Ambassadors of the King.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 we have both a Ministry and a Message, centred in and around the reconciliation offered by the gracious hand of a gracious God.  Moving on, v. 20 presents us with four things: [1] the Messengers— we are “Messiah’s Ambassadors;” [2] the means— “as though God were making His appeal through us;” [3] the mediation— “we implore you, we beg you, on Messiah’s behalf;” and [4] the Message— “be reconciled to God.”

In light of these spiritual realities, the Apostle says, “We are …Messiah’s Ambassadors.”  Because Abba has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, because He has given us the Ministry of Reconciliation, and because He committed to our care the Message of Reconciliation, consequently, “we are Ambassadors” of the King.  Which, if you consider the implications, makes us Royal Ambassadors!  “As though God were making His appeal [to the lost] through us.  We implore you on Messiah’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” {v. 20}.

And what is reconciliation?  In the spiritual context of the New Testament it is ‘the power to effect a change.’  This change is between two estranged parties: fallen man on one side, an enemy of God and in rebellion against Him; faithful God on the other, constantly and eternally vigilant over the hearts and lives of His creatures.  Between these two was the Barrier of our sin.  On the negative side Jesus’ glorious Work removed all enmity between God and man; on the positive side He established permanent peace between the two parties.  Enmity is removed and peace is established— eternally.

Paul finishes this section of Scripture {vv. 14-21} by saying, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” {v. 21 NIV}.  The Wycliffe Bible Commentary sums up v. 21 like this.  “The Sinless One became— by imputation— sin for the sinner, that the sinner might become— by imputation— sinless in the Sinless One.”  I love that.  Imputation is the means by which God justifies His Sons and Daughters.  To be ‘justified’ means we’ve been ‘vindicated’ in His eyes, ‘acquitted’ of all crimes, that we stand judicially righteous in His sight forevermore.  Imputation has been a vital part of the Gospel since the beginning of Time: that God through His Redeemer would take away the guilt and penalty of man’s sin, and find a way to make sinful man as righteous as He is righteous.  He does this by imputing His impeccable righteousness to each of us the very moment we believe in Jesus as our Savior and Sovereign and enter a relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth.  God’s grace and our faith— an unbeatable combination.

Even though this insurmountable Barrier of sin once stood between righteous God and sinful man, God reconciled us to Himself by not imputing our sins to us, by not counting our trespasses against us.  He charged them instead to His Son on the Cross— cf. Romans 4:3-8.  Do you realize Abba will never impute sins to any member of the human race?  He will never charge their sins to their eternal account!  Not just His Sons and Daughters, but any member of the human race.  Are you following the enormity of this?  No one ever has or ever will commit a sin which was not paid in full by the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  All it takes to be reconciled to God forever is to believe in this full and finished Work.  It begins with the Cross and the removal of our sin and shame; it glories in the Resurrection and our Triumph over fear and death; it concludes with the Ascension and Jesus’ granting of ultimate Authority to those who follow in His footsteps.

So, what’s it going to be?  “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.  For He says, ‘In the time of My favor I heard you, and in the Day of Salvation I helped you.’  I tell you, now is the Time of God’s favor, now is the Day of Salvation” {2 Cor. 6:1-2 NIV}.

— the Apostle Paul, 56 AD

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

Convinced and Compelled.

“For Christ’s love compels us,” wrote Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14, using the present indicative of sunecho, meaning Messiah’s love is constantly driving us forward in the Mission, urging us onward in His Cause, impelling us toward the objective of our good and His glory.  Christ’s love is what holds us on course!  It pushes us to seek for the greatest good of others, to serve without concern for self as our foremost priority, to give generously and love graciously.  Our love for our Lord, and our willing embrace of His love for us, is the deepest and most powerful motivation we possess for ‘reaching out’ to the lost and the lonely with the Glorious News of redemption in Him.

Why?  “Because we are convinced that One died for all [meaning the entire human race, not merely the Elect], and therefore all died.  And He died for all [none excluded, without exception], so those presently living should no longer live for themselves but start living for the sake of Him who died on their behalf and was raised again,” v. 15.  You see that little word “for” in vv. 14-15?  It’s a preposition of substitution; it means- ‘for the sake of someone else, in behalf of, instead of.’  I.e., in someone else’s place, which tells us two things.  [1] Jesus took our place on the Cross so we could take His place in the world.  And [2] Jesus died for us so that we could live for Him.  If we’re living for ourselves— following our own plans, seeking only our own desires— then we’re not fulfilling the purpose for which Christ came into the world.  He died so those of us “living in the here and now would no longer continue directing our own wayward course, but would begin to live on behalf of and in place of this One who died for us and was raised to Life” {RRExp}.

‘Substitution’ is the first of two profound themes in 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2.  This initial idea is that Someone would come one day who could stand in our place, on our behalf, for our benefit, and mediate between a righteous God, a holy Father, an impeccable Creator and His fallen Creation, One who could bridge the gulf our sin had created: One who would pay a price none other could pay and undergo a suffering and separation none other could endure!

Paul in vv. 14-15 said Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah, is that One-- the Son of the Living God, the Savior of all mankind.  He is the “One” who “died for all,” for each and every one of us, to bring us the precious Gift of His very own Life.  And this, my friends, is the ultimate substitution = of the Righteous for the unrighteous, the Sinless for the sinners, the Innocent for the guilty!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

The Part Love Played.

Last week we celebrated the Communion of Saints here at Heart’s Journey, the ‘sacrament’ {from the Lat. sacramentum, meaning ‘a soldier’s oath of loyalty to his cohorts and his Commander’} of bread and wine, imagery of the Body and the Blood: a picture of the perfect Life and sacrificial Death of the Son of God on our behalf.  With this picture still so powerfully in mind, here’s what I want to ask you: What part did Love play in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of all mankind?  That is, what part did Abba play in pouring out the lifeblood of His Son to purchase our redemption from the slave market of sin?

There’s only one way to find out.  Take a look at what’s been divinely declared and let the Word speak for Itself:

Most of humanity is familiar in some way, shape, or form with this passage of Scripture.  John 3:16— “For God so loved the world [not the cosmic system controlled by Satan, but the souls of those who comprise it] that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son,” vv. 17-18.  The name of “God’s one and only Son” is Jesus Christ the King.

In Galatians 2:20b Paul said, “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  Writing along these same lines in Ephesians 5:1-2 he say’s, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a Life of Love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  And Ephesians 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.”

In 1 John 4:10-12 the Apostle said, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son {to be} the propitiation for our sins [the perfect and satisfactory payment].  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us” {NAU}.

John in the first ch. of the Revelation say’s that his prophecy is “from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the Dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the Earth.  To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a Kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father— to Him be glory and power for ever and ever!  Amen,” vv. 5-6.

The one thing Love requires is response.  Scripture defines that response as ‘faith’ {just as it defines the Work of God in Christ as ‘grace’}.  Faith is the willingness to believe in the veracity and authority of God, that when He say’s He loves you …that He’s paid the price for your sins …that He sacrificed His only Son so that you could be His …that He poured out His heart, nailed up His hands, and gave up His Life at the Cross so you would know what that Love looks like, He means it.  All it takes for you to be enveloped in Abba’s embrace forevermore is a single ounce of trust.  How much faith does it take to become Jesus’ Disciple and enter an eternal relationship with the Trinity?  Just a little bit more than none at all.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

This Is Only the Beginning.

C.S. Lewis, speaking of what he called his ‘argument by desire’ and how it can drive us into the arms of the one true God, Jesus Christ, once said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”  I was made for another world.  And that other world— the real world— is waiting for us on the other side of the Door of Death.

According to the Message of the Messiah— a Message of Freedom and Grace, of forgiveness and hope— death is not the end, it is only the Beginning.  While it may be imminent and unavoidable to all but the final generation at the King’s Return, death is not the end because this world is not our home.  Author James Smith in his biography of Christian artist Rich Mullins said, “This understanding of death, instead of paralyzing him with fear, actually freed Rich to live, to try things without fear of failure, to let go of the things of this Earth and love people without expectations.  To live strongly and creatively, we must have firmly fixed in our minds that this life is not the end.”

In the rushed and hurried harangue of life lived in a World at War, I think we miss, especially as we get older, one of the most important things, and that is: the vast majority of our lives {including the best parts} are before us and not behind us.  The most ancient custom of the early Church was to celebrate in the life of a brother or sister, not the day of their birth but the day of their death.  Because they understood that death is our Birth-Day into glory, our entrance into the fullness and freedom of the Father’s World.  The ultimate reality for the Family of Faith is that spiritually we will never die.  “Do you believe this?” {Jn. 11:26b}.  It’s the same question Jesus asked Martha in John 11:26a after He said to her, “whoever lives [physically] and believes in Me will never die [spiritually].”

“Rumors of our death are greatly exaggerated.”  Thinking seriously about death as merely a change of residence from the temporal to the Eternal should lead us to a place of abundance, the freedom to live our lives with abandon, with curiosity and enthusiasm, and without fear.  In reality, what do we really have to lose?

You can see ‘em, day after day, believers in the Lord of Glory preparing to live {gathering up facts and figures, storehouses of knowledge to put into practice one day} rather than actually living and loving in the here and now!  We have one life to live for Christ our King and those He’s put within our periphery, and this day, this moment we are in will never be repeated.  So let your faith-awareness of death, and your triumph over it in Christ, not only free you to live… but free you to love.  In His holy and beautiful name.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.