2 Corinthians 6:16
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said•:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
•I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.” NKJV
We are the righteousness of God in Christ. God sees Jesus in us and we are reconciled to Him. God’s love conquered sin and death in the salvation of Jesus. It is only through His sacrifice that the world could be saved. El Roi God sees me. He sees you. Carla
The Hebrew name for God that means "the God who sees me" is El Roi (or El Ro'i). This name was coined by Hagar in Genesis 16:13 after she encountered God in the desert, marking a profound moment of feeling known, seen, and cared for during a time of extreme distress.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. NKJV
Because of Christ’s propitiation, His satisfaction of God’s righteous demands, God is now able to turn toward us. God has made us new creatures in Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, a word meaning “a change of relation from enmity to peace.” We who have been reconciled to God have the privilege of telling others that they can be reconciled to Him as well.
God could change His relationship toward us because our sins have been imputed (reckoned) to Christ, instead of to us. In other words, God placed our sins on Christ, who knew no sin. His death was in our place and for our sins. If we believe in Jesus, God counts Jesus’ righteousness as our righteousness (verse 21).
The word of reconciliation that has been entrusted to us is to tell all people that God wants to restore them to a relationship with Himself (Romans 5:8). This is the Good News that everyone needs to hear.
Ambassadors are more than messengers. They are representatives of the sovereign who sent them. In the Roman Empire, there were two kinds of provinces, the senatorial and the imperial. The senatorial provinces were generally peaceful and friendly to Rome. They had submitted to Roman rule and were under the control of the Senate. The imperial provinces, however, had been acquired later, and were not as peaceful. These provinces were under the authority of the emperor himself. Syria, including Judea, was such an imperial province. To these provinces, the emperor sent ambassadors to govern and maintain peace.
Christians have been called by their King to serve as ambassadors in a world that is in rebellion against Him. However, God has given His representatives a message of peace and of reconciliation.
Jesus never did anything wrong. Yet He died for our sins, so that we could be declared righteous, that is to say, justified (verse 19). The NKJV Study Bible
Reconciled refers to the end of hostility between God and people.
Christ’s death provided the means of reconciliation. His suffering made peace between God and humanity possible (Isaiah 53:5; 2 Corinthians 1:3). Paul presented Christ’s sacrifice as the basis of reconciliation and the source of his apostolic vocation (verses 14–18). He wants the Corinthians to understand the centrality of Christ in his ministry in contrast to other teachers, who boast about themselves.
The Hebrew word used here for world, kosmos, refers to people estranged from God and under the influence of sin and the devil (4:4). God does not use people’s sins as a reason to withhold salvation or reconciliation.
We are ambassadors meaning representatives of Christ. Paul and his companions not only spoke on behalf of Christ, but their lives—namely, their endurance of suffering—represented Christ’s life and character. As Christ’s representatives, they were charged with presenting the message of God’s plan of reconciliation to the world.
Paul affirms that Christ did not sin, though He was tempted (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13; Hebrews 4:15).
Not counting their trespasses against them is how God regarded Christ as sin for the sake of undeserving sinners (Galatians 3:13). More specifically, Paul may be presenting Christ as a substitute for sinful humanity or he could be referring to Christ’s identification with sin through His union with sinful humanity. Another possibility is that Paul is interpreting Christ’s sacrifice in light of Old Testament sacrificial concepts (Leviticus 4:24; 5:12; Isaiah 53:10).
Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God demonstrated His righteousness (dikaiosynē) by judging sin yet showing mercy to sinners. Here Paul refers to the idea of Christians becoming the righteousness of God. He may mean that believers, as a result of God’s justification, receive a right standing before God while Christ takes on their sins (Romans 5:8). Alternatively, Paul could be describing God’s righteous character, which believers receive and should live out in their lives. Faithlife Study Bible
Romans 5:10–11
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Ephesians 6:20
for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—
2 Corinthians 6:1
We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
I relate to Wade Rouse's admission, “It was my time to look God in the eye. I had already spent much of life trying to avoid direct eye contact with God—like I did country dogs that people kept chained to a post all winter—worried that He would see into my soul, see my darkest secrets, know that I was thinking, and want to rip me apart.”
'Tis true. The God of my youth is a tough audience, especially when perfection is the goal.
A disciple of Rabbi Menachem-Mendel complained: “I come from Rizhin. There, everything is simple, everything is clear. I prayed and I knew I was praying; I studied and I knew I was studying. Here in Kotzk everything is mixed up, confused; I suffer from it. Please help me so I can pray and study as before. Please help me to stop suffering.”
Menachem-Mendel replied: “And who ever told you that God is interested in your studies and your prayers? And what if he preferred your tears and your suffering?”
Yes, what if I knew (and lived) as if all my broken pieces are loved?
This is in contradiction to a world that honors beauty as perfection, where it is easy to miss the gift of the here and now.
But what if spirituality is about here and now, with all of the passions, and the imperfections—and yes, “suffering”?
What would it mean to embrace the self—This Self—as imperfect, and ambiguous, and exquisitely human?
But what about the irritations and “suffering”? No doubt we want them to go away. Here's the paradox.
You cannot change anything until you can love it.
You cannot love anything until you know it.
And you cannot know anything until you are willing to embrace it.
On this day, I am grateful to offer the prayer of St. Patrick…
As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Amen. “Sabbath Moments”
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