Living For Him Is Living Your Best Life

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

I.  Vs. 15 – He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Why is this a blessing?  Why is this an honor?  Why do I not see this as a sacrifice?  Why do I not see it as my religious duty?  Why do I see it as liberating and not oppressive?  Why do I see it as the Lord’s grace and generosity and not as a heavenly tax levied upon my otherwise fun and pleasurable life?  Part of the answer comes from other portions of Scripture, like Psalm 139.

Psalm 139:1-4;13-18

I cannot be the best version of myself without His help because I don’t even know the best version of myself.  He, on the other hand is “familiar with all my ways.” And “before a word is on my tongue,” He knows it.  He “gets me” better than I get me.

His mindfulness is not passive but is personal, affectionate and purpose-driven.

“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living…” (Ephesians 1:11-12 Message Version)

Who would not want to live for Someone like this? That’s why David writes in Psalm 9:10,  “Those who know Your name, Lord, will put their trust in You.”

Consider these words of Psalm 40:5

“Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare…”

• Walking with the Lord is a journey filled with wonders above all others.

Why can we have full confidence that being “fully invested” in Him is our best move?  Because of verses 19 and 21.

II.  Vs. 19 – God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

“Reconcile” means to: Restore friendly relations between; Cause to coexist in harmony; Make one thing consistent with another; Settle a disagreement.

• God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself.

The bread means Jesus loves me no matter what.  No matter what the evil one says.  No matter what the flesh says.  No matter what my circumstances say.  He reconciled me.

III.  Vs. 21 – God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God.

The cup represents the New Covenant and all the blessings thereof.  The blood of Christ is my robe of righteousness. It cloaks me in forgiveness that is irremovable and stain proof.

It is far superior to the blood that was placed over and on the sides of the doors of the Israelites when the avenging angel passed over the land.  Because under that covenant you had to stay in the house, which in a sense represented staying within the confines of the Law.  But this blood covers the heart wherever we go.  It is a permanent, indelible cloak of forgiveness.

My prayer as we prepare for Communion: “Lord, may Your outstretched arms, revealing Your nail-pierced hands, be the backdrop of all that happens today.  By the power of Your Holy Spirit, may I be able to look beyond my troubles, my complaints my unfulfilled wants, my disappointments and see Your love for me behind it all.  Though I cannot fully appreciate it, may my New Covenant status, and the benefits of it, be an all-day blessing that I enjoy in Your honor.  May these words ring true in my heart today: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!  Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.  Heir of salvation.  Purchase of God.  Born of His Spirit.  Washed in His blood.”