Key events/ideas in today’s reading:

• Instructions for Worship (1 Corinthians 14)
• The Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15)
• Present Weakness and the Resurrection Life (2 Corinthians 4)
• The Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2)
• Generosity Encouraged (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)
• Boasting in Weakness (2 Corinthians 11:16-33)
• God’s Grace is Sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)
• No Other Gospel (Galatians 1:6-10)
• Crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:19-21)

Verse that stood out: “Because 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 5:21.

One of the remarkable truths expressed in the New Testament is the idea that you and I have been adopted by God to be a part of his family. God did not choose us because of any quality we possessed, but rather because he is love. It is his nature to reach out, to rescue, and to forgive. Our salvation is pure gift.

The wonder of that gift grows when we realize that before we could become sons and daughters of God, God Almighty had to first become a son of man. Left to our own efforts, we could not come to God, so God had to come to us. He has identified with us in every way (Hebrews 4:15). While he never himself sinned, he lived as one of us and submitted himself to all of the physical and moral consequences of our fallen humanity. Jesus knows what it’s like to be weary and to be in pain. He knows loneliness and rejection. He knows what it’s like to die. Because he knows, because he has experienced the depths of what it means to be human, he is also the one capable of rescuing us from our despair.

An Orthodox theologian, Kalisto Ware, explains the miracle of Christ’s action this way, “Jesus our Savior bridges the abyss between God and man because he is both at once . . . Who is God? Who am I? To both these questions Jesus Christ gives us the answer.” What does the incarnation say about humanity in general? About you in particular? What does it say about God? It says that God loved us enough that he left the safety and security of the heavens to be a part of our dysfunctional, sinful family called mankind so that we might be a part of his blessed, forgiven clan called the family of God. If you haven’t done so lately, thank God for the love that has made you his son or daughter.

For tomorrow:

• Cover to Cover: Galatians 3:1-Colossians 3:9
• Key Passage: Ephesians 4:1-16
• Verse of the Day: Ephesians 4:1