Suggestions for leading a study:
A New Look
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Discussion Questions
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How does verse 16 say Paul and his buddies used
to look at people? What do you think
this means? Do we do that?
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According to this, he used to look at Jesus that
way too. Do people still do that?
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Verse 17 starts with “therefore”. So, because we see people as well as Jesus
as more than just physical, what becomes possible?
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How does verse 18 describe the spiritual
transformation we just looked at? What
does that mean to you?
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What does this verse say about how that effects
our own responsibilities? Given our
previous discussion, does that sound like a significant task?
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Verse 19 explains what it means to be
“reconciled” to God in Christ. What is that definition?
-Do you have assurance that it applies to you?
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Since God has committed to us “the message of
reconciliation”, what is it that we should be telling people?
What does verse 21 say about our “new look?”
How did we achieve it? Does God just “fix what was wrong with us?”
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Many people are fearful of proclaiming the
gospel because they know they are not perfect examples of it themselves. How can this passage help us be
“ambassadors” for Christ? Is it our own
righteousness that we rely on for legitimacy?
Leaders' Guide
The goal of this lesson
is the help people see their position in Christ as forgiven as well as their
obligation to be Christ’s ambassadors in this world.
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How does
verse 16 say Paul and his buddies used to look at people? What do you think this means? Do we do that?
This is sometimes
translated as “according to the flesh.”
In other words, we see people as purely physical beings, similar to what
an evolutionary worldview would espouse.
People are simply more advanced animals and only exist on a material
level.
According to this, he used to look at Jesus that way too. Do people still do that?
No-one
would dispute the historicity of Jesus anymore, but many people see him as just
a “good teacher” or even a prophet sent from God. This passage makes it very clear that a Biblical viewpoint does
not allow for either of those options.
Verse 17 starts with “therefore”. So,
because we see people as well as Jesus as more than just physical, what becomes
possible?
What becomes possible is to become an entirely new creation. Since Jesus is much more than just a man, he
is able to completely re-make us spiritually.
He was responsible for our original creation and becomes the means to
re-create us as well.
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How does
verse 18 describe the spiritual transformation we just looked at? What does that mean to you?
It is described as being
reconciled to God through Christ. What
precisely that means is going to be defined later on in the study, so just a
discussion of what people think that might mean in their own understanding of
it would be appropriate.
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What
does this verse say about how that effects our own responsibilities? Given our previous discussion, does that
sound like a significant task?
This verse reminds us
that a part of our transformation is being given the task of ministering to
others to help them achieve the same.
Everyone should understand the incredible importance of that and the
significance that it brings to our own lives as we are given the privilege of
helping God accomplish his ultimate purposes in this world.
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Verse 19
explains what it means to be “reconciled”
to God in Christ. What is that
definition?
Reconciliation to God is
explained as being in a state where your sins are not counted against you.
-Do you have assurance that it applies to you?
Take this opportunity to make sure that your group members are certain of
their own salvation.
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Since
God has committed to us “the message of reconciliation”, what is it that we
should be telling people?
If reconciliation is
defined as not having your sins counted against you, and we have been given the
message of reconciliation, then we should be telling people that they have the
opportunity through Christ to not have their sins count against them.
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What
does verse 21 say about our “new look?”
How did we achieve it? Does God
just “fix what was wrong with us?”
This is the essence of
the gospel. Christ took on our sins and
gave to us his righteousness in exchange.
That is how he is able to effect the “new creation” which was being discussed
in this passage. It is more than just
fixing our problems. That would never
cut it. It is a wholesale exchange, giving us a new position in God’s eyes,
filled with the righteousness of Christ.
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Many
people are fearful of proclaiming the gospel because they know they are not
perfect examples of it themselves. How
can this passage help us be “ambassadors” for Christ? Is it our own righteousness that we rely on for legitimacy?
There are different ways
of looking at how our reconciliation with God is connected to our being
ambassadors for him with that message.
This question addresses what many people’s concerns are with being
witnesses: they know that they
themselves are flawed vessels, so do not feel they have the legitimacy
necessary to proclaim the gospel with integrity. Although we should never stop working at being consistent
witnesses for Christ in our lifestyle as well as our words, the message we have
is that it is the righteousness of Christ himself that reconciles us to God,
not our own goodness. And that is what
we offer to other people.