He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
—1 John 2:2
“The key to the missionary’s
message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that
completely satisfied the wrath of God. […] The greatest message of limitless
importance is that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins….” The
missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it
is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not
consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with
the Lord Jesus.[…] He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to
proclaim “the Lamb of God.” It is easier to belong to a faction that simply
tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of
divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what
Christ has done for me,” but, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1
Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world!”” CHAMBERS
When I first read the Chamber’s
devotion, I wondered how it might apply to those who have not been called to be
a missionary, separated from out for a specific purpose. But then I thought about the fact that we
have all been called out for a specific purpose. We don’t live our lives just for ourselves
and our own benefit. We may not be
preachers in that we stand before the people and verbally proclaim the Gospel,
but we are preachers in that we live before the people and our lives should
preach the Gospel. People should see us
as being a people are for Jesus and not just against sin and the ills of the culture
we live in. If all we have to offer a
world that is headed for hell is condemnation, then we have nothing to
offer. If we live our lives exactly like
the lost culture we live in does, then we have nothing to offer. What the world needs is Jesus. We need to show the world Jesus, in how we
live and how we love. We need to preach
the Gospel by living our lives submitted to the Spirit and obedient to the Word. Christians have been relegated to just being
another sect. Just another group of
people who believe certain, outdated things.
Our light has lost its shine. Our
salt has lost it saltiness. Our message,
that Jesus saves, has been drowned out by the louder voice of the culture. The world needs to see the difference Jesus
can make … the world needs to see changed lives … and we are the only ones who
can show them. Preach the Gospel Christian. ELGIN
No comments:
Post a Comment