(The Grow-Pray-Study Guide—GPS—began six years ago, in the summer of 2008. To mark this anniversary, we'll be sharing a few "best of" GPS editions during these summer weeks. We first published this week's GPS, focused on Christian community, during the week of May 28, 2012.)
Daily Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
Reflection Questions:
The Christians in the city of Corinth divided into factions (1 Corinthians 1:11-12), sued each other (1 Corinthians 6:7-8), abused the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)—some even denied the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12). Yet Paul sent THEM this lyrical description of the "new creation" God was bringing into being through Christ's saving work! God's grace was day-by-day growing them into a new kind of community. Seeing themselves in that light reshaped their inner identity, and the attitudes with which they lived.
Pastor Kenneth Chafin wrote, "[Paul] believed that on the Cross sinful humanity had, at least in principle, been destroyed and that ‘in Christ' a new humanity was being created….Sin, of course, was still present in the world and the forces of evil were powerful, but Paul had seen in…Christ's death and resurrection a clue about the end, and this gave him great confidence." In what ways do you see God's creative power at work in your life, and that of other believers? How, with sin still present in the world, did Paul maintain his faith that God was creating a new and better life?
Every person, even an avowed atheist, has some type of relationship with God. Sadly, many of those relationships are fearful or untrusting. Paul said God calls each one of us to be an ambassador, sharing the message, "Be reconciled to God!" In your sphere, what are some engaging, creative ways you can share that appeal with others?
Today's Prayer:
Creator God, thank you for tirelessly creating, in my world and my life. I want to be part of your new creation. Please recreate my identity each day into that of a citizen of your kingdom. Amen.
Insight from Celicia Hiatt
Celicia Hiatt is a Coordinating Assistant in the Guest Services Ministry at The Church of the Resurrection, serving as a crucial member of the team that helps visitors and members of the church get plugged into the life of the church.2 Corinthians 5:16-21 touches on my favorite part of Jesus and the resurrection. Because of His sacrifice I don’t have to live up to this impossible ideal that would drive me crazy and make life a little less enjoyable. Paul writes this letter to our sweet little misguided friends of Corinth to remind them that there was a reason Jesus died on the cross, and that it wasn’t so they could bicker and fight amongst each other, pointing fingers and living in a community filled with hate and animosity. Paul was reaching out to community of Corinth to – I think – give them a good “YOUR MISSING THE POINT” talk and remind them of what we gained through the resurrection.
How often does that happen today? How often do we all get caught up in judging others by what they have or how they look? More importantly, how often do we get caught up judging ourselves by what we have or how we look? What Paul was telling the people of Corinth is still a very valid lesson for all of us today. Through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection we got this special gift of a new beginning, we got our do-over times infinity. We are all sinners, but our relationship with God was made right through Jesus. But wait…there’s more! We were shown by God what forgiveness and reconciliation looks like through the sacrifice of his son, and we have to remember that reconciliation doesn’t just go between us and God, but also between one another.
When I was in sixth grade my dad’s job moved us to Roswell, New Mexico (yes, that Roswell, NM, and no, I never saw aliens). That was a rough move for me, not only because of my age, but also because it was a small town where kids had known each other their entire lives. I was the alien, so to speak, and I was automatically disliked because…well for no reason, just because I was the new kid. There was one girl who was particularly mean to me from day one–Lila. She was the bane of my existence, and I avoided her like the plague. Funny thing happened between me and Lila after a few weeks of school–we started to like each other. By the end of the school year, we were best friends and inseparable. Later she apologized for being so mean to me in those first few weeks of school, and she never could really articulate why she chose to treat me the way she did. I had a choice to make early on in our friendship, and that was to forgive her. I’m so glad I did too; she was one of my best friends all the way through high school, and is someone I still keep track of today.
Jesus modeled forgiveness for all of us by taking on our sins on the cross. I love the wording in verse 20 – We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. Ambassadors! I love that word! We are Christ’s ambassadors; He has showed us through His sacrifice, and now it is on us to show the world what we have learned through His actions. As Christians it is on us to teach forgiveness and reconciliation through our actions, in the same way that Christ taught us.
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