His Death Brings Life

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading titled, His Death Brings Life, was written by Bill Crowder. During her ministry to men incarcerated in South Africa's most violent prison, Joanna Flanders Thomas witnessed the power of Christ to transform hearts. In Vanishing Grace, Philip Yancey describes her experience. Joanna started visiting prisoners daily, bringing them a simple gospel message of forgiveness and reconciliation. She earned their trust, got them to talk about their abuse of childhoods, and showed them a better way of resolving conflicts.

The year before her visits began, the prison recorded 279 acts of violence against inmates and guards. The next year, there were two. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here. While we may not always see that newness expressed as dramatically as Flanders Thomas did, the gospel's power to transform is the greatest hope-providing force in the universe.

New creations, what an amazing thought! The death of Jesus launches us on a journey of becoming like Him, a journey that will culminate when we see Him face to face. As believers in Jesus, we celebrate our life as new creations, yet we must never lose sight of what that cost Christ. His death brings us life. Paul continues saying, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 14 through 21. For Christ's love compels us, 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.

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. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old is 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. Let's pray. Loving Father, thank you that because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we are new creations. Please help us to walk in our newfound freedom and turn away from old temptations, attitudes, and habits that harm us and others. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.