So the last three articles looking at the passage of 2 Cor. 5:10-17 was a set up to help us dig further into “the ministry of reconciliation,” what it is and what it means for us in receiving its benefits and in participating in the work. Here’s a summary for the last section:
In light of the wisdom of "the fear of the Lord", knowing we will appear before the Judgment seat of Christ, we persuade others. Because of the Gospel message, we do not boast in ourselves, and we are compelled to serve others and share the Gospel. This is our response to Christ's sacrifice and our great love for Him, not because we deserve to but because He chose us anyways and made us spiritually new, with a new identity, giving us spiritual lenses.
Though it was a set up for digging into “the ministry of reconciliation,” the verses we read didn’t mention it directly. This next section does, so we’ll take some time to define it more. Let’s start with reading through the next section of Scripture.
2 Corinthians 5:18–6:2 (ESV) (phrasing diagram at the end)
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. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Right away, a key truth we must understand is that God is the initiator of reconciliation through Christ v18-19, which is POINT #1 for this section. "Like the first Creation (of the universe), the new Creation is initiated by God: All this is from God (cf. 4:6; 1 John 4:10)." [BKC]
2 Cor. 4:6 - "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
1 John 4:9-10 - "9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
So a primary element to understanding this doctrine is that God is the initiator. But it gets deeper than that as we flesh out all these implications. Such as “like the first Creation, the new creation becomes a reality through the work of Christ (cf. Col. 1:16)." [BKC] So it is through Christ's death on the cross that He provided the means of reconciliation. As God prophesied through Isaiah, the Messiah's suffering made peace between God and humanity possible. [FSB]
Isaiah 53:5-6 -
"But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. "
Because Christ bore mankind's sin on the cross, He made peace possible.
1 Peter 2:24 - "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
But what does Christ’s love and sacrifice for our healing accomplish? Reconciliation. Key NT passages where Paul fleshes out reconciliation more: Romans 5, Ephesians 2, Colossians 1, 2 Corinthians 5. You should definitely take time to look over the sections on reconciliation and their surrounding context within their chapters. We’ll refer to some of those texts as we define this theological term more in light of our main text of 2 Cor. 5:18-6:2 here and in coming posts.
“The restoration of the divine-human relationship is the central theme of the Bible.” [EBD] In the OT the restoration of relationship is tied to the terms of blood atonement, as so clearly seen in ritual worship laws of the OT. Some English translations of the OT may render the Hebrew words in these contexts as “reconcile” though they would be better understood as “atonement”. But in essence, the effect was that the relationship between God and Israel was reconciled through their ritual worship but it required continual blood sacrifice as a means to make atonement for sin.
Since the goal of the atonement sacrifices was reconciliation for relational restoration between God and man, Christ was then the completion of that requirement. Although “reconciliation” or similar terms aren’t repeatedly used throughout the NT, reconciliation is a central concept to Paul’s understanding of the Gospel. In the passage we’re looking at he does use the word 5 times in these few verses in his plea to the stubborn and sinful Corinthians. This stands as a testimony that “the whole of God’s activity in the history of salvation is captured in the statement that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (v. 19; cf. Rom. 11:15).” [EDB]
These verses in 2 Cor. 5:18-21 could be a typical evangelistic abstract or explanation that Paul would have used. Romans 5:10-11 has reconciliation as a key part of his theology of justification by faith in other areas of Romans. It also is developed more in his theology involving the tearing down of the walls of hostility and making peace with us by giving us his righteousness (Eph. 2:16, Col 1:20-21). A key part to this theology of reconciliation is that God is the initiator and executor of it, not us. This is consistent with the OT themes of God's mercy (Exod. 34:6–7; Ps. 103:8–14; Isa. 43:25) and his gift of the covenant to his people (Jer. 31:31–34). "The reconciliation accomplished by God stands as a completed act, which alone makes possible human contact with God (Rom. 5:10). The assurance that God has taken the matter in hand is the ground of the believer’s joy (v. 11)." [EDB]
The effects of divine reconciliation are multifaceted. Christ's death makes atonement on our behalf, which eliminates the hostility from God towards us on account of our sin, while also dealing with the hostility within the human heart and mind toward God.
Rom. 5:10
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Col. 1:21
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
2 Cor. 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This made it possible for God to enter into the sinful human condition.
Eph. 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Col. 1:20-22
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
In the next post we will look at some more of the effects that Christ’s atonement has on our relational conditions.
This is my phrasing for this section:
