AT THE END of the sham trial, the mental torment, and the physical torture, Jesus drew one last breath, and with it, said “It is finished.” (John 19:30) He had clearly alluded to this earlier, as he prayed for his disciples just before his arrest. He gave thanks to his Father, and ours. “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence.” (John 17:4-5) This same Jesus, now glorified, appears to John in his Patmos exile and imparts to him the Book of Revelation. Jesus speaks of the Father’s purposes and promises. “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Rev. 21:5)
Paul has had personal divine revelation of this, but he writes to individuals, and does not address cosmology. In 2 Cor., his purpose is ontological: the nature of being, and specifically the new nature of a person born again in the Spirit of Christ Jesus. He says of himself elsewhere, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
From this self-aware knowledge of his own new being, he shares with Christ-followers across the generations what this means. It is the inherent power of the Christ-life that is seed, root, trunk, sap, leaf, and fruit of the life from above working in the new creation, the tree of life supplanting the tree of death. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15) It is this undeniable force that works in and through Paul, leaving him unable to now do anything that does not serve the risen Lord. He must speak of these things; he can do no other, for this is who he has become. This is also who we are becoming.
People of the ‘new being’ look at life differently. In some ways joyfully and in some ways painfully, but in all ways in appreciation, we look backward in time to what we were, and make comparisons to what we are now. Sometimes we groan, sometimes we laugh. This self-aware view is a great gift; we no longer look at ourselves—nor others—in condemnation. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” (2 Cor. 5:16a) Paul emphasizes the reason for this. “Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” (2 Cor. 5:16b) This joyful thought rises in Paul: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:17)
This is a heavenly announcement, a blast from the shofar horn of the angel of God. His favor rests upon us! “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) Freedom has become our inheritance in the favor of God. It is the law of liberty that is now our smooth and level pathway through this world; we walk it confidently and energetically, for the burden of sin has been removed. This is not permission for licentiousness, but the freedom to obey God out of reverence, and therefore to experience his blessings rather than woes. James clarifies this freedom for us: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (Jam. 2:12-13) We are indeed our brother’s keeper. (cf. Gen. 4:9—Luke 10:25-37)
Paul speaks forcefully and ontologically now. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,” and he adds this imperative to the reason each has been called into Christ: “and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” (2 Cor. 5:18-19)
Make no mistake, Paul is not speaking only of his own call and assignment, for he includes all of us in the third-person personal pronoun. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Cor. 5:20a) M. Robert Mulholland offers this definition of Christian spiritual formation: *“We are in the process of being formed in the image of Christ for the purpose of serving others.” In this context, Paul continues, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf.” (2 Cor. 5:20b) Paul has very much in view the eternal consequences of heaven and hell, as well as the concept of rewards in heaven. There is a tender but insistent plea on his part to think carefully of just how incredibly important the complete message of salvation is, especially at the foundational level of repentance and submission to Christ as Lord and Savior. “Be reconciled to God,” (2 Cor. 5:20c) he says, because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
Here, in just a short passage of scripture, Paul unpacks the simple but profound entirety of the Christian disciple’s earthly journey, from salvation to mission. In his writing we glimpse heaven, and hope, and a sense of significance and purpose in our own journey. Inspired by Paul, we approach the full counsel of God’s word with a deeper commitment and focus. We must consider these things carefully.
Q. What is the one thing God asks me to commit to today?
*M. Robert Mulholland, “Invitation to a Journey,” – 1993.
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