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Millard Kinnison on December 30, 2024

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Together in Christ: 'A Transformed Point of View' — 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

Monday, December 30, 2024

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

— 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 NLT

Key Thought...

Toward the end of each year and as we anticipate a new one, many of us evaluate our lives, priorities, and goals. We want to realign who we are with the person Jesus is calling us to become. We want to become better people. We want God's Spirit to transform us to behave and treat people more as Jesus did.

Many of us remember when we were first born into God's family by the Holy Spirit. Our outlook was transformed. We realigned our values and goals to be more Christlike. We didn't want to view people in the same old human ways we had before our Spiritual birth. We were committed to loving each other as brothers and sisters based on how God first loved us. We heard Jesus' commission to reach out with the Good News to those who didn't know Him and help them find salvation and new life in Him. We were committed to going to the lost and sharing Jesus, baptizing those who have believed, and training new disciples to follow and obey the ways of Jesus. [1]

Unfortunately, some of that early passion and fire for Jesus seems to have diminished and cooled over time. Life wore us down. We let culture distract us. Some hard disappointments demoralized and embittered some of us. The cares of life crowded out our passion for Jesus. We grew lukewarm, [2] even cold at times, in our love for Jesus, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the lost people God has placed in our circle of influence. So, how do we become "diligent and turn from [our] indifference" [3] to find that passion and fire once again? How do we reset our hearts and become again the people Paul described in our relationship verses for today?

We know that any good change in our lives most often comes from three spiritual moves: [4]

Desiring to align our hearts with Jesus.

Inviting the Holy Spirit to transform us to be more like Jesus.

Pursuing Jesus daily so we can become more like Him in what we think, feel, say, and do.

What do these three things have in common? Jesus! To lukewarm people who needed to be diligent and turn from their indifference, Jesus said:

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. [5]

Notice that Jesus didn't say this to the unsaved; He said it to the church in Laodicea. [6] Most of us have only heard this passage in the context of an invitation to come to Jesus, in an altar call. That is not how it was used in the early church. This is a call to all of us who have let our original transformation in Jesus grow old, stale, worn, and cold. This is a call for us to invite Jesus into our lives each day and for Him to feed us on His words, fill us with His grace, and renew us with His Spirit. So as we close out this old year and anticipate another, let's realign ourselves to the person God re-created us to be in Christ Jesus — the person described in today's verses. Let's commit to opening the door of our hearts to Jesus each day this next year and asking Him to join us in our lives, transform us in our thinking, fill us with His love, and help us refuse to look at life, love, and people from the old human point of view. With the dawning of the New Year, we can once again declare, "The old life is gone; a new life is begun" as we let God's gift of a new year and a renewed life realign us to the ways of Jesus!

Please know that I am praying for you as you read this devotional near the close of our year. If you would like a simple Bible reading process to help you follow and know Jesus, one that hundreds of others have found helpful, send me an email to phil@heartlight.org and say in the body of the email, "I want to pursue Jesus this year!" I will gladly share this simple plan and process with you. Let's pursue Jesus together!

[1] In Jesus' Great Commission — Matthew 28:18-20, the Lord commands us to do these things to make and strengthen disciples.

[2] Jesus warns the church in Laodicea that they have become "lukewarm" — Revelation 3:14-19.

[3] Revelation 3:19.

[4] Many New Testament letters to churches and individuals contain these three exhortations. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Colossians 1:28-29; Hebrews 12:1-2 are just a few examples.

[5] Revelation 3:20

[6] Revelation 3:14.

Today's Prayer

Dear Father, I thank You for sending Your Son and my Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. As I close this year and begin to think of the new one ahead, I ask for forgiveness for my sins, failures, and any loss of passion I may have allowed to slip into my life. I invite the Holy Spirit to energize me and strengthen my spiritual fervor. Awaken me to the passion and point of view that I should have as Your child and disciple of Your Son. Help me as I seek to evaluate no one and nothing in my life from the old point of view that is human and earth-bound. Open my eyes to my world, my discipleship, and the people around me to see them as Jesus does. I ask this in His name as I pursue His mission for my life. Amen.