Our Ministry of Reconciliation

MEMORY SELECTION: “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” —II Corinthians 5:18

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Romans 1:16; 15:8-21

JESUS said concerning the Heavenly Father (Matt. 5:45) that “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” And, although God is no respecter of persons, it is true that every one of his creatures receives blessings in one form or another. All good things are of the Father, most especially the abundant means of reconciliation which has been made possible through the gift of his own dear Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When it is said that all things are of the Father, it should be understood that he is not the author of sin and selfishness, that opposing force of evil emanating from Satan, the great Adversary of mankind. By permitting man to choose his own course in life, which has led to sin and death, God has designed that experience is the best teacher. God knew the end from the beginning and allowed man to taste the bitter results of disobedience and alienation from divine favor.

Although man has misused his liberty to exercise his own free will in choosing his course in life, God has provided a means by which the whole human family could be rescued from the ravages of sin and death. For indeed, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”—I Tim. 2:3-6

The plan of God to restore man to divine favor and harmony will be the great work of the glorified church—Head and body—during the coming millennial kingdom. That work is of course, yet future, inasmuch as the sacrificing of the present Gospel Age has not been completed. During the present time the body members of the Christ have been reconciled to favor with God through the merit of the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During this age none others of the human race have received of the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice—that merit passing first from our Lord to his footstep followers of the Gospel Age, and then through the completed church to the whole world to mankind during the times of restitution.

As ambassadors for God, the new creatures in Christ Jesus advance the message of the truth wherever opportunity permits. There are few who hear during the present age, because the time for the conversion of the world has not yet come, and only those who desire to worship God in spirit and in truth are drawn to him by a message of the truth. During the future tines of restitution, however, the work of reconciling the world will be of an entirely different order. Then the great Adversary will be bound, so that man will no longer be deceived by error; and Jesus, the Great Physician, will know just what remedies are needed to heal the sick and brokenhearted.

This ministry of reconciliation is a twofold work. During the present time, when consecration and sacrifice have been made acceptable, the work is for the calling and assisting of others of like precious faith who may share with their Lord in that glorious day of the future kingdom of Christ. This is a blessed privilege, in that it involves the encouraging of one another to fight a good fight of faith in overcoming the obstacles of the world, the flesh, and the Adversary.

The work of the future will involve the raising from the dead of all who have died because of our first parents’ transgression to the divine law, and the bringing back to perfection all the willing and obedient of the world of mankind. We rejoice in that promise, which reads, “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.”—John 5:28,29, ASV, Diaglott

That will truly be the Golden Age of opportunity for all who desire to come back into fellowship with their Creator and to walk up the highway of holiness.

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