Fourth Sunday in Lent: Epistle, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21                 

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Reconciliation makes something that was not there before. Reconciliation is a major word in the epistle lesson for the week. And the setting for it begins with Paul explaining that whereas once he regarded Jesus Christ from the earthly, fleshy perspective, his view has radically changed. The work that God has accomplished in and by Jesus, which is now being “distributed” to His people, sets us in right standing with God and He with us. And in the reconciliation there is created a man, a woman who simply was not there previously. Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Why is this important to “get”? I believe far too few disciples of Jesus see themselves as new. As wonderful as the truth of this passage is, I fail to see that many of my brothers and sisters in Jesus hold it close as precious. I believe it is one factor in the relatively weak showing of the Christian faith in the West today. We see ourselves, not as the new people that Jesus has created (cf. 1 Peter 2:9-10), but as a patched-up version of the old. No! No! A thousand times no!

Perhaps one reason for the lack of accuracy in our assessment is this: we see the weakness of our own efforts and our myriad failures and think, “Just look at how I have screwed up this enterprise.” We fail because we see only our hands, our efforts. But on the heels of verse 17 is this, “All this is from God …” (v. 18). Yes, the reconciling work accomplished by our Savior, the recreation of the human person is from God. From God. The work and its result is not only good, it is miraculous. Because it is from God. Perhaps that is the very perspective we need. Let’s start today.