We have completed our three week study of this incredible chapter, 2 Corinthians 5, filled with church doctrine. I hope that it challenged you in your fellowship with Christ, and your personal responsibility as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God! We discovered three main sections where Paul gives us doctrine to apply.
First, in Week 50, he gives us encouragement concerning our destiny in V.1-8
Absent from the body is present with the Lord!
Second, in Week 51, he reveals the motivation for our service in V.9-15
Our chief motivating factor is that we may be accepted of him!
Third, our study from today -- Week 52, Paul instructs us concerning our ministry in this mystery period, known as the dispensation of grace in V.16-21.
1. God has placed every saved person in the ministry of reconciliation. V.17-18
Ephesians 4:1: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
1 Corinthians 4:1-2: Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
2. God has given us the message of reconciliation. V19a
3. God has given us the manual of reconciliation – the Word of God. V.19b
4. God has given us the method of reconciliation – sharing the truth of the cross with all who will listen. V.20
Finally, V.21 reminds us that the ministry of reconciliation is empowered by the gospel –the the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We cannot be made the righteousness of God by our own effort.
Galatians 3:13-14: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
1 Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Please read John 3:14-17 and John 16:7-11 to help you understand the purpose and power of the ministry of reconciliation. Also, we will continue our overview of 2 Corinthians next Sunday. Please read a chapter a day, starting with chapter 6 tomorrow, in preparation for our study.
