“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.””
(2 Corinthians 5:17–20, CSB)
A healthy church loves the Lord; the definition of health is that simple and short. The world, however, too often defines love to be nothing more than an emotion. If that were true, then a 14-year-old girl has greater love for her boyfriend than a mother has for her sick child. In a word, preposterous! Love is devoted, unselfish, and resilient. Love acts not on the whim of the moment but in faithful devotion.
Because a healthy church loves the Lord. She will listen to God’s word, and then put God’s word into action. The Church has been called into being by God’s love. Anyone who is in Christ, has become a new creation. Estranged by our own disobedience in the garden, He has reconciled us to Himself. We have received the grace of God’s mercy; we have received the grace which now sanctifies us; we have received the grace that now glorifies God through lives lived by His Spirit.
Grace employs every faithful Christian to a productive life of holy service led by the Holy Spirit. How different that is from the heretical preaching too often heard today. Grace is nothing like the cheap grace peddled by many that would leave us unchanged—that first tolerates sin and then becomes its advocates. Grace is in no way a prosperity gospel which requires no sacrifice but promises us a Santa Claus sitting on the heavenly throne. Grace never redefines God nor is God ever changing or somehow evolving. Grace, instead, brings us from separation to reconciliation. We are brought to hear and— having heard— to follow. Like the great pearl, everything else in our existence is worthless compared to our Lord.
Grace received will never stand pat. We who have received such reconciliation are now sent as ambassadors for Christ—to us has been given the message of reconciliation. God chooses to make His appeal through us: “Be reconciled to God.” “…The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”” (Matthew 9:37–38, CSB). Lord, send me!