2020.01.12.Called to reconciliation – the higher calling – sharing the message of Christ
William Akehurst, HSWC
BIG IDEA:
The High Calling of God is to not only be reconciled, but also to help others to be reconciled to HIM through the ministry and preaching of the Cross and Christ.
CHRIST’s LOVE holds and guides us, we can’t be separated from it.
HE died for all people, so that we have already faced death through HIM.
Therefore, we LIVE not for ourselves, but we live for HIM.
Believing in CHRIST makes us new. Old ways of living are gone, everything is new. A new way of life has come into existence.
GOD restores our relationship with HIM through Christ (the reconciliation of Christ) and has called us to help others be restored to HIM. HIS Change in us gives us something to share, something to tell others about.
CALL TO WORSHIP Psalms 103:1-5
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Higher Calling
The MESSAGE of Reconciliation
The Higher Calling
Ephesians 2:4-6
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (all scriptures in KJV unless shown as GW God's Word Translation)
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
HIS LOVE IS A FORCE THAT HOLDS AND GUIDES US, WE CAN’T BE SEPARATED FROM HIS LOVE
Romans 8:38-39 (GW) 38 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces
39 or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.
(GW) Clearly, Christ's love guides us. We are convinced of the fact that one man has died for all people. Therefore, all people have died.
Philippians 3:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
(GW) 15 He died for all people so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the man who died and was brought back to life for them.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
(GW) 16 So from now on we don't think of anyone from a human point of view. If we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don't anymore.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
(GW) 17 Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
(GW) 18 God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships.
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
(GW) 19 In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn't hold people's faults against them*, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others.
Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the *wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
(GW) 20 Therefore, we are Christ's representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
(GW) 21 God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God's approval through him.
Definition of reconcile
transitive verb
a: to restore to friendship or harmony
b: SETTLE, RESOLVE reconcile differences
The High Calling of God is to not only be reconciled, but also to help others to be reconciled to HIM through the ministry and preaching of the Cross and Christ.
CHRIST’s LOVE holds and guides us, we can’t be separated from it.
HE died for all people, so that we have already faced death through HIM.
Therefore, we LIVE not for ourselves, but we live for HIM.
Believing in CHRIST makes us new. Old ways of living are gone, everything is new. A new way of life has come into existence.
GOD restores our relationship with HIM through Christ (the reconciliation of Christ) and has called us to help others be restored to HIM.
HIS Change in us gives us something to share, something to tell others about.
Be reconciled, and help others be reconciled to GOD. Are you willing to be used by GOD to help others?
What are you waiting for? Time is of the essence.
