Ephesians 2:4-7
What a blessing to live in the United States and to have
always had freedom; freedom of movement, speech, and religion, but are the
masses free? We, who are called by
the name of Christ, have moved from death to life, we have both our identity
and our freedom, but what about the millions who live in the United States,
that have no understanding of Christ and only use His name as a curse
word? What is our responsibility
to them? The apostle Paul gives
this insight; “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.”(2 Corinthians 5:17-20)
If you are a follower of Christ, you have been given the
ministry of reconciliation, and who are we to reconcile? Our place to begin is with family and
friends. If we understand our
call, it is the call to be ambassadors for Christ, and that means to stay on
message, to go in the authority and power of the one who sent you. Jesus
reconciled you to himself, not counting your trespasses against you and
entrusted you with the message of reconciliation. “But How,” are you and I going to even start such an enormous
task. The only way is, as we go,
with those God has brought into our circle of influence.
My dear friend Hoke Smith was a banker, and when he came
into Christ and understood that God had called him to reconcile those who were
in his circle of influence, he began with bankers, but his circle was very
sizeable so he invited judges, lawyers, politicians and doctors to a Christian
business men’s luncheon, to hear how they could know Christ. At the first luncheon he invited and
paid for 110 men to hear this message; that Christ had the answer to life, out
of that 110 men eleven of them ask Christ into their life that day. Hoke was an as you go Ambassador for
Christ till God took him home, Hoke stayed on message and in the authority of
his Christ.
Johnny Anderson, a dear brother in Christ and one of the men
who God used to reconcile me to Christ, is an “as you go” ambassador of
Christ. He was Mr. Texas and Mr.
Southern USA in bodybuilding back before steroids and then a coach and teacher,
later he entered into sales, but this can be said about Johnny Anderson, he is
a messenger of reconciliation. And
I could tell you about Carroll Ray Jr. and Ken Ryan, Greg Hood, and many others
who were just guys like you, who “as the went” they shared how Jesus Christ had
changed their lives, how he had made them a new creation.
The reason many of us are not “as you go” followers of
Christ, is that we do not understand, we are at war, and the enemy of our soul
has rendered us powerless. If we
grasp what Jesus was telling us in John 10:10, “The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.” The
answer is first, understand who’s you are, and second, each day look, abide,
obey the voice of your Lord, never forgetting that Jesus promised you life in
all of its fullness, never forgetting that Satan is trying to render you
powerless. And third, as you go,
be an Ambassador of Christ.
Form the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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