View Adjustment

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

VIEW ADJUSTMENT

2 Cor 5:16-21

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, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 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 men'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.

NIV

It is like one very long sentence, thought that cannot be divided up into sound bites yet so much is said here that it could take weeks to explore to the fullest. Let us first consider the idea of not regarding anyone from a worldly point of view. Does this mean everyone or just those who are in Christ as the therefore part might imply? It surely is clear that Paul once viewed believers from a worldly point of view and now has changed his view completely about those who are in Christ. But does that also mean we should view all mankind from the same view God does? Did God only reconcile himself to those who believe or to the whole of his creation so they could be saved from his wrath? It is clear God sent his Son to die for all mankind, even though it is up to each one to accept that salvation personally, he still died for all, not just for a few. So them should we not see all of his creation as he does? We must not be judgmental toward their sinful lifestyle, but see them as simply disobedient children of God, who need to understand that he reconciled himself to them through Jesus Christ. In addition to that we must see other believers, especially recent ones, just as God does, a new creation. We are not to remember each other’s sinful failures. We are not to count other’s sin against them. That might be harder then we think as we certainly remember when someone sins against us, or causes us some form of hurt feelings. But we are just as Paul in that we have as believers been called to a ministry of reconciliation. We too are Christ’s ambassadors, with Christ making his appeal through us. We should implore people on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to God. We can only do this if we view them from a heavenly point of view rather than from a worldly one. The worldly view only sees the outside of a person’s life. It only views the actions, the contributions to the society, or the dependence on the society. It only views the success or the failure of human endeavors. It does not see into the heart of man as God’s heavenly view does. This is the core of who we really are, and within that core God has planted the knowledge of himself into every person on earth. Some because of their sinful ways have only suppressed the truth about God. Although it is up to the Spirit to convict them of their sin and need of repentance, we have the task of reconciliation. We need to see them as new a new creation in Christ when they come to him. We need to see them as in need of him, not with judgmental attitudes, but with love and compassion. So we might be in need of an adjustment of our view.