The Gospel Resonates with Me

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
— 2 Corinthians 5:17

For the next few days, let’s think about how the gospel resonates with us personally, then spreads into our relationships, and then rings out further into the world.

I was speaking in a church in Canada recently that has baptized hundreds of new immigrants from a country in the Middle East. After the service, a young man came up to me and shared in broken English that this was his first time in the church. He had just immigrated to Canada and was curious about Jesus. He had shown up that morning to see what the Christian faith was about. What a joy it was to be able to tell him about Jesus’ love for him and to connect him with someone who could explain the good news of Jesus in his own language. He was warmly welcomed and invited to experience personal resonance with Jesus.

In our passage for today, we hear the good news ringing out: “If anyone is in Christ . . . the old has gone, the new is here!” This passage invites us to receive all that Jesus has accomplished on the cross for us. Each one of us—whoever we are, whatever our story—can be personally reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. The promise of complete forgiveness is possible in Jesus— and this good news is for everyone!

May the joy and hope of Jesus resonate in your heart. And may you respond in faith and be reconciled to God!

Dear Jesus, you who had no sin became sin for us so that we could be reconciled to God! May this life-giving message resonate deep within each of us today. Amen.

Written by: Kevin DeRaaf