Advent Devotional - Day 23

DECEMBER 23 – 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21
By: Shirley Evans
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So what does this mean? (I feel like I’m back in confirmation!) Here Paul is using two words that often cause me confusion: reconciliation and righteousness. Reconcile, Webster says is “to restore to friendship or harmony,” or “to check against another for
accuracy.” This passage which is known as the Ministry of Reconciliation exemplifies how we have come to be reconciled – to be restored to harmony with God. Through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, God has set the accounts straight; and it is through God’s action, not ours that this occurred – “reconciled us to himself through Christ… not counting people’s sins against them.”

Now to righteousness – Luther speaks of righteousness as deliverance of the wicked from their guilt and sin, to stand before God acquitted, by his gracious activity toward us.

So what does this mean to us in Advent as we anticipate Jesus’ birth? In a word, everything! Through Jesus Christ the new creation has come.

Therefore, as we look forward to celebrating Jesus’ birth, be glad in His gift to us. Take a moment and thank God for His love for us and desire for friendship and harmony. Be Christ’s ambassador in your own life today and live to be an ambassador of Christ to others.

Dear Lord, Thank you for seeking my reconciliation through your Son, Jesus Christ. Let me more fully understand your love and how I may show it in my life today. Amen.