Mind and Heart Work to Accept God's Reconciling Love
Daily Scripture
Hebrews 10:10-18, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21
Hebrews 10
10 We have been made holy by God’s will through the offering of Jesus Christ’s body once for all.
11 Every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices over and over, sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right side of God. 13 Since then, he’s waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for his feet, 14 because he perfected the people who are being made holy with one offering for all time.
15 The Holy Spirit affirms this when saying,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them.
After these days, says the Lord,
I will place my laws in their hearts
and write them on their minds.
17 And I won’t remember their sins
and their lawless behavior anymore [Jeremiah 31:33-34]
18 When there is forgiveness for these things, there is no longer an offering for sin.
2 Corinthians 5
19 In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation…. 21 God caused the one who didn’t know sin to be sin for our sake so that through him we could become the righteousness of God.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Carlo Ancelotti: “Football is a game that’s played with the head. Your feet are just the tools.”
Yesterday we looked at the simplicity of Jeremiah’s new covenant promise (Jeremiah 31:34). Today’s readings invite us, like Ancelotti’s reminder about using your head in soccer, to think carefully. The letter to the Hebrews wrestled with how to connect Israel’s sacrificial rituals to Jesus’ life. The intent of those sacrifices was to point forward to Jesus’ once-for-all-time sacrifice to seal our forgiveness.
- There’s a centuries-old saying that the Bible is shallow enough for a child to wade in, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim in. We experience that truth when reading how Hebrews wrestled with connecting Israel’s sacrificial rituals, Jeremiah’s covenant promise, and Jesus’ self-sacrificing death. How can you think hard about what you believe without losing the beautifully simple message of God’s forgiving love? When has deeper study enriched rather than complicated your faith?
- Scholar David Downs called 2 Corinthians 5 “densely packed,” showing “a divine interchange whereby the sinless Christ assumes the human condition so that sinful humans might become the righteousness of God.” * But William Barclay warned: “The New Testament never speaks of God being reconciled to [humans], but always of [people] being reconciled to God. There is no question of pacifying an angry God.” ** Why does it matter that WE needed reconciling to God—not God to us? How does knowing God was always seeking you change how you approach him?
Prayer
Living Lord, thank you for reconciling me to yourself through Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. You were never the angry one needing to be pacified—you were always seeking me. Help me live in the power of your reconciling love today. Amen.
GPS Insights
Elixabeth Starr
Elizabeth Starr, who is serving as an intern in Resurrection's recovery ministry this summer, wrote today's Insights. She is going to be a sophomore at K-State this fall, studying psychology to do counseling. Elizabeth loves all things outdoors such as hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, bonfires, etc. She says, "I am so grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer brings!"
Many people dwell on their mistakes and wrong doings. I know I do. We tend to relive our mistakes over and over again, occupying ourselves with things we cannot change. Yet Hebrews 10: 17 says, “I won’t remember their sins.”
We don’t have to continue to punish ourselves for things that have already been forgiven. Jesus’ death was final. It didn’t just cover our sins, it removed them. If you are constantly apologizing for the same mistake or punishing yourself then you are treating the forgiveness as incomplete. God’s forgiveness is complete and final, and forgiveness is necessary to have healthy relationships.
God’s forgiveness can free you from shame, and human forgiveness is about restoring healthy relationships and taking responsibility. Both are important. Grace and forgiveness from God do not remove our need for accountability. These passages remind me that I am freed from shame and forgiven by God. Now I need to live like I believe it, letting go of mistakes while also being honest and humble with those around me.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* David J. Downs, study note on 2 Corinthians 5:21 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 343 NT.
** William Barclay, The Letters to the Corinthians (Revised Edition). Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, p. 211.
