Ministry of Reconciliation - Acknowledge Spiritual Realities
This article is the third in a series about the Ministry of Reconciliation, which I decided to share as a follow up to Nick’s sermon on Salt & Light from Matthew 5:13-16.
And finally, a part of spreading the Gospel is POINT #3 - v16-17 Acknowledge Spiritual Realities. In other words, as we saw in the previous article on this, there’s no longer any distinctions (age, gender, ethnicity…) that we as Christians use to evaluate people, only looking to the spiritual reality of their eternal destinies.
This starts with our view of Christ. We see Paul point to that in v16 “Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.” In the past before coming to know Christ, Paul and other Jewish leaders evaluated Jesus and his messianic claim according to their own standards, which were colored by their lens of the OT and what they wanted to see happen to their Roman occupiers. They viewed him as a mere crucified first-century Jew, rather than the risen Savior and King who is seated at the right hand of the Father. [TESB]
That’s the difference between knowing about Jesus, and truly believing that He is Christ the Messiah. Before he was Paul, Saul just knew about this Jesus. “He had information about Jesus, but this was not the same as believing in Him. Mere information about Jesus cannot transform a person from self-centeredness to selflessness (5:15). Only conversion could effect that, as it had done for Paul (Acts 9:1–20).” [BKC]
That problem is not unique to them in that time and place, we all will allow our own views and preferences distort how we view God, His Word, and other people made in his image. “We must see and evaluate things according to their heavenly, spiritual realities—not their mere earthly, physical, racial, and temporal appearances.” [TESB]
So to wrap up, what is this transformation or shift in spiritual realities? It starts with being transformed into a new spiritual creation v17, and the simultaneous reconciliation of the individual to the Father. We’ll talk more about the reconciliation aspect in the next section in this article series, but the gist of it is: An individual is reconciled to their Creator and made a new creation in Christ, which compels them to become a sacrificial minister of that reconciliation. “No one was more able to reflect on that transformation than Paul who switched from a persecutor of Christ to a proclaimer of Christ (Acts 9:5, 20–22).” [BKC] But to close out study on this section we will focus on the new creation aspect from v17.
Knowing Paul’s story and then studying his ministry through his writing we see him acting as a new creation. Paul was in Christ, which is what he repeatedly referred to in his epistles when speaking of a believer's spiritual relationship with Christ, when one believes the Gospel message and is identified by their faith with Christ. ~[BKC] Gal. 2:20 -
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
To be in Christ is to be a new creation.
“he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” - Titus 3:5
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” - John 3:3, 6
The old life of slavery to self and sin has gone
“to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,” - Eph. 4:22
The new life of devotion to Christ means that one has new attitudes and actions.
“and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” - Eph. 4:23-24
The old has passed away, the new has come (v17). This is what Paul is proclaiming to the Corinthians, and in that newness of life they have after placing faith in Christ, Paul is encouraging them to follow him in persuading others to hear and believe, and to be compelled by the love of Christ to diligently and radically love God and love people by proclaiming the Gospel, that God is reconciling us to Himself, and we no longer need to regard things through mere external qualities but in regard to their spiritual realities.
“An individual is reconciled to their Creator and made a new creation in Christ, which compels them to become a sacrificial minister of that reconciliation.”
If you believe the Good News, then God has brought about spiritual transformation inside of you and given you a new identity tied to your new birth. In that new identity you are called to live in accordance to that new reality, “the old has passed away, behold the new has come.” If this doesn’t make sense to you, or you haven’t been made new through the washing away of your sins by faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross, I pray that you will. Today is the day. There is a natural sense of urgency to the Gospel message and the ministry of reconciliation, which we will explore more in the next series on the following verses. Now let’s celebrate what Christ did on the cross in order to make us new creations through our faith in Him. As we come to the communion table, praise God for the radical obedience of Christ dying on the cross so that we can live, and be emboldened to live likewise radical lives to spread that message.