Sunday, January 31, 2010

A ministry of reconciliation

I must admit that I am not an expert at this reconciliation thing, but as I continue to uncover what reconciliation means I desire even more to continue to pursue a reconciled life. I have recently been learning that the most important reconciled relationship is to the creator god. When Adam and Eve desired to be god and at from the apple sin entered the world and the beauty the God intended in his creation was lost. We see the results of sin in the broken structure of society. It exists through racism, the groans of creation (earthquakes), sexism, classism, etc. Christ was sent to earth to transform the society that was sinful and corrupt and he left the church to continue in the ministry. The church exists to reconcile all things back to God.

"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. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

I really love this verse. It reveals many of the broken structures of society. Jews and Greeks were different races as well as different religions. The slaves and free were different classes, and males and females are different genders. God wants justice for all. These three structures mentioned are fundamental to our thinking as a society and they must be broken down so that we can experience true reconciliation.