2 CORINTHIANS 5: 17-18
For sure we have stepped into the month of January in the New Year – 2022. For that gift or allocation of a new year we offer our thanks and praise to God the Almighty who has surely extended His “goodness and love” (Psalm 23 v 6) to all of us. This is the right time to reflect on our highlights and (also lowlights) in the past year and beyond. How can we reconcile the past through reflections?
The main purpose of a reconciliation by reflection is to restore a broken relationship. In Genesis 3, we see the first picture of the fall of our ancestors- Adam and Eve simply because of the sin of disobedience. On one hand, God reflected on this and gave them the deserving punishment /wages of sin, that is death. This is eternally sad news.
But the good news is that, through grace and mercy, God set up a continuous masterplan for the prodigal man/woman to be reconciled to the Loving Father. This reconciliation is based on forgiveness and not our record of sins. Reflecting on this, David says in Psalm 130: 3-4 (NIV): “If you O Lord kept a record of sins, O Lord who could stand? V4-But with you there is forgiveness…” God does not give up on His children who will choose the path of reconciliation.
May the message of Reflection and Reconciliation help us to clearly understand our identity and purpose in this life. In Christ we are a new creation. In 2 Corinthians 5: 17-18, Apostle Paul underlines our identity and ministry. Verse 17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (plural) is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” I sincerely pray that we may experience some spiritual “newness” in our lives in 2022.
In verse 18 we see our purpose; “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Indeed, we are the reconciled team of brethren and we have the corporate privilege of reconciling the lost to the all-loving Saviour, Jesus Christ. As AE family, may we minister this message of reconciliation throughout the world in 2022 and beyond.