2 Corinthians Chapter 5

After his conversion, Paul clearly understands the aim and main purpose of his life. His aim is, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him (2 Cor 5:9). This is because Paul knows that his life belongs to Him (Gal 2:20; Romans 14:8).

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) 

“For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8)

In this chapter, Paul does not only share about the reasons why we should live a life pleasing to Him, but he also shares about how to achieve it. One of the reasons is that God has died to redeem us (2 Cor 5:15; Eph 1:7). Moreover in v10, Paul reminds the believers to strive to be found well pleasing to Him because we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.

While trying to picture the image of appearing before God in His judgement seat, the closest personal anecdote that I can think about is regarding having an appraisal with my manager. Good performance does not only mean not making errors in our jobs (the idea of actively doing something, but not successful), but it also includes not being a passive employee who neglects his entrusted duties (the idea of not doing anything, being passive). In the context of being a Christian, our duty is to be ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). Therefore, to live a life pleasing to Him, we must be a committed ambassador who shares about the gospel to reconcile the world to God.

Today, let’s take some time to reflect on these questions:

1. What are the things that distract us from being His ambassador?
2. Are we ready to face the challenges of being an ambassador? If not, how can we better prepare ourselves?
3. Today, who can we reach out to share about the gospel?

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