March 27, 2022 Pastor Jim Hardesty

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, 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.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

The work and the Word.

The work is accomplished by Christ. Reconciliation cannot be completed by believers, it has already been completed by Jesus dying on the cross.  Even if we reject God, the reconciliation is still complete. In the work that was completed on the cross God the Father treated the Son as though he lived our lives, so that He can treat us as though we lived the perfect life of Jesus. This is the meaning of being wrapped in His righteousness. Even though Jesus completed the work, we still MUST be ambassadors of Christ.

We are made new in our belief, and we become ambassadors of Christ in the world that we live.  Our reconciliation is a testimony and the Bible is the most important words we can share with those around us.

We are not supposed to be opinionated ambassadors. You are representing Christ.  You should relay the Word of God as is.

We are not supposed to save the culture. We are supposed to minister to those living in the culture. People WILL be save out of the culture. Your job isn’t to try and change the culture, but to spread the word of reconciliation. God will accept them just as they are and he will change them so that everything is new.

We are not here to adapt to the culture or take it on as our church culture. We need to represent Christ, represent him well, and share the Word so that people will be save.

Simply put, represent the King of all kings. Live as though God is making an appeal through you.

WE BEG YOU BE RECONCILED TO GOD!!!

Have you lived in a way that God can be reconciled through you? Your actions? Your thoughts? Your attitudes? Your speech?

Remember, your first ministry is the ministry of reconciliation. It is not about “position” and doing specific ministries. There is always a need in the church for people to take part in ministries, but if reconciliation is not first on your heart and position is, it is time to contemplate whether you are reflecting Christ accurately and representing Christ as we are commanded to.