While We Were Yet Sinners
.
Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
16. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. 17. Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 18. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19. 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. 20. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Because God took the initiative in offering us redemption, we have the privilege and the responsibility of serving as representatives of Christ to the world. As humans, we see in others all the character flaws, all the ways they live counter to what we believe and everything that is wrong with them. As Christians, though, we are to view others through the eyes of Christ. We are to extend to others the same redemptive love that God extended to us when he sent his son to die on a cross.
We did nothing to deserve such a gift! In fact it seems as if we did everything in our power as a human race to deny God, and to go counter to everything we know to be right and good and true! We just kept testing the limits, relying upon ourselves, trusting in other people. And we kept being disappointed, let down, and finding ourselves alone and weak and confused. And we still do!
What is our excuse since Christ? We say we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. What does that mean? Really. What does it mean? Are we truly living our lives as an expression of our faith in the redemptive love of God through Jesus Christ? Are we making every decision after prayer and reflection? Are we living in line with God’s will? Are we treating others as if we are Christ’s ambassadors?
The thing that catches us up every time, is that we forget whose idea it was to “save us” in the first place! We’re not forgiven because we’re so holy and good and pure and righteous! We’re forgiven in spite of the fact that we are not any of those—and never will be! We’re saved because of God’s initiative! His son became our sin for us! God’s grace is why we are able to testify to the cross! God. Not man. Not you or me. Not anybody you’ll ever meet—no matter how close they may come to modeling perfection!
What’s the point for us? Through Christ—because of Christ—God has entrusted to us a ministry of reconciliation. We are to be Christ to the world. We are to remember that God blesses us with his unspeakable, abundant and unearned grace. And the purpose of our lives is to share that message with the world. Everything we do and say is to be an announcement of God’s redemptive love—demonstrated by Christ on the cross.
That’s it! It’s that cut and dried! We are Christ’s ambassadors!
I hope today you use your best diplomatic abilities as you spread the good news of the Cross to every one you meet. And that you rejoice in and catch your breath in awe of God’s grace – for you and to you.
Mary
