2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NKJV) Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
God’s heart is for the entire world to return to Him and have a restored relationship with Him. Many people have died of COVID-19 and the numbers will increase daily until the pandemic is declared to be over. As Christians, the key question we need to ask ourselves should be, “Has the person who is pronounced dead had the opportunity to hear the Gospel and call out the name of Jesus to be saved?” The spirit of the person would have been Jesus’ greatest concern, so shouldn’t it be ours too? What if the next person to die is someone we know, and God has entrusted us to reach out to them?
Every believer without exception has been commissioned to preach and teach the Gospel. Jesus did not call us to be a believer but His disciple. Sometimes, we forget what is important in the heart of God when we are so caught up with believing God for a good job, for our business to pick up, for our children to be blessed and everything else on our prayer list. However, He has entrusted us all with a ministry to disciple new believers, but first and foremost, to share the Gospel with the lost.
The Spirit of God is pleading through us to have the lost reconciled back to Him. We are to share with those we know that God has sent Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to Himself. This has become more pressing as we witness how people are suffering from the effects of COVID-19 and the ripple effects on all the economies around the world. We need to remind ourselves time and again the purpose for which Jesus was sent. In fact, every day should be a reminder of whether we have been faithful to the Great Commission given to us in Matthew 28.
As Christ’s ambassadors, we are to share with those who have yet to hear the good news that God is not imputing their trespasses to them, but instead He has placed all their sins and transgressions onto Jesus Christ and judged all the sin placed on Him. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself and received the wrath of God when He was hung on the cross. He was made sin for us so that we can have His righteousness that enables all of us to stand right before Him. This is the message we are to tell the world, that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save us!
Sermon Series – Arise and Build (Part 2)
基督的使者
哥林多后书5:18-20一切都是出于神，他借着基督使我们与他和好，又将劝人与他和好的职分赐给我们。这就是神在基督里叫世人与自己和好，不将他们的过犯归到他们身上。并且将这和好的道理托付了我们。所以我们作基督的使者，就好像神借我们劝你们一般。我们替基督求你们与神和好。
神的心意是要全世界都归向祂，与祂恢复关系。许多人死于 COVID-19，而且这一数字每天都在增加，直到疫情宣布结束。作为基督徒，我们需要问自己的关键问题应该是，“被宣告死亡的人是否有机会听到福音并呼喊耶稣的名字而得救？”人的灵本来是耶稣最关心的问题，那么它不应该也是我们最关心的吗？如果下一个死去的人是我们认识的人，上帝委托我们去接触他们怎么办？
每个信徒都无一例外地受命传讲和教导福音。耶稣没有呼召我们只是成为信徒，而是呼召我们成为祂的门徒。有时，当我们如此专注于相信上帝是为了一份好工作，为了我们的事业好转，为了我们的孩子得到祝福以及我们祈祷清单上的其他一切时，我们忘记了上帝心中最重要的事情。然而，祂委托我们所有人训练新信徒，但最重要的是与失丧的人分享福音。
上帝的灵通过我们恳求使失丧的人与祂和好。我们要与我们所知道的人分享上帝派耶稣基督来使世界与祂自己和好。随着我们目睹人们如何遭受 COVID-19 的影响以及对全球所有经济体的连锁反应，这变得更加紧迫。我们需要一次又一次地提醒自己耶稣被派来的目的。事实上，每一天都应该提醒我们是否忠于马太福音 28 章中交给我们的大使命。
作为基督的使者，我们要与那些还没有听到好消息的人分享，上帝并没有将他们的过犯归咎于他们，而是将他们所有的罪和过犯都加在耶稣基督身上，并对这些罪做了审判。当耶稣被挂在十字架上时，祂将我们所有的罪都转嫁到祂身上，并承受了上帝的忿怒。祂替我们成为罪，好让我们能拥有祂的义，使我们所有人都能站在上帝的面前。这就是我们要告诉世界的信息，耶稣来不是要谴责世界，而是要拯救我们！
讲章系列: 兴起和建造 (第二部分)
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