DAILY DEVOTION.
DAY THIRTY.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-21. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation to us. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christs behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him.
We have been reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ, it was through His cross and what was done on that cross and by no other means, as it says in Colossians 1:20 And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. So we now have peace with God, we are no longer at enmity with God, no longer cut off from His grace, because it was only by His grace that we were saved. We cannot earn God's grace it is a free gift. So now that we have received this gift and been reconciled to God through Christ, what is our responsibility. These verses show us very clearly that we have a part to play in God's plan of redemption, think for a moment about your own salvation, how did you hear the gospel? was it through someone sharing the gospel with you one on one or were you invited to a church meeting where you heard the gospel? The truth of the matter is, no one will hear the gospel unless someone takes the time to share it with them, whether that be one on one or in a church meeting. Yes God is reconciling the world to Himself through Christ and His death on the cross, but 2 Corinthians 5:18 says that God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. It is through us that God will share the gospel, verse 19 says that God has given us the word of reconciliation. The Body of Christ, which is made up of all born again believers, is the means by which God will spread the good news of the gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20 that He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth and He told His disciples to go out into all the world in that authority and preach the gospel and to make disciples. There is no plan "B" if the church does not do its job the gospel won't be preached. I said earlier that the grace of God was a free gift, that we cannot earn it. In Matthew 10 starting at verse 5 Jesus sends out the twelve disciples to preach the gospel, in verse 8 Jesus tells them to "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" The grace of God is not ours to keep, it has been given to us and it is our responsibility to share that message with others, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:14 it is the love of God that compels us. If we are truly living in the love of God and motivated by the love of God we will have a burden within our hearts to see the lost saved.So what is the gospel that we are meant to be preaching? What is this word of reconciliation that is so important? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2 "For I determined to know nothing among you but Christ and Him crucified" His words were not based on human wisdom, he preached with fear and trembling knowing the great responsibility he had to preach only the gospel because he knew that the power of God would be demonstrated as he preached that word, as it says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe, the power of God is demonstrated every time someone repents and comes to Christ, true repentance and salvation can only come as a response to the preaching of the gospel of the cross. Paul said in Galatians 6:14 "God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" It is only through the power of the cross that we can see people delivered from the power of the world and all its attractions and deception. In Mark 16:20 it says that the disciples went out and preached Christ everywhere and God worked with, and confirmed the word that they preached with great signs and wonders. The truth is, God will only confirm His word with signs and wonders, if we think that we can preach another gospel and God will honour that word and we will see the signs and wonders that have been promised we deceive our selves. In Galatians 1:8 it warns us that if anyone comes preaching another gospel other than the gospel of the cross of Christ they will be cursed.
So this is my challenge, what are we doing with this gospel that Jesus has so freely given to us? what are we doing with His grace? and are we truly preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the answer to the problems of this world and the sin that plagues mankind? We all know that Jesus is coming back for His bride, a victorious church without spot and wrinkle, and church that is boldly preaching the true gospel and establishing God's kingdom in their world. Let us be the ones that Jesus comes back for, the ones that says of "Well done My good and faithful servant" AMEN.
