- Christ love compels us: (5:14-15): Christ love compels us. His love reflects through our hearts onto unbelievers. He loved us when we were still enemies, ungodly and sinners (Rom.5:6-10). He sacrificed himself for us. When you consider the reasons why Christ died, we cannot help but love Him. He died that we might also die. This truth is explained in detail in (Rom 6:8-10), the believer’s identification with Christ. When Christ died, we died in Him and with Him. Since Christ is raised from death, death cannot hold Him and He cannot die again, we can also live with Him eternally.
Ex: The foreign missionaries who came to India viz. William Carey came to India when there was so much of poverty, uncivilization etc. He spent rest of his life here and was buried on the shores of Hugli river. During his ministry, he lost his children due to malaria, his wife became mad. He went through terrible ordeal. Unless Christ’s love had compelled him, he wouldn’t have come to India. Like this there are scores of missionaries who came to India and died here.
- New creation: (5:16-17): Before Paul’s conversion, he was evaluating people. He had opposed Christ and His followers because he had regarded Christ from a worldly point of view. He had information about Jesus, but this was not the same as believing in Him. Mere information about Jesus cannot transform a person from self-centeredness to selflessness (5:15). Only conversion could effect that and this was what Paul experienced.
Therefore, the old life should have no hold on us today. ‘I am crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20).
No one was more able to reflect on that transformation than Paul who switched from a persecutor of Christ to a proclaimer of Christ (Acts 9:5,20-22). Paul believed the message of the gospel and was identified by faith with Christ. To be in Christ is to be a new creation. This new creation is brought about by the Holy Spirit, the Agent of regeneration (Titus 3:5) and the Giver of divine birth (Jn. 3:3,6-8). God’s new creative work begins to work in every one who believes in Christ. The old life of slavery to self and sin has gone. The new life of devotion to Christ means that one has new attitudes and actions (2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom 6:4; Eph 4:23-5:2).
The new attitudes and actions can be summarised as following:
- New thoughts: A transformed person will have new thoughts and ideas. His old thinking of sinning or grieving others, are gone.
- New dynamics: The person is dynamic, humble and simple living and high thinking. He is not affected by disappointments or desperations.
- New motivation: A transformed person will have new motivation to live for Christ.
- New direction: He changed his direction. Before his conversion his direction was towards the worldly passions, but now his direction is godly.
- New looks and make up: His looks are makeup are different. People would appreciate him.
- New deeds (works): He always does something beneficial to others and to the society at large. He is proactive in his works.
- New living: His living is completely transformed. He is a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is full of joy, happiness because his life is secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has a new relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
All these qualities or attitudes can be seen in the person who is transformed and experienced the Salvation.
Ex: A butterfly is beautiful to look with magnificent colours. Children try to catch them. But if we look at its previous life “a caterpillar” which is so ugly, crawling on the ground. You get nausea when it comes inside our houses. But God has transformed such ugly caterpillar into a beautiful, colourful, flying butterfly. This is what God can do in our lives. We were full of sin, ugly, nauseating, wicked like a caterpillar. But when we came to Christ, He forgave all our sins and gave us the Salvation. Our lives are transformed beautifully like a butterfly. This is what New Creation.
- Commissioned as ambassadors: (5:18-21): God brought us back in reconciliation by blotting our sins. Now we are no longer enemies of God but we belong to His family. Because we have been reconciled to God, we have the privilege of encouraging others to do the same. God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Not only this, He has made us as His Ambassadors, but also clothed us with His righteousness. He was sinless but became a sin offering for us so that we may live a righteous life because “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa.64:6). It is great honour to be the Ambassador of King of Kings. It is no small thing to become His ambassador. We are not like any Dick or Harry or Ram or Shyam, but we are His adopted children and An ambassador has a great responsibility to perform. viz.
- An ambassador represent his country in an alien country: Our country is heaven. We are the ambassadors in this earth.
- An ambassador communicates the message of his country: Since we the ambassadors in this earth, we have proclaim and communicate the message of our King. The Gospel must be proclaimed wherever we are. The world is eager to know the true and real God.
- An ambassador remains faithful to his own country: Although we are living this world, we need to be faithful to our Saviour. We should not be carried over by the attractions and intrigues of this world. Our fleshy body craves for “Lust of eyes, Lust of flesh and pride of life.” But we must overcome such sins through the power of God and the word of God. Daily we can draw the power from the infinite source of God.
We are responsible and accountable how we live in this world just like an ambassador. May God help us to be a responsible Christian.