2Co 5:18-21
'And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'
Reconciled.
Reconciled to God by Jesus Christ.
There is NO other way to be reconciled to God, but through Jesus Christ. People can come up with a million, trillion things but there is only ONE means of reconciliation.
Can we naturally of our own accord be reconciled with God? No. Any good thing we might think we have in us is still filthy. We cannot clean our spiritual selves, we can scarcely keep our physical selves clean enough. We are constantly becoming dirty from the moment after we've bathed, aren't we? The first exertion after a shower can produce sweat. The air we walk through contains dust particles that will cling to us. Unless someone is living in a bubble (and unfortunately some people have to)we are constantly going from a state of supposed cleanliness to a state of dirtiness. If we can barely keep up with our outward cleaning how do we suppose we have any hope of cleaning our spiritual selves? We can't, there is no hope in US. The hope we have is centered OUTSIDE of ourselves and in the only PURE human being who ever existed, Jesus Christ.
We are ONLY reconciled to God by Jesus Christ and by NO OTHER.
And the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION is our comprehending this fact, and sharing it with others.
Christ was made SIN for us.
Why?
That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
The BIBLE says this, not me! This isn't me making up stories.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Christ alone knew NO SIN. Christ alone was MADE sin for us. How was He made sin?
When we look at the Sanctuary services of old they all pointed to the perfect sacrifice. We are taught that sin was placed upon the sacrifices being offered. The sin went from the sinner onto the animal being offered, then that animal was killed and the blood of that animal was offered, the life of that animal was given in order to complete the sin transfer. No, we don't see it like we can see in so many movies and whatnot today of the science fiction/horror bent, where they allow you to see invisible diseases creepily transferring from person to person. The gesture is symbolic. The gesture is a shadow of things to come. A type to an antitype. The figure to the realized.
All our sins are placed upon the SINLESS SON OF GOD the PERFECT SACRIFICE, He takes on ALL our confessed, repented sins. Innocent blood was spilled. He was MADE sin for US!
Having NO sin of His own, He was made sin.
Our Savior wasn't made sin for us so that we could clean ourselves and make ourselves righteous before God. God will not even glance at us, if He did we'd be instantly consumed! God looks upon the righteousness of His Son, and we have to be in the SON if we hope to be covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We can ONLY be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
So many today don't believe in Jesus, it's true. So many believe rather in some false god setting himself up to appear like a savior.
They've come to believe that they are somehow able to be clean outside of the Savior, that He gives them some special power of their own. They can go through life believing they are free of sin as long as they've uttered some magic words and called it prayer. The truth is, Christ has to KNOW us. How can Christ know us? He will know every single person that He is covering with His righteousness. He will know every single person that He removes the filthy garment from and gives a garment of His righteousness. This is a PERSONAL encounter, an exchange that is made that is UNFORGETTABLE. Not a single person who does not recognize their own sinful, filthy state will be known by Jesus.
So many people are wrapped up in cleaning themselves and appearing clean, that they've totally forgotten that they cannot clean the sin stain from themselves. From the very first sin they committed to the very last, not a single sin can be cleansed by us. We can ask for forgiveness, we can repent, and we can go and sin no more, but the sin we have sought forgiveness for and repented of us has left a STAIN upon us and unless that stain is covered by the blood of Christ and made white, it will remain upon us. All our self-scrubbing will do NOTHING. Is it any wonder that we are to afflict our souls before God, that we are to recognize this state of ours? Way too many think afflicting their soul is somehow believing that they aren't forgiven, and that their believing is paramount to all else. They believe they must go about confident, but all too often that confidence that starts out well placed in Christ's ability to forgive, is replaced by a self-confidence.
Recognizing our helplessness without Christ is something we must constantly do.
If we forget to recognize our own helplessness and become bold in ourselves we are in grave danger.
We are reconciled to God only through Jesus Christ, not through a single action of our own!
We are reconciled to God because Jesus Christ took on our sins and sacrificed Himself for us!
We can never believe that we've finally reached some place called 'good enough', never!
Christ will be able to say He know us, because He'll have personally forgiven us of every last sin we've committed and confessed. Think about that for a moment, let it sink in deep.
Before our Savior comes a second time He will have a people living here on earth who will be HIS, they'll belong to Him because they've given their lives to Him completely, recognizing Him as the source of their lives in all aspects- their hope. They will be sinless in HIM. He will know their last sin because He will have forgiven that very last sin of theirs and placed them in the care of the Holy Spirit. They will be safely kept for Him and upon His arrival in the air above the earth He will call them to Him.
This is a PERSONAL, REAL relationship that exists, not some abstract figment of our imagination.
A REAL relationship! That is why Christ will know His people! Christ will know US if we have a relationship with HIM- sinner and KING, forgiven and FORGIVER, saved and SAVIOR!
To comprehend our true filth is to comprehend the true purity, the true righteousness found only in Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior!
Col_1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
All in YOU LORD, all in YOU!
'And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'
Reconciled.
Reconciled to God by Jesus Christ.
There is NO other way to be reconciled to God, but through Jesus Christ. People can come up with a million, trillion things but there is only ONE means of reconciliation.
Can we naturally of our own accord be reconciled with God? No. Any good thing we might think we have in us is still filthy. We cannot clean our spiritual selves, we can scarcely keep our physical selves clean enough. We are constantly becoming dirty from the moment after we've bathed, aren't we? The first exertion after a shower can produce sweat. The air we walk through contains dust particles that will cling to us. Unless someone is living in a bubble (and unfortunately some people have to)we are constantly going from a state of supposed cleanliness to a state of dirtiness. If we can barely keep up with our outward cleaning how do we suppose we have any hope of cleaning our spiritual selves? We can't, there is no hope in US. The hope we have is centered OUTSIDE of ourselves and in the only PURE human being who ever existed, Jesus Christ.
We are ONLY reconciled to God by Jesus Christ and by NO OTHER.
And the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION is our comprehending this fact, and sharing it with others.
Christ was made SIN for us.
Why?
That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
The BIBLE says this, not me! This isn't me making up stories.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Christ alone knew NO SIN. Christ alone was MADE sin for us. How was He made sin?
When we look at the Sanctuary services of old they all pointed to the perfect sacrifice. We are taught that sin was placed upon the sacrifices being offered. The sin went from the sinner onto the animal being offered, then that animal was killed and the blood of that animal was offered, the life of that animal was given in order to complete the sin transfer. No, we don't see it like we can see in so many movies and whatnot today of the science fiction/horror bent, where they allow you to see invisible diseases creepily transferring from person to person. The gesture is symbolic. The gesture is a shadow of things to come. A type to an antitype. The figure to the realized.
All our sins are placed upon the SINLESS SON OF GOD the PERFECT SACRIFICE, He takes on ALL our confessed, repented sins. Innocent blood was spilled. He was MADE sin for US!
Having NO sin of His own, He was made sin.
Our Savior wasn't made sin for us so that we could clean ourselves and make ourselves righteous before God. God will not even glance at us, if He did we'd be instantly consumed! God looks upon the righteousness of His Son, and we have to be in the SON if we hope to be covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We can ONLY be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
So many today don't believe in Jesus, it's true. So many believe rather in some false god setting himself up to appear like a savior.
They've come to believe that they are somehow able to be clean outside of the Savior, that He gives them some special power of their own. They can go through life believing they are free of sin as long as they've uttered some magic words and called it prayer. The truth is, Christ has to KNOW us. How can Christ know us? He will know every single person that He is covering with His righteousness. He will know every single person that He removes the filthy garment from and gives a garment of His righteousness. This is a PERSONAL encounter, an exchange that is made that is UNFORGETTABLE. Not a single person who does not recognize their own sinful, filthy state will be known by Jesus.
So many people are wrapped up in cleaning themselves and appearing clean, that they've totally forgotten that they cannot clean the sin stain from themselves. From the very first sin they committed to the very last, not a single sin can be cleansed by us. We can ask for forgiveness, we can repent, and we can go and sin no more, but the sin we have sought forgiveness for and repented of us has left a STAIN upon us and unless that stain is covered by the blood of Christ and made white, it will remain upon us. All our self-scrubbing will do NOTHING. Is it any wonder that we are to afflict our souls before God, that we are to recognize this state of ours? Way too many think afflicting their soul is somehow believing that they aren't forgiven, and that their believing is paramount to all else. They believe they must go about confident, but all too often that confidence that starts out well placed in Christ's ability to forgive, is replaced by a self-confidence.
Recognizing our helplessness without Christ is something we must constantly do.
If we forget to recognize our own helplessness and become bold in ourselves we are in grave danger.
We are reconciled to God only through Jesus Christ, not through a single action of our own!
We are reconciled to God because Jesus Christ took on our sins and sacrificed Himself for us!
We can never believe that we've finally reached some place called 'good enough', never!
Christ will be able to say He know us, because He'll have personally forgiven us of every last sin we've committed and confessed. Think about that for a moment, let it sink in deep.
Before our Savior comes a second time He will have a people living here on earth who will be HIS, they'll belong to Him because they've given their lives to Him completely, recognizing Him as the source of their lives in all aspects- their hope. They will be sinless in HIM. He will know their last sin because He will have forgiven that very last sin of theirs and placed them in the care of the Holy Spirit. They will be safely kept for Him and upon His arrival in the air above the earth He will call them to Him.
This is a PERSONAL, REAL relationship that exists, not some abstract figment of our imagination.
A REAL relationship! That is why Christ will know His people! Christ will know US if we have a relationship with HIM- sinner and KING, forgiven and FORGIVER, saved and SAVIOR!
To comprehend our true filth is to comprehend the true purity, the true righteousness found only in Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior!
Col_1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
All in YOU LORD, all in YOU!
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