Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV)

We can change our old ways of thinking, believing, and acting to become more like Jesus. This particularly applies to the way we view others. There is intentional and beautiful diversity represented in who we are as believers. Latasha Morrison emphasizes, “In the love of the family of God, we must become color brave, color caring, color honoring, and not color blind. We have to recognize the image of God in one another. We have to love despite, and even because of, our differences.”

God and his Word serve as the most reliable authority for understanding racial reconciliation. We can examine the core of the gospel to discern God’s perspective on this matter. 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 holds out essential truths regarding this topic:

• Christ transforms all his followers into new creations in him, changing our hearts, thoughts, desires, and perspectives after encountering Jesus.
• Jesus restored our relationship with God by willingly suffering and dying for us, ultimately reconciling us to God.
• His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection three days later accomplished our restoration.
• Jesus selflessly died for us despite knowing that sin had devastated our hearts and minds.
• He granted us his love, grace, righteousness, and mercy by taking on our sins (v. 21), even though we did not deserve it.

Prayer for the Week

Jesus, you entrusted the message of reconciliation to us. We are your ambassadors on earth and desire to be like you in our interactions with our fellow believers. And we desire to show and share the gospel message with those who have not yet come to know you.

Father, we are compelled by your unwavering love, as seen in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, to atone for our sins. Holy Spirit, we depend on you to continually transform our previous ways of thinking, believing, and behaving so that we may closely resemble Jesus. Thank you for the deliberate and beautiful diversity within the body of believers. Amen.