Footprints #174

^“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” NLT (2Cor5:14-15)

The implication of 2Cor5:14-15 is simple: we should not live for ourselves but for Him. V15: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Those who have died to themselves receive new life in Christ. But that new life is not given to us so we can live self-focused, narcissistic lives, but rather so we can live for Him! Our lives should be devoted to the One who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us and then rose from the dead, and now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. Any Gospel that isn’t grounded in the Cross and any Gospel that doesn’t result in a transformation of life is not worth the breath it takes to proclaim it. The ministry of reconciliation (which we are called to) is based upon God’s own prior act of reconciliation. (16-18) But first Paul makes an important inference from the truth of the Gospel in verse 16: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” What does he mean? Well, we all know how easy it is for us to measure people by worldly standards. If they are rich, powerful, beautiful, or popular, we have a great tendency to favour them. On the other hand, if they are poor, weak, uneducated nobodies, we can easily dismiss them. Paul even admits he once treated Christ and His followers this way. “no more!”. We’ve learned to look at people differently. We now see Christ for who he was, the Lord of Glory, the King of the Ages, the Prince of Life, God himself become a man. Paul has some great passages in other letters on this point. He also says, because of Jesus we regard people differently also. We see them for who they are, men and women made in the image of God but fallen from it. We see them as victims of the devil’s lies, bound by the power of Satan. But they are important, significant people because God’s image is in them.