LBC Sermons & Messages

II Corinthians 5:17-6:2

When an individual turns and accepts Christ as their Savoir, that person is considered to “be in Christ”, a new creation, not unlike that of Genesis chapter 1. As a new creation our standards and motivations change. We now interact with others not based upon their background or social standing, but upon their relationship to Christ. As such we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.

Reconciliation in the technical sense, is that someone or something is changed and adjusted to a standard. Like me, adjusting my checkbook to the bank statement.

In the spiritual sense between God and mankind, we are not in sink with each other due to the fact that we are sinners and separated from a holy, righteous God due to our sin. Something needed to be done to bring us back into fellowship with our creator.

God’s holiness demanded we be holy, God’s righteousness demanded that all unholy creatures were to die, but God’s love determined to reconcile us to Him that we could once more be in fellowship with Him. The way the Lord accomplished this was that He would become a human, a holy righteous human, without any sin and therefore not subject to death, since sin leads to death. In (v21), He took on our sin and willingly died in our place. This satisfied the righteousness of God and took away the enmity between God and mankind. We are now reconciled to God.

We are now savable, but individuals must appropriate this for themselves and when we do, thru faith in Christ, God gives us new life, makes us new creatures. If we do not avail ourselves to God’s reconciliation then that person will die in their sin for all eternity in a place the Bible calls the lake of fire.

We, who have trusted in Christ as our redeemer, have this ministry of reconciliation and appeal to others to accept God’s grace. No sin is beyond God’s grace to save. Please, with repentance (change of your mind) and faith in the work of Christ at Calvary, accept Him as your Savior, today.