2 Corinthians 5. Day 172 - The New Testament in a Year
Episode Notes:
Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5 (CSB)
Podcast Homepage: The New Testament in a Year
Bible Reading Plan: Navigators Bible Reading Plan
Contact Sean: (seanbailey1985@gmail.com)
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In Today's Episode
Walking by Faith. A New Creation in Christ. The Ministry of Reconciliation.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight." — 2 Corinthians 5:7
Second Corinthians 5 continues Paul's focus on living with eternity in view. Our earthly bodies are temporary, like tents that will one day be taken down, but God has prepared something eternal for those who belong to Christ. That changes the way we face both life and death. Paul says that to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord, and because of that hope, "we walk by faith, not by sight." We do not have to understand everything God is doing in order to trust Him. Our circumstances may change, our bodies may weaken, and life may not unfold the way we expected, but our confidence rests in something far more secure than what we can see.
Paul then reminds us that everyone will one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That reality gives urgency and purpose to the way we live. But Paul is not motivated simply by fear or obligation. He says, "For the love of Christ compels us." Because Jesus died for us, we no longer live simply for ourselves. The gospel changes the direction of our lives. And then Paul gives us one of the greatest promises in Scripture: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!" Jesus does not simply improve our old life. In Him, we are made new.
The chapter closes by explaining what this new life is for. God has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and then entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. We are now ambassadors for Christ, carrying His message into a broken world and pleading with people to be reconciled to God. And at the heart of that message is the gospel itself: Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Second Corinthians 5 reminds us who we are and why we are here. We are new creations, representatives of Jesus, and people living for a world we cannot yet see. So walk by faith. Live for Christ. And use the life He has given you to help others find their way home to Him.
