A New Creature

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,  namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NASB)

Today, I had the opportunity to go to the local YMCA in order to play basketball with my boys.  We have been going there to shoot a few baskets in the afternoon when the gym isn't busy.  I have a great time together with my boys in a competitive setting which gives me plenty of opportunity to teach them about life and ultimately about our Lord.  Sometimes, we are able to play a pickup basketball game with some of the young guys hanging out at the court.  We never know who will be available.  It makes for a fun and sometimes colorful time.

As we played ball today, I was able to observe some of the young men on the court.  There are many bright guys there and it is wonderful to spend time with them though I am saddened to see the sin exhibited coupled with little to no Biblical knowledge to guide them.  Most of these young men are boats without a rudder.  Sadly, it would seem that most of them have precious little godly leadership in their lives.  As I look at these young men, I see the desperate need for the Gospel.  I see the desperate need for godly men to come alongside these youngsters in order to teach them to properly go about their lives; but more specifically to give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I look at my own two sons and see the desperate need in their lives as well.  

Looking back at my youth, I see many of the same sin issues that I saw on the court today.  My life was riddled with sin.  I struggled with pride, lust, laziness, a self-righteous attitude and an anger that was dangerous to me and to those around me.  I am certain there is more sin to mention; but you get the point.  I was an incredibly sinful young man and I needed a Savior.  I am thankful that God sent a man to share the Gospel with me and I am thankful that the Lord made me a new creature in Christ.  I still work through the many sin issues some of which are the same as before.  In other words, I still struggle with the flesh; but now I AM A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST!  I have been cleansed.  I can now confess my sin to my Lord and be confident that He has forgiven me and cleansed me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)!

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that anyone in Christ is a new creation.  It is cool to note from this passage that God is reconciling men to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son.  It is even cooler when we see that as Christians we have the honor of being a part of God's plan in spreading this "message of reconciliation".  We have been entrusted with the Gospel of God.  Those bright young men on the court today and the ones on my kids' baseball teams and the ones roaming around in church on Sunday all need to hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ and we have been given that awesome responsibility.  We have been charged to spread the best news we could ever spread that God in Christ is reconciling Himself to men.  

The Gospel message changes lives and even better it has the power to change the hearer's eternal direction!  But, in order for the message to do it's good work, we need to ensure that we are spreading the true Gospel of God.  It saddens me to see the watered down Gospel being shared today.  In the YMCA that we attend, the Gospel has been reduced to a moral message.  It has been reduced to a few good things we can do and boast about on a cool T-Shirt; but is not the Gospel of God.  We need to show all people that God is the holy Creator of all men who WILL judge sin in His good time.  He has sent His Son to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for sin so that in Him we might have the righteousness of God!  That is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 and that in a nutshell is the good news that will reconcile man to his sovereign Creator!  

As ambassadors of the King, our desire is to be pleasing to Him and to be heralds of His message.  We need to understand that we have been entrusted with the good news that reconciles the irreconcilable and we need to shout it from the rooftops begging all people to repent and turn to Christ!     

The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved ?"  Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."  (Mark 10:24-27 NASB)