19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Which is the Gospel message in it's purest form: we who are reconciled to God through Christ are called to tell others that that same reconciliation is available to them. To you. We are, in effect, God's Peace Commissioners, charged with the message that it is possible to be at Peace with God.
It is a battle. That which is unholy (all of us) by our nature want to keep away from a Holy God. But God works in the lives of those whom He will, drawing to Himself unholy sinners and making them, as it says in the verse above, 'the righteousness of God in Him'.
Why this picture? I have this picture in my collection of unscanned objects-this picture came from the Library of Congress. Family history in tintypes and postcards.
God's Peace Commissioners for 2011 are mocked, hated, killed-all for bearing the name of Christ. That is spiritual hate being directed at Christians who serve the Prince of Peace. Our response? God Loves ______.
4 comments:
The speaker today has been a missionary and now works with Bible translation projects. He is the epitome of "More wag-less bark".
Tomorrow is Memorial Day-once Decoration Day, now and forever a holy day. Holy because it takes warriors willing to lay down their lives to make Peace.
What does it mean to be at Peace with God?
Hi Kathy-simply put, when we accept Christ through His working in our hearts and lives to seek Him, we become 'saved' from the sin which had separated us from God. I have been at Peace with God since 1979, and that peace carries over into Eternity.
In your own words, in this post and in many others, it is possible for me to be at peace with God if God wills it. That's a huge if. If God doesn't will it, the reconciliation is not available to me, and no message will ever get through.
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