God with us in reconciliation | Dec. 7
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Jon Pasiuk | Pastor of Care
As a teenager, I had the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Makiivka, Ukraine. Our team spent the majority of our time working with orphans. Some were living in an MCC home where they were loved and cared for. Others lived in state-run institutions called “internats” that were little more than jails for children; an environment more like the world of Oliver Twist than the world I grew up in.
The experience created a crisis for me. When I looked at those kids I felt like I was seeing another me. If I valued my life and my future; how could I not value theirs as well? How could I do nothing about their suffering? There must be something I could do, but what?
The trouble is that more often than not there aren’t any quick fixes for these troubles. The world is broken and the scale is beyond what any of us can handle.
This has been our human experience ever since sin came into the world. All creation is longing for reconciliation with God. The good news is, this situation is not hopeless. All of our pain, sorrow and scarcity is ultimately healed when we are reconciled to our Creator.
We become new creations, and God entrusts us with this ministry of reconciliation.
“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 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. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
God takes the initiative to reconcile us to Himself, and then call us to be a part of his work. Each of us have been entrusted with resources, energy, skills, and time which we must choose how to use. Not all of the things we pursue will prove worth our time and effort in the end. Even good things we do for others may only alleviate their troubles for a moment. But God’s kingdom is eternal, and the things we do in faithful service as ambassadors of Christ will prove worthwhile for all eternity.
PRAYER: Lord, I thank you that, through the cross, I have been reconciled to you. Make me an instrument of your peace. May all of my relationships, my efforts, my thoughts, and my priorities be aligned with the call to be your ambassador.