Has anyone ever told you that you are a minister?  That may be a scary thought!  You might be saying to yourself… if they only knew what happened yesterday, they’d fire me as a minister, ha ha.  Well certainly that isn’t true, at least not in the sense that I am speaking of.  We may not all lead a church, but God has said that if you are a believer, if you truly saved in Jesus Christ, you are a minister.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

If you are not yet a believer, I’d look at the last part of that passage, and my message to you today is this, I implore you, be reconciled to God.  Jesus Christ, God Himself in the flesh, has died for your sins, ransomed your life – past, present, and future, knowing all your sins and struggles, so that you would be reconciled to God, if only you trust Him – if only you believe on His name, that Jesus is God, and He was done exactly what He has said He has done.  If you are are a believer, read over that last part twice, because that is now your job – you are a minister of that message.  You are to live your life now not for yourself, which leads to death, but for the One, Jesus, the Christ, who has set you free.

A lot of us misunderstand the Bible.  We’ve never had a teacher help us understand what we’re reading.  Would it surprise you to know, that this same message was preached from the very beginning in the Old Testament?  We know that the Old Testament was filled with imagery, that was pointing to our need for a savior, it was telling us about Jesus, and our need for Him.  Hear the word of the LORD from Genesis 18:19 when God is speaking about Abraham – “For I havechosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

What do we see?  Did Abraham choose God?  No, God chose Abraham, apart from any works.  Does this mean Abraham was a better person than the others around Him?  No, right before this we see that Abraham did not trust God, and sought to give himself an heir by impregnating his wife’s maidservant, at her request.  Abraham was an adulterer and idolotar, but God chose Him for God’s purposes.  Having chosen Him, God told him he was lead his family and others to righteousness and justice, so that the LORD would bring to Abraham what was promised him.  What was promised to Abraham was full reconciliation to God, an inheritance through his offspring (Jesus came from the line of Abraham).  God is saying that to be accepted by God, is to be a new creation, to be able to have the blessing to be used by God for His purposes, to be a part of God’s ministry of reconciliation.  That kind of blows the argument of faith being a “private matter” out of the water doesn’t it?

Do you realize what Christ has done for you?  As believers, the more we learn of God, the more we see his holiness.  The more we see God’s holiness, the more we see our own sin.  The more we see our own sin, the more we are amazed that Christ’s love paid it all for us on the cross.  The more we are amazed by Christ’s love the more we are unable to keep that to ourselves.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of freedom and joy, not to be kept in.  I thank God that each of us has been gifted differently (I’m sure my small group guys are thankful there’s not 20 of me as well, ha ha)  Do you love music?  Find a way to make music a means of ministry for the reconciliation of others to God.  Do you like helping children?  Find a group of kids to pour into, to encourage them to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.  Are you married?  Love your spouse enough to die to yourself, to your own fleshly pursuits and wants, and encourage them daily in their walk with Christ.  Let the world see that there is greater joy in Christ, and being a part of His work, than in anything else.  Keep running strong, in time what joy we have now in this ministry will be a fullness of joy in His presence when we hear the words from Jesus “Well done, my good and faithful servant”.

Grace and Peace,
Adam