So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come.
2 Cor. 5:17
You Are A New Creation in Christ – Epiphany 2 Cor. 5:17-20
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
The Christian writer Sheldon Vanauken is attributed as saying, “The best argument against Christianity … is Christians.” By that he meant that Christians make it hard for others to believe when their way of life does not reflect God’s unconditional love. Friedrich Nietzsche echoed that thought: “I might believe in the Redeemer if His followers looked more redeemed.” In other words, a God who is said to transform should “produce” people with transformed lives. Through Christ, God gave us the ministry of reconciliation and made us His ambassadors. What an enormous gift and responsibility!
Are there areas in your life you have yet to allow God to transform? How can you accept and show that transformation so you can be a true ambassador of His unconditional love?
See also:
The Nativity of the Lord — Philippians 4:4-5
The Lord Appears to the Outcasts – The Epiphany: Luke 2
God Makes Himself a Child So You Can Know Him – The Epiphany: Luke 2
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