Ministry of reconciliation

Therefore if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation –2 Corinthians 5:17-18

Recently in the news, there was a report of a bus accident that claimed the lives of 17 people. Among several other violations, some tires on the bus were retreads. Under inspection guidelines, this would not have been a violation, except they were on the front tires, which control the navigation of the bus. Retreaded tires are worn-out with their remaining tracks ground off before a layer of adhesive is applied that will hold onto the new tire tracks. They look great on the surface but are not as good as a new tire.

The soul delivered from the grip of sin is not merely a retread of its former self. If God only did patchwork on our exterior, meaningful changes would not occur. Just like a retreaded tire is prone to give way to the stresses of road conditions, we can fall back into our old ways because surface appearances are not enough to correct sin. For this reason, the scriptures state that we are “a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Jesus has not come into our lives to fix old things because He has a better plan. Our hearts are not merely set right, but He gives us each a new one filled with His love and compassion so we might become kingdom enlargers.

But not only does he give us a new heart, but also new minds that are just like his own. We are told, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), so we are instructed to have, among other things, his desires. Indeed, one of his desires is for His children to return to right standing with him, as was shown when He reconciled us. To reconcile means to cause to coexist in harmony or to make someone consistent or acceptable to another. We needed to be made new to return to proper fellowship with the Lord. But since we are called to be kingdom enlargers, this is not the fullness of the reconciliation process. When we look at the desires of Jesus that are found in our new minds, we get a glimpse of our purpose.

Jesus expressed his passion for us by delivering us from sin; since we now think like him, we should have the same passion he does. We are told that He “hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation,” meaning he has called us to perform the same work on others that he performed on us. This work was nothing short of a passion for souls and a desire to see them delivered in all areas of their lives. With the new hearts he has given us, we should feel a powerful compel to see the lost brought into the kingdom of God. We should have the same desire to see those who have already been saved but are struggling to get their deliverance. Jesus never focused on himself; we should do likewise once we have tasted the newness of life. Let us each look for opportunities to enlarge the kingdom by putting the needs of others before our own, thus fulfilling the call of Christ.