For the love of Christ controls and urges us and impels us, because we are of opinion and conviction that if One died for all, then all died. And He died for all, so that all those who live may no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard o one from a purely human point of view in terms of natural standards of value. No even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now we have such knowledge of Him… Therefore is any person is ingrafted in Christ He is a new Creation (a new Creature all together, the old has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has come!But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself} and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation {that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him}. It was God {personally present} in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against men their trespasses {but cancelling them}, and committing to us the message of reconciliation {of the restoration to favor}. So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We {as Christ’s personal representatives} beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor {now offered to you} and be reconciled to God. –2 Corinthians 5:18-20
This is a free gift; reconciliation with the Father. It did not come without a huge price. We are so grateful and forever indebted in thankfulness and praise! He did not count our sins against us so why do we constantly do it to others even those we love? “Again you did this; you make me mad!” We answer. “Those liberals again; the alt right!” Another check mark against your name in our book of justified anger. Anger spinning wild inside. We just won’t give in to the other side or even try to relate!
Our restoration we know came through the cross, through the precious blood of Jesus. We could never repay Him. Do we extend grace to others? If He does not count our sins against us, should we maybe think about forgiving others? Should we we still shake a fist secretly in our hearts justifying the right to hold in contempt of their wrongs against us? We don’t talk about our grudge so it’s ok. We commend ourselves for not breaking down. ( I can be civil; just will never let it go. )
Forgiveness is not a cheap fix; there are often no big quick solutions for deep offense, especially the type that seems unthinkable. Sometimes we draw the line on what is unforgivable ever when a murderer came for a loved one, or of a bomb blast that took a child, or of a Syrian refugee mother of 6 that lost her husband to the throes of war, or the type that sent Jesus to the cross to pay for our down right gruesome sins. Ooh but wasn’t that your sin? Ouch! Yes but how do you forgive that eventually? Forgiveness does not mean to give them free reign of our lives again especially when it could mean abuse. It could mean boundaries and suffer consequences of the sin. God could do it, forgive them, but don’t ask me. (even though He gives you the same redirection power to overcome. )You sigh. But thats unthinkable, too difficult. Easy for you to say. What if you can’t but can you afford the knots in your stomach it causes if you never can?
But what about the easier matters? Do we carry them too with offense in our hearts? What do we do when we are simply asked to forgive a friend who did a slight betrayal of trust, or much less the angry road rage guy who cut us off?
What do we do with people who our culture has taught us to hate and not trust in? How do we view them? Cut them off. Ignore them. Treat them equal but at a distance cause I don’t have anything in common with them. Why should we be the ones to reach out? They owe us! But in Christ maybe we need to, we should want to?
“For He Himself is our peace (our bond of unity and harmony) He has made us both {Jew and Gentile} one Body and has broken down {destroyed, abolished} the hostile dividing wall between us.”
You are one if you have the same Father so how does that challenge you? How does it challenge me for that matter? Completely and utterly! A good Patriotic American Christian reads in his well-worn Bible that God commands us to love his neighbor, when he wasn’t quite sure if that meant the Syrian Muslim family that just moved in down the street from them? What do you think? Who really is my neighbor anyway Jesus? That refugee family was not my neighbor last week. We were here first, what is up with these refugees taking all our jobs and threatening our security anyway? Do we think Gods heart has room enough to carry us all in our hearts and care for us all at the same time? Then you read in your Bible the call to love your enemies. So if he is my enemy, maybe I should love him you think. How? Why? Why should I care? Do you realize the unreached whose never heard about Jesus is moving to your neighborhood? If you don’t show Jesus to them who will? What a privilege to share Him with a souls who never heard? You retort,”They may turn on me. How do I know they are not terrorists?” My answer pray for them, love them, and know Jesus could change them even if they had ill intentions. After all Paul was once terrorist Saul.
What about the Black Lives Mayter movement or white supremacy groups taking over confederate parks or Charlottesville alt right rights or left; pulling down of historical figures or to other removing blatant racist symbols, what about the Democrats or those Republicans can’t be trusted. We all have opinions on this. Everyone is too divided and too set in their views. I have my own strong opinions but that is not the point. We must ask God’s heart to love people no matter how we believe on the hot topics; our opinions do not matter! The love of God for the whole world is what matters! Justice issues are so on God’s heart to address here, of course! But to esteem first and see what is on the precious heart of God no matter where we stand. Let’s do this thing! Let’s love all and those we have our differences. We may be right or wrong with our opinions, but what we do know for sure is He embraced and love all people and desire no man to perish.
We hear Jesus when he overturned angrily the tables at the temple and cry out, “My house shall be a house of prayer for ALL nations and you have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:12,13). He so desired desperately and in forceful action that all people are able to get to the Father to get to know His love and worship Him, nothing standing in His way. Zeal for His house of all nations consumed Him! Who are we looking down on? Who are we through our own anger or prejudice are we keeping from people to see the Father. Been convicted of this when I am at a traffic light in Cape town in my car. I feel guilty with all the street people at the lights and I refuse to see them and become numb to most. God doesn’t want me to cringe in guilt. My mentor told me the other day “Why don’t you instead of feeling guilty cause you have more pray for them for jobs and provision even if money may not be right and instead ask God what to do for them and what is the right thing.” Sometimes I feel too in a rush to do this. But I can. I want to.
When we look at the story of Abraham and Ismael what do you see? Some people say Ishmael was completely rejected and Hagar was sent away in a barren desert. But that is not what God did. He told Hagar her son will live and He reminded her He is the God of Ishmael and He is the God who sees him and sees her plight. I am the God who sees you. I got to share the story with my Muslim friend and it moved her. He sees us every last one; the one born out of wedlock and the father ran away from responsibility, He sees the refugee, the orphan, the widow, the black, white, brown, red and yellow. What man rejects, God accepts and pursues us the downtrodden, the oppressed, the lost, the prodigal.
I was so moved last week when I heard about the church in Richmond’s response to racism in Virginia; they held a town meeting and 600 pastors a week after the trauma of Charlottesville came to sign an agreement and ask for forgiveness of racism in their city and commit to healing and reconciliation among racial groups and the Body of Christ. Wow, John 17 in action! I believe this is John 17 acted out in present day and people will see the love of Jesus and did on that day unfold before them, “That they may be One, just as You Father are in Me and I in You, that they may be One in us, so that the World may believe and be convinced that you have sent Me…I in them and You in Me, that they may become One and perfectly united, that the World may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and that you have loved them as you have loved me. This was true love in action check it out on this facebook page of a post by Arrabon placed on August 21 in a live recording of the historic moment.
Please post your revelations about these verses: John 17, 1 Corinthians 5, and Matthew 21:12. 13. We must grow from each other.
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