 5 Paul and Timothy are teaching about the ministry of reconciliation. Spend some time as a family discussing what reconciliation means. (Reconciliation: To be at peace again.) Why do we want to be at peace with God?  

As the letter continues, they are sharing about the new body each believer receives in heaven. While we are still in our earthly bodies, it can be hard! We get sick, hurt ourselves, and face a lot of hard things! It's going to be so awesome to have a new, perfect body in heaven. God gave us the Spirit to be with us as a promise of what is to come. This is God’s way of guaranteeing that we will be with Him in heaven if we believe in who He is and are filled by His Spirit.  

Heart

Because we know this, we make it our goal to please the Father. We live our lives in a way that shows we belong to God and follow Him.  Because we know these things and believe in them, we want to share our good news with others. Some thought Paul was crazy, but Paul shared that if was crazy, it was for God. When you meet someone new do you think they believe you are crazy for God? That is an awesome compliment! We are called to live for Christ if we believe he died for us.  

Hands

Paul shared, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.” (Verse 17) When we invite Jesus to live in our hearts we are changed and become new. Do our bodies change? The change is inside us; our choices and the things we want to do change. We become ambassadors for Christ, and God wants to use us to reconcile other people to Him. Share this good news with others.  

Prayer:  God, thank You for giving Your only Son, Jesus, to take our sins and to die for us. Thank You for the opportunity to live by faith in You. We can’t see You in Your body, but we know You are there. Give us opportunities to share Your Good News with others. Help us to lead others to be reconciled with You. We love You, Amen.