Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Friday, January 2, 2 Corinthians 5 18

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation."

"All this is from God". This was His plan from before we were even created, that God the Son would reconcile the world to the Father. It is a tremendous thing when we grasp as best we can how the Trinity worked out our salvation. The Father commanded, the Son obeyed, and the Spirit distributed throughout the world. All in perfect unity, each equal and in perfect order.

And this is the main thrust of Paul's ministry, as we shall see. Paul has been pleading to the Corinthians to stop looking at the outward appearance and look up. It is the old creature that sees from the world's perspective, but the new creature who sees things from the eternal perspective.

We've been seeing, especially if you read the full letter of 2 Corinthians, how hard it is for Paul to boast about himself so that these thick-headed Corinthians will turn their eyes toward God and heavenly things.

If you have read the previous letter we have, 1 Corinthians, you see that he could not have been more plain, answering all their previous questions and urging them to stop looking at people and look toward their message, which should be this message of reconciliation. And, by reading this letter we find that they did not get it, or else they did not want to get it.

I see it all the time here in America. There are scads of what many call "Fishbowl" Christians, who bounce from church to church when they get bored at their previous church. They look for "some new thing". Their lives are based on entertainment instead of commitment. It's all about them.

Instead of mature believers, we find a bunch of "fat sheep" who are content eating and eating instead of learning how to apply what they've learned, feed others and bring the "lambs" into maturity. They entirely miss the point of church.

Church is about serving Christ together. If you find that your pastor seems to be repeating things you had learned in times past, and almost know what he is about to say, that is because you have grown from ignorance to knowledge. You are now no longer being constantly fed, but are now in the position to feed. The repetition for you should be reinforcement.

Those wise things that good pastors keep emphasizing are still just as wise, and should be transferred by you to others. They've taught you all about discipleship, so now disciple! If God calls you somewhere else to minister, it should be with the blessing of your church. But more times than not, the "fat fish" care little about others. They just want to bounce to some new thing.

Now, if you are in a bad church, that is a different thing altogether. First of all, why are you there? Any child of God who truly studies the Word for about a year or so should be able to detect false or compromising teaching. If that is what your church is about, it isn't a church, and you should run from it.

And run, carefully and soberly, to a church that preaches the Gospel. It is actually very easy in this day and age, now that God has blessed us with the internet and YouTube to check things out before you even step foot into a door. Most churches have their "mission statements" on their sites, so you can compare their doctrines with Scripture. If their statement is flowery and vague, that will be the character of that church. If it is overbearing and judgmental, that will be the character of their church as well.

But if the statement presents love and truth without compromise, and a vision of discipleship taking priority over entertainment with Christ as the Center, it may be worth looking into. Then you can visit, meet members, and ask the pertinent questions to the leadership. Are the pastors looking at Christ as the Head, or are they serving themselves? Do they practice what they preach?

Is the music based on gimmicks, or on worship? Are the members knowledgeable in the Word of God? Are there active ministries focused on discipleship, or just weekly social clubs and little talk of Christ? If you have children, immediately check out their teachers! After a month or two, you will get a pretty good understanding of how the church operates, and then you can make your commitment and go elsewhere.

But when you find a solid local church, stop bouncing. Become involved, pro-active and serve. It does no one any good to see a fish-bowler. They are useless to any church Body, and harmful to their children, who learn nothing about stability and commitment, only looking for the next best thing. For we have been given the example of working in unity by the Trinity, learning to be believers "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21)

If you are one of these "fish-bowlers", first examine whether you are truly "reconciled to God". Then make your New Year's resolution to become a committed member of a Bible-believing body and reflect Christ in it with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Memory Helps:

All THIS, is from God WHO, through Christ recon CILED, us to him SELF;
and GAVE, us the mi NIS, try of recon CI, lia- TION.

I'm now using the refrain melody to "Auld Lang Syne" to finish the thought of 5:17 with 5:18. Four words to key in on: "God/Christ/Himself/Us"

With those as our anchors, let's first answer these three questions:

1: All this is from Whom?
2: Reconciled who through Whom to Whom?
3: Gave who the ministry?

We got all the "whom's"; now the what:

What did He give us? The "MOR" Ministry of Reconciliation. What MOR could He do, right? That's the best gift ever! For ever!

To link this to our verse numbers, I have "Army DaVe" stand between the 2 Corinthian Pillars, with his large hands making a few hand motions as he joins "DouG the Graduate" finishing the song. D=1, V=8, vowels fillers. He is "Army Dave" because for me "draft age" was 18, which reinforces 18 for me.

I'm going to have Doug and Dave shaking their big hands to represent "reconciliation". They are "reconciling". Dave's hand motions begin with waving his big hands to represent "All this" and point up to heaven for God. He then makes a cross with them for "through Christ", before he shakes Doug's hand for "reconciliation". That should be all I need to spark my memory for this verse. And since I know these two characters, I also know how they sing. They will be making a joyful "noise", I'm sure, lol!