By Ted Johnston
What does God want you to do for him? If you'd like to know (and I'm sure we all would) we must answer another question first: what is God doing in the world?
The answer runs like a crimson thread through the entire Bible. From Genesis to Revelation God unfolds his awesome plan for reconciliation through "the precious blood of Christ.... He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake" (1 Peter 1:19-20).
Before time began God worked it out to reconcile everything through the blood of Jesus. That's what God is doing in the world. And everything he's done here, every system he has designed, is all for that purpose. Let's review some of the key events.
In the Garden of Eden the need for reconciliation was established. It was there, in Adam and Eve, that humankind rejected God, opening up a huge gap between God and humanity that only God can close. Immediately God went to work to reconcile humankind to himself-- providing a way to close the gap that sin creates.
Centuries later God gathered the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. God gave Israel a national covenant including a worship system with animal sacrifices to provide a vivid illustration of how the sin gap is closed through substitutionary sacrifice.
The smell of animal sacrifices was a constant reminder to Israel of the need for a sin offering to accomplish reconciliation.
Through the prophets, God more fully revealed the promise of the Messiah who would be the once-for-all sin offering. The last of the great prophets, John the Baptist, introduced this Sin-Bearer. When Jesus came to be baptized, John cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
Jesus is the focus of God's plan for reconciliation. Everything in the Bible points to him-- to his life, his sacrifice, his work. Reconciliation with God through Jesus is a reality so powerful that when fully manifested it will bring "all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:10).
What's God doing in the world? Nothing less than accomplishing the reconciliation that Jesus makes possible for the entire creation. Praise God!
Now we return to the original question: what does God want you to do for him? The answer flows directly from what we've just reviewed. God has a part for you in his great master work of reconciliation.
"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....We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).
God is making an appeal, offering to close the gap of sin in the lives of people. And how does he make this appeal? Through you! God has given you a ministry of making known where others can find the reconciliation you have already received.
Many Christians think of the ministry of Jesus as the sole responsibility of a few paid clergy. In a sense, it was that way under the old covenant. The priests and Levites had the job of demonstrating the where and how of reconciliation.
But who has this ministry in the new covenant?
"As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:4-5; see also verse 9).
So it's clear--every believer has a part in the priesthood, the ministry of reconciliation. This is a vital truth that God is laying on the hearts of many Christian fellowships, ours included. It's a truth that confronts us with two related questions: Where do we minister? And how do we minister?
As priests of God, we follow the lead of our High Priest Jesus Christ, who prayed for us: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (John 17:15-18).
We are sanctified (set apart) from the world's evil, but as ministers of Christ we are sent into the world to deliver his message of reconciliation. Sadly, many Christians isolate themselves from the world. Yet our mission is to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19).
Each of us has a place for ministry. It's the sphere of influence we have in the world around us--in our homes, on our jobs, with our neighbors and friends. We are to minister within this sphere. If our sphere is small, with God's help we need to expand it. We cannot minister in isolation.
How do we minister?
Understanding how to minister involves understanding two aspects of our ministry of reconciliation: ministry means serving and ministry is incarnational.
1. Ministry means serving.
Perhaps we fear ministry because we misunderstand it. To minister simply means to serve. The ministry of reconciliation is our calling to serve in such a way that reconciliation through Jesus Christ is made known and thus available to others.
In this wonderful ministry there is always need for more servants, people who themselves have been reconciled to God and are willing to reach out in service to others.
2. Ministry is incarnational.
Incarnation means to "embody in the flesh." That's what God did in Jesus--God became flesh. Why? To live among us, bringing reconciliation to us in the person of Jesus. How do we minister? The same way.
Notice Paul's example: "Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 1:5-6).
Paul incarnated the gospel message, and people responded. Ministry is not primarily a matter of circulating information--it focuses on modeling Jesus to show what reconciliation looks and feels like.
As we do the modeling, we're involved in the work of God's new covenant priesthood, not offering animal sacrifices, but offering ourselves as "living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).
How do we offer ourselves? The author of Hebrews gives us important ways: "We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.... Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Hebrews 13:10-16).
We offer spiritual sacrifices of words and actions through Jesus when we minister on his behalf using the gifts of the Spirit he has given to us (see Ephesians 4:7; Romans 12:5-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11).
Your pastor can help you determine what those gifts are and help you find meaningful ways to use them in ministry. His job is "to equip the saints for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12, New Revised Standard Version).
Some of us may fear active participation in the ministry of reconciliation, saying to ourselves, "How can I minister to others when I have so many problems of my own?" Please note that the Greek word translated "equip" in Ephesians 4:12 (NRSV) bears the meaning of restoring or mending. The same word is used in Mark 1:19 to refer to mending fishing nets.
So Paul is implying that God's children are being mended for ministry. I believe that's what God is doing in our fellowship. It is my prayer that he will do it for you.
Lives and hearts are mended as we fully appreciate the great healing we receive when we are reconciled to God through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. The most important mending in our lives occurs when we are born from above.
The healing of our physical and emotional wounds is important. God wants to help us with that. But be encouraged to know that the most important healing, the healing that is needed to enter the ministry of Jesus Christ, has already occurred in your life if you've come to Jesus, for salvation.
We deeply appreciate God's gift of reconciliation through Jesus Christ, and we desire that others share in what we have already received.
Have you been reconciled to Christ? If so, then welcome to the ministry!
Ted Johnston pastors the Canton and Akron, Ohio, churches.
Aug. 19, 1997, WN, page 12
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