"Reconciling the Broken Relationship" (2 Corinthians 5:17-19,Matthew 5:43-48)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[b] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 ESV

Love Your Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 

45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 

47 And if you greet only your brothers,[a] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48 ESV

As Christians, we need to continue to work on reconciliation.

 Jesus wants to use us to reconcile this world and make the kingdom happen here

In order to know the brokenness that we have to reconcile, we have to go back to the very beginning when the sin started.

There were three relationships have broken.

 The first one was the broken relationship between God and human being. When Adam sinned, he hid himself from God

The second broken relationship was the relationship between human and human.

The third broken relationship was the relationship between human and Earth.

 

The relationship between people is one element of reconciliation that we need to be actively involved.

 

This reconciliation requires us to dive into this work. We cannot passively wait for opportunities to come to us.

 

The reality for happiness and sadness is that we might receive 30% happiness and 70% sadness. By avoiding sadness and pursuing happiness, the sadness will follow.

 

In order to be happy, face the sadness. Then you can change the sadness to happiness. 

 

In order to reconcile broken human relationship, face the brokenness and then change it

 

Today's passage (Matthew 5:43-48) is telling us is not just simply that we have to love our neighbor but you have to include your enemy into your neighbor to reconcile the brokenness.

 

Often we like to gather and be friend those who are like us. Yet, we need to love those who are not like us and separated from us. This means we need to love our enemies. Who are our enemies?

 

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 5:44 ESV

 

This is not just those who are out to hurt you intentionally.  

 

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Matthew 5:46 ESV

 

We need to love those who are different from us or think differently than us. 

We find that in church this will happen. Certain members who are different from us are excluded or we treat as our enemies. We do not agree with them so we make different friends or find another group or church. 

 

The solution is to pray for our enemies . On the cross, Jesus prayed for enemies. Jesus thought of them as lost sheep

 

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 5:45 ESV

 

God decided to reconcile us first through his son Jesus Christ and let us to live the new life for reconciliation of all people and all things.

Jesus wants to fix us to use us for reconciliation. This is our purpose after we are saved. 

 

God will punish evil, but he is currently looking for lost sheep.

When we pray for our enemy, God reconciles the relationship.

 

We are Sons of God and God is our father.

He loves us not because we do something that deserves His love. 

Likewise, we need to follow His heart.

• Hosanna 호산나
• In Christ alone 예수안에 소망있네
• Holy Is The Lord 일어나 두 손 들고/거룩하신 주

"The Ministry of The New Creation"( 2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

 

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul reminds us that we are saved in verse 14 through the death of Christ.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

2 Corinthians 5:14 ESV

However, it is not enough just to receive a new life. Paul also emphasizes that we must not be content with our salvation, but we also need to reconcile. This brings up the question, "How do we reconcile and with whom?" For us to be ministers of reconciliation, we should reconcile three broken relationships.

1. We need to reconcile with this world.

 

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

Genesis 3:17 ESV

God created the world, and it was good, but through our sins it has become broken and twisted. All the good, marvels and wonders of this world can be twisted by our rapacious appetites and turned into vices and sorrow because sin has entered this world through us. We can reconcile with the world by doing our best in our work. Although we might not succeed in worldly measures, so long as we do our best we reconcile.

2. We need to reconcile with other people.

that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:19 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37-39 ESV

The second broken relationship involves our neighbors. Jesus explained that our neighbors were anyone whom we have met in our lives. This kind of reconciliation requires us to forgive others no matter how they have offended us. In addition, we need to help those who are in need and to love to all those in our lives. We need to be like Jesus in this respect.

so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:5 ESV

We are all different, and, as Christians, we must be cognizant of this. The Gospels were written by four different people and all had their different perspectives, but they still gave the same message. The Church is a congregation of people from all over the world with Christ as the head, and without constant forgiveness, the Church will suffer.

3. Reconcile with God.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:8 ESV

After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. This is normally what we do also. We hide from God when we have sinned because of shame and fear. Yet God wants us to remember him and love God. To return to God and be loved by God.

Let us be Ministers of Reconciliation by loving our God as a new creation and loving our neighbors as ourselves.