If Anyone Is In Christ, He Is A New Creation

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 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.

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. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

“How do you go about loving your enemies?” That was a question the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. raised with the congregation of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

Quoting from the words of Jesus, King said, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

Racial and political tensions are nothing new. But the business of the church is never to feed divisiveness. We should not attack those unlike us or those who hold different opinions, or even those who seek our own destruction.

Ours is a “ministry of reconciliation” that imitates the selfless servant-heart of Jesus.

Hate destroyers the hater as well as the hated.

Our Daily Bread – January 18, 2016