CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY

“God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”  (Colossians 1:27-28 NIV)

Christ in you means you don’t have to face anything alone. Anything! When you walk into a doctor’s office with more questions than answers, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you’re sitting at the kitchen table staring at bills that you can’t pay, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you’re parenting a child who’s breaking your heart, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you are unseen in your workplace, unappreciated in your home, or feeling unqualified for the next thing that God asked you to do, Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you’ve prayed the same prayer a hundred times and the mountain hasn’t moved, yet, even in that place, Christ in you is the hope of glory. It’s not just a verse. It’s not just a doctrine. It’s not just a hope for someday. It’s a promise for right now and if the fire still is burning, meaning if there is still breath in your lungs, then God is not finished with you yet. 

-- Pastor Larry Frank, Grace Church, Cape Coral, Florida

#6191

RECONCILIATION IS OUR MINISTRY

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 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. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17–21 NKJV)

In Christ, God has done something for the world. God has reconciled people to Himself. In other words, God has made a way for a broken relationship to be made whole, through the death of Jesus on the cross (Colossians 1:20). In this great act of reconciliation, God has made a way for anyone -- literally, anyone -- to come into union with Him.

Coming into union with God in Christ is reconciliation in its most essential form. Any reconciliation we may do on earth that does not find its source and strength in God’s greater, reconciling work of the heart to Himself is destined to struggle and fall short.

God knows that if He can get a heart relating to Him again, experiencing His presence, love, forgiveness, acceptance, and truth, the possibilities of reconciliation between that person and others are endless. We who have been reconciled to God begin to want others to be reconciled to God. We want others to experience the freedom that we have experienced. It is the natural flow of the story.

And that is why sharing the good news of reconciliation is our ministry. Just as one who is forgiven much loves much (Luke 7:47), so, too, we who have experienced God closing the gap between us and Him want to help close that gap for others. 

-- Dan Wilt in “Wake-Up Call”

#6190

BEING RECONCILED TO GOD

I asked people in our congregation about their struggles with forgiveness… I had a conversation with a woman in her fifties who said to me, “I’ve never told anyone this before, but when I was in my twenties I got pregnant. I was scared and decided to have an abortion. But after the abortion, I calculated the date the child would have been born, and every year for the last thirty years during that month, I think about the child I might have had.”

It was clear that this woman still carried a burden, even thirty years later. It was not wrong for her to remember the baby she aborted, but even in that case, God longs for the woman to know His grace and forgiveness. Each of us has done things we regret and cannot change. We cringe or even cry when we think of them. And yet often we carry these burdens unnecessarily. We fail to trust that God “is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 103:8), and that “as far as the east is from the west, so far shall He remove our sins from us” (Psalm 103:12). Through it all, God’s message to us remains the same: Stop carrying the burden yourself. Let Me take it. Be reconciled to Me.

This is the thing to remember: God has already agreed to that reconciliation. Paul Tillich, in one of his sermons, said that the bottom line of faith is accepting God’s acceptance of you. When you turn to God and long to be with Him, He is already reaching out, waiting for you with open arms. God has done everything necessary for your forgiveness, and He offers that forgiveness freely. All you have to do to gain this grace -- grace that came at such a terrific price -- is to accept it. 

-- Adapted from “Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go” by Adam Hamilton

#6189

GRACE REDEFINED PETER’S IDENTITY

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ Peter said, ‘You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed My lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter answered, ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of My sheep.’ The third time He said to Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ He said, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed My sheep.’” (John 21:15-17)

Right there, Jesus did more for Peter -- and more for us -- than we can imagine. Jesus was telling Peter that he wasn’t finished. Peter was going to be the rock on which the mission of God would be established and carried forward. Jesus was telling Peter that his identity wasn’t going to be a denier of Jesus. (See Luke 22:54-62 for Peter’s denial of Jesus.) He was going to be a hero of faith and a legend in the church. In fact, Peter would one day very soon preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, and three thousand people would be saved that day (Acts 2:14-42).

Sure, there were consequences to Peter’s denial of Jesus. Two thousand years later, we’re still studying the story. Peter’s denial didn’t get swept under the rug or erased from the memory bank of humanity. There were consequences for Peter, just like there are consequences to your decisions and my decisions, too.
 
Yet Jesus never focused on the failure. He focused on the restoration. Grace removed Peter’s guilt, and grace also removed Peter’s shame. Peter’s identity was no longer wrapped up in the denial. Peter failed, but he wasn’t a failure. He wasn’t useless. Peter’s life was no longer marked by shame. Grace redefined Peter as a friend and family member of God Almighty.
 
That’s what the grace of God does for you and me, too.
 
 -- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” 

#6188

MOVING ON

“If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.” (Ecclesiastes 11:3 AMP)

King Solomon said that where the tree falls, there it lies.  It is done, and we will not raise it up again.  But it is what we do from this point forward that makes the difference.

Something that seemed so sure turns questionable and something for which we had little hope suddenly works out.  Regardless of how things appear, they can be totally different -- and it is what we do from now on that will make or break us.  Moving on does not mean we do not care; it means we will not let it keep us from living fully. 

-- Toni Engstrom 

#6187