"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: cold things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;"
2 Corinthians 5:14-18
It's interesting here when it says "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves." ... Maybe one of the most powerful parts of the atonement is to pull us out of that self-centered absorption that so often leads us astray. Our reliance on God isn't a weakness at all, but a blessing and a reminder to get outside ourselves and consider others--the fact that we *need* more than ourselves helps us get our heads in the right place to think farther than our own bodies and our personal agendas.
I also love the idea of "the ministry of reconciliation" here. One definition for reconcile is to restore to harmony or friendship, and I think that is pretty much what the gospel is--to get us all into harmony, with God and with each other--in a happy way, not a Stepford Wives way or a Borg assimilation plot. :) Coming to earth and getting a body throws us all into disharmony at some point. We have these desires that we don't always know how to handle in a righteous way, and we all mess it up sometimes... but the atonement is there, pulling us back together, helping us learn how to be whole again and how to be restored to that unity that some part of us always misses.
Today, let's become new creatures--living for something besides ourselves, and finding that harmony with God and through him, with the world around us.
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: cold things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;"
2 Corinthians 5:14-18
It's interesting here when it says "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves." ... Maybe one of the most powerful parts of the atonement is to pull us out of that self-centered absorption that so often leads us astray. Our reliance on God isn't a weakness at all, but a blessing and a reminder to get outside ourselves and consider others--the fact that we *need* more than ourselves helps us get our heads in the right place to think farther than our own bodies and our personal agendas.
I also love the idea of "the ministry of reconciliation" here. One definition for reconcile is to restore to harmony or friendship, and I think that is pretty much what the gospel is--to get us all into harmony, with God and with each other--in a happy way, not a Stepford Wives way or a Borg assimilation plot. :) Coming to earth and getting a body throws us all into disharmony at some point. We have these desires that we don't always know how to handle in a righteous way, and we all mess it up sometimes... but the atonement is there, pulling us back together, helping us learn how to be whole again and how to be restored to that unity that some part of us always misses.
Today, let's become new creatures--living for something besides ourselves, and finding that harmony with God and through him, with the world around us.
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