Continuing Michael’s message, he writes that Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My Peace I give unto you: not as the world gives give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid.” We have peace with God through Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice on our behalf. Reconciliation and atonement are the same word in Greek. Atonement means at-one-meant. This is the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The apostle Paul said, In my flesh dwells no good thing. However, through salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone we have been given a new spiritual nature. The new nature is Christ in you the hope of glory. Jesus said, If I abide in you and you abide in me you shall bear much fruit. God hasn’t called us to keep the rules of the Old Testament Law because we can’t. By God’s Law we discover our sin and seek a Savior. He has called us unto salvation ... wholeness by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God has raised Him from the dead. Because He lives, we have been made a new creation in Christ ... old things (of the sin nature of the flesh) are passed away (by walking in the Spirit). All (spiritual) things are made new. (emphasis mine).
At the cross of Christ, God has made us acceptable in the beloved. For He who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. The solution to reconcile irreconcilable differences is to meet each other at the foot of the Cross of Calvary, where Jesus paid the price for our sins as our atoning sacrifice. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That Cross was meant for you and I. For many, it still is.
Our witness for the Lord is in the power of His Holy Spirit. We’ve been called as peacemakers to reconcile people back to God through the super natural power His Spirit. Our purpose and our calling is to be Ambassadors for Christ. The country of our new birth is heaven ... for our citizenship is in heaven. Not only are we citizens of Heaven but we are called as Ambassadors, the highest ranking representatives sent from our home in Heaven to represent our Sovereign Lord in a foreign country – planet Earrth. He has given us the ministry of reconciliation and committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we pray you in Christ’s stead be reconciled unto God.
As Ambassadors, our commission is to introduce others to our Lord. When the Apostle Andrew introduced his brother Simon Peter to Jesus, he simply said, “come and see.” Similarly, when the people asked John the Baptist if he were the Messiah, he said, “I’m not the bridegroom. I’m here to introduce the bride (Israel) to her groom Jesus Christ. I must decrease that he might increase.”
The Great Commission is Gospel mission of the ministry of reconciliation. Jesus said to His disciples before His ascension into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God, “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations.....teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the age.” In other words, our mission and our commission is this: Go give ‘em heaven! ... that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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