2 Corinthians 5:14-21 Epiphany 3
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
January 21, 2024
It was a Cadillac—silver, I think (there were a few of them over the years). It was my dad’s—the car he drove every day to work in Detroit, an hour and half each way. So, it was important, it was pricey, and it was special because it was Dad’s. Just the feel of the keys in my hand the first time I was allowed to borrow it for the night was something else! I took it seriously and was careful with the car because my Father trusted me with it. Paul wrote to God’s people in Corinth about something our heavenly Father had entrusted to him and his coworkers. God is trusting you with it too. It is important, and it is special, and it came with a price tag greater than anything you could ever imagine. This thing that God entrusts to you and me? Words. That’s it—words. That may not sound like a “Cadillac” kind of big deal, but I assure you, it is—because these words are God’s words for the whole world, words that have touched your life and soul, and words God has entrusted to you to share. Those words are… GOD’S LOVING MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION 1. A Message for the Entire World (Universal Reconciliation) 2. A Message that has Changed You (Subjective Reconciliation) 3. A Message You are Called to Share (Doctrine of the Ministry) A Message for the Entire World (Universal Reconciliation) Paul and his associates had come to a certain important conclusion. It’s not like they just sorted through some information, added their own thoughts, and determined this thing. The Holy Spirit had done his divine work in their hearts and minds and taught them this: One died for all; therefore, all died. In his previous letter to these people in Corinth, Paul had written about the One who died for all—Jesus—and what his life, death, and resurrection meant for sinners, so he doesn’t spend time here recounting the details. Instead, he focuses on this astounding thing, this vital thing to know, this thing we could also never know without the Holy Spirit bringing us to this conclusion. This is the thing: Jesus died for all; therefore all died. Therefore all died. All people died? God’s message is that when Christ died, all people with their sins died too. When the beaten and bloodied and sin-burdened Son of God died, the death penalty for all people was paid. And this opened up a new kind of relationship between God and sinful people—all sinful people. When Paul needed a word that explained this, he dipped his pen into the ink, then slid the point of it across the papyrus sheet, and he wrote this particular word that describes the bringing together of two sides in a hostile relationship—enemies. The word that describes bringing those two sides together into a peaceful, harmonious relationship is…reconcile. What a great word to explain that Christ’s death changed this hostile relationship between God and sinners into a friendly one!