Peter Misselbrook's Blog
May 17 2020 - 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 – Compelling love

In the second half of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul describes the complex motivations that drive him to tell others of Christ. Knowing that all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ creates a fear of God which makes Paul want others to be reconciled to God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). But his mission is not motivated merely by the awareness of judgment to come; it is powered by Christ’s love. “Christ’s love compels us”, he says, “because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (5:14-15).

Paul is compelled by this love. Christ died for him and was raised for him. Paul has died with Christ and has been raised with him; he now lives solely to serve and please Christ. Moreover, since Christ died for all, the sentence of death has been passed on all in him. Therefore this message of new life needs to be proclaimed to all so that they also might have life in him and live no longer to please themselves but Christ.

In the death of Jesus Christ, God has brought this present world to judgment. But, by his resurrection from the dead, God has brought a new creation to birth. And all who are united with Christ by faith have become part of that new creation: “If anyone is in Christ, new creation! The old has gone, the new has arrived” (5:17). In Christ, everything has become new and everything is now viewed from a radically new perspective. As a minister of the gospel, Paul has become a midwife of the new creation, bringing it to birth in the lives of those to whom he ministers.

Paul preaches a message of reconciliation. Not that Paul was seeking to reconcile people to God. Rather, he declared that God had himself performed that great work of reconciliation in Jesus Christ. The sin and wrongdoing which separated us from God was placed on Jesus Christ, our sacrificial lamb. He became sin for us; he bore the punishment which our sins deserved and so gained forgiveness for us. God has displayed his righteousness in Jesus, vindicating his claim to be the Christ by raising him from the dead. And all who trust in him share in his resurrection life – share in the righteousness of God. In Christ, God has reconciled the world to himself, and it is on this basis that Paul is engaged in a ministry of reconciliation – seeking not to reconcile people to God but to encourage them to return to the God who has reconciled us to himself in Christ.

Those who have discovered the wonders of God’s love and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ cannot keep it to themselves; they will want others to discover that God is not an angry judge but a waiting Father, longing for the return of his children whom he has redeemed at great cost. Christ died for us that we might live for him and make him known – that we too might be ambassadors for Christ and his kingdom.

Father God, you so loved the world that you gave up your Son to die for us that we might not face judgment but might have the life of the age to come. Captivate me with your love that I might see all things in the light of Christ’s resurrection. May the love of Christ compel me this day to tell others the good news of what you have done for a lost world in him. Continue your reconciling work through your reconciled people and, by the power of your Spirit, bring new creation to birth.

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May 17 2019 - 1 Kings 2:13-46 – A kingdom established through bloodshed

Let me go over the history that led to Solomon succeeding his father David as king. Absolom, David's third son, had killed Amnon, David's firstborn, in vengeance for Amnon raping Absolom's sister Tamar. David's second son, Kileab, son of Abigail, seems to have died as a young man since we hear nothing more about him. David's eldest surviving son was Adonijah, son of Haggith.

We skipped over 1 Kings Chapter 1 in our schedule of readings. In that chapter we read that when David was very old and could not keep himself warm, a young woman named Abishag was given the job of lying next to David in bed as a kind of human hot water bottle, but, we are told, "the king had no sexual relations with her" (1 Kings 1:4).

Meanwhile, seeing that David will soon die, his eldest son Adonijah sought to have himself proclaimed king – it's the story of Absalom all over again. The plot was told to David who promptly declared that Solomon, son of Bathsheba, was the one whom God had called Jedidiah, loved of the Lord. The Lord had determined that Solomon would succeed David as king. Adonijah was filled with fear and ran into the tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar. Solomon sent a message to him that he would not be put to death for this rebellion: "If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die" (1 Kings 1:52).

David has died and Solomon is now king. But Adonijah feels that he has been robbed of his rightful position and is intent on gaining status for himself. He dare not confront Solomon so he goes to talk to the king's mother, to Bathsheba. He asks for Abishag to be given to him as his wife. When Bathsheba presents this "small request" to her son, Solomon does not see it as a small matter at all; he sees it as a plot to seize the kingdom from him. Solomon gives the order that Adoniah immediately be put to death. Abiathar the priest who had colluded with Adonijah's plans to be king was dismissed from his post, "fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli" (v.27). Zadok was appointed as chief priest in Israel instead of Abiathar.

Solomon, the king whose name means "peace", then set about executing the deadly will of his father. Joab had conspired over the kinship with Adonijah, and like him flees to take hold of the horns of the altar. Refusing to leave the tabernacle, Joab was struck down there and died.

Shimei, who had cursed David when he fled from Absalom, was placed under house arrest in Jerusalem. When he left the city to pursue some of his run-away slaves, Solomon had him also put to death.

This is how the kingdom was "established in Solomon's hands" (1 Kings 2:46).

The kingdom of David's greater son is also established through the shedding of blood. But this is the blood of the Saviour himself who has conquered all opposition by his death and who gives life to all who come to him. He is the Prince of Peace, the one who reigns over a kingdom characterised by righteousness, joy and peace. The Lion of the tribe of Judah is also the Lamb who was slain – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Lord, I am troubled by this history of the men whom you raised up to lead your people. I do not find them attractive characters. Thank you that I can turn from them to look at the Lord Jesus in whom I see your character truly reflected in all the beauty of your grace. Thank you that through him I have been reconciled with you the living God and know the peace that passes human understanding. Help me to be a peacemaker.

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Peter Misselbrook