Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
One of the most amazing transformations in the entire animal kingdom is the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. In very simple terms, a caterpillar lives his life crawling around on leaves and, one day, takes a really long nap. Once the nap is over, he is a bright, beautiful, soaring butterfly. The metamorphosis is fascinating!
As incredible as the caterpillar’s transformation is, the Bible declares that you and I experience an even more amazing transformation when Christ enters our lives. Scripture says that we were dead in our sins, but God, being rich in mercy made us alive. Paul urges the Corinthian Christians to live out this new life in Christ. In a sense, he’s saying, ” Stop acting like caterpillars — you are called to butterfly life!”
The ‘begging’ of Paul to be reconciled to God is our continual call back to the Gospel. The Gospel isn’t just the doorway of salvation that we walk through once and never revisit again. The Gospel continues to save us once we begin a relationship with Jesus. The Gospel message saved us (justification) and that same Gospel message is saving us (sanctification).
May you be urged today press into the Gospel anew, and be reconciled to God! Do you remind yourself of the gospel often? Remind yourself and others of the good news today.
