Reconciliation

At a recent Bible study we read some verses that I had read before (they were underlined in my Bible and had some vague notes scribbled near them); but this time they jumped off the page like never before. They seemed to answer a question that has always floated around in the back, and sometimes the front, of my mind. The question is: "Now that I am saved, what now?"

It is a huge question with an even larger array of answers. It is a question that looms over the parking lots of the great Billy Graham and Harvest Crusades as thousands, who minutes before surrendered their lives to Jesus, head to their cars. It echoes in the confines of their Hondas, Fords, and Chevys as they meander home. It whispers to them as they trudge back to their lives and their jobs and their families. And for many, oh so sadly, it often goes unanswered. They either quickly stop asking the question or don't know where to search for the true answers. A frustrated few may get overloaded with answers from well-meaning, over-exuberant Christians. God's Word, the Bible, is indeed full of such answers. (A cute little acronym for B.I.B.L.E. is: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.) Some, I am sure, don't like the answers. Others will get seduced and manipulated by those offering another path. And thankfully, a very few will truly surrender to God and wait on His answer as they search His Word.
I will not pretend to fully know or understand the answer. But these verses, I believe, do provide a part of it:
2Corinthians 5:17-20 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.

So, what is this ministry of reconciliation? Reconciliation is defined as: 1) exchange [of the business of money changers, exchanging equivalent values]; 2) adjustment of a difference, restoration to favour, to unite, to make one. By His death, Jesus reconciled us to the Father. He exchanged His perfection for our sin. When God looks at us (His believing children) He does not see low-life sinners; He only sees Jesus. This reconciliation is His love for us in action.
Once we are saved and become that new creation in Christ, we are given our marching orders: enter into the same ministry of reconciliation. God reconciled the world through Jesus; and now He uses us! We are His ambassadors! We have the keys to His Kingdom! We must love the world in the same way that Jesus did. He forgave, consistently and eternally. He had compassion because He cared more for others than Himself. He cared for all men, not esteeming or judging one man over another. He taught others about His Father; and the words of His teachings were fully backed by His actions. There is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends; and Jesus did just that and more...He died for His friends, for His enemies, for strangers, and for all men of all times.
This exact same ministry is the one we are called to; and it scares me. I can hardly believe that God calls me to such an important part of His work. I know that the government has strict qualifications for its ambassadors and there are only a few of them; God requires that all of His citizens become ambassadors for Him! Wow. And our main purpose is to unite all men to Him in peace. I can't help but think that my own perceived purposes in life are not quite correct. And that I don't come close to carrying them out correctly either!

But God loves me; and He is waiting, even now, for me to come to Him and obey. I just have to decide. He will handle the rest.