Look Up #9 - Look Up for Reconciliation
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Dr. Kurt Bjorklund
Part of Look Up—September 9 - December 10, 2023
November 2, 2023

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Message Notes and Group Study Guide

Date: November 4-5, 2023
Speaker: Dr. Kurt Bjorklund
Series: Look Up
Message: #9 - Look Up for Reconciliation

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Scripture

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 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.

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, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 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 people’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. —2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (NIV)

Notes

Study Guide

Step One: Icebreaker (Optional)
Without looking it up, how long do you think pizza can reasonably be left out, and still be safe to eat? (You can Google it once everyone has answered)

Step Two: Open
Ask someone in your group to pray to open your time together. Ask another person to read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.

Step Three: Discuss

  1. What stood out to you the most in this weekend’s teaching? What was challenging, encouraging, or confusing to you?

  2. In this passage, Paul uses words like “persuade” and “implore.” What is the role of persuasion and intellectual arguments in faith? Do you have to be convinced of something intellectually before agreeing with it? Why or why not?

  3. Verse 14 says, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” What does Paul mean when he says all have died?

  4. What does it practically look like to “live for Christ” and “no longer live for yourself”? Can you think of any examples from your life or those you know?

  5. Verses 16-18 assert that being reconciled to God does not just change our status but our very nature as well. How does the death and resurrection of Jesus make us new creations? What does it mean to be a new creation?

  6. Read Verse 21 aloud. What is the significance of this verse to salvation? Why was it necessary for Jesus to become sin? And why was it necessary for us to have his righteousness?

  7. In this passage, Paul begins and ends with evangelism. He reflects on the fact that they have been reconciled to God through Christ, and he uses this as motivation to be ambassadors for Christ. Does reflecting on your own reconciliation with God motivate you to share this “message of reconciliation” with others? Why or why not?

Step Four: Close in Prayer
Ask someone in your group to close in prayer.