Have you ever run across someone you once knew, but hadn’t seen in a number of years, and you notice a big change in them? Perhaps they have lost a lot of weight, or have had a change in their finances and are now in a whole different type of wardrobe and car. We can change our hairstyle, wear different style clothes, get a new car or house, but that doesn’t change our personality or what type of person we are. Our outside may change, but our inside is the same. There is one thing, though, that changes us on the inside, which is described in our New Testament Scripture this week.
In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, he instructs us that if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and are thus “in Christ”, we are now a new creation (vs. 17). When we are saved and become a believer, we are spiritually reborn, our old sinful nature is replaced with a new life in Christ. This change is not merely superficial, but is a complete renewal of our heart and mind. This is because we now have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Our eyes and mind are opened to understand the Scriptures, which the unsaved have no ability to do. The more we walk with the Lord, the more we have His mind and discernment.
When a sinner turns to God for salvation, He cleanses the heart of iniquity, and gives that person a new nature. Occasionally the believer will return to following the old flesh patterns, so the Lord calls us to confess and repent when we miss the mark (I John 1:9). Because of the substitution that Jesus made, where He took upon Himself our sins, and instead gave us His righteousness, we have been adopted into His family and our sins have been forgiven and nailed to the cross. The debt demanded by the Old Testament Law has been paid in full. We have been welcomed into a new life, a life filled with forgiveness and hope. Now, we need to be committed to putting off of the old worldly way of life, and putting on our new life in Christ. We need to move from death into life, and grow from immaturity to maturity in the Holy Spirit. This putting off of the old and putting on the new indicates a decisive choice and action. An entirely transformed way of life is needed.
Paul continues as he highlights the concept of reconciliation, showing how God, through Christ, bridged the gap caused by sin (vs. 18-19). Reconciliation means to mend a broken relationship. It takes us from being someone’s enemy to now being considered their friends. This reconciliation with God is a work of His grace alone, and cannot come through our own human effort. Reconciliation is God moving towards us through the cross of Jesus Christ. When we place our faith in the Savior, we immediately take part in that reconciliation.
Now that we are reconciled to God, and are a new creation with a new life, God has commissioned us with an important assignment. We have been commissioned to be His ambassadors to the world (vs. 20). An ambassador is an important position. He or she represents their country to the government and people of another country. As believers, we are called to represent Christ on earth as His official agents, and are commissioned to bring God’s message of reconciliation to the world.
The Apostle Paul closes out this segment of Scripture with one cornerstone of Christian belief, that of the substitutionary atonement (vs. 21). This verse encapsulates the doctrine of imputation, that Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, took on our sin so that we might receive His righteousness. This shows the depth of both God’s love and His righteousness.
In closing, let’s remember that we represent the family of God to the world. The world will judge our Heavenly Father based on our words, our behavior, and our attitude. The deeds that we do, whether good or bad, will reflect an image of the Father that others will see. When others look at us, do they see someone who is attempting to live for the Lord Jesus, or do they see someone who is no different than a worldly person? Let’s take seriously the role of being an ambassador for Christ, and faithfully share the Gospel message, both with our words and our actions.