Good Morning Friends,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's
sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We
are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made
him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
You gave up a lot when you became a follower
of Jesus Christ.
You gave up your guilt -- He wiped the slate
clean.
You gave up your sin -- He took your sin for
you.
You gave up your messed up relationship with
God -- He has made that relationship right again.
You gave up your hopelessness -- He gave you
eternal hope.
You gave up your purposelessness -- He made
you His ambassador.
It’s as though you got the chance to start
all over again, only this time around it’s different. A chance to start over
would be worth very little if you weren’t changed. But God has changed you. He’s
implanted His Holy Spirit into your life to give you help and comfort and
strength to be different than you were before. You are a new creation, a
different creation than you were.
And God has given you the opportunity to help
others find what you have found in Jesus Christ. He has given to you the
ministry of reconciliation. God is making an appeal to the hearts of others and
He is doing it through you! What a marvelous privilege, what a worthwhile
purpose for living.
The amazing thing is how God did all that for
you. All the blessings you know because you are a follower of Jesus Christ came
to you because of what Jesus has done for you. He took on your sin -- He became
sin for you -- so that you might be acceptable to God. That’s amazing. That’s
love. That’s grace.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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