Rev. Terry Goerz,
Redeemer Lutheran Church.
We are told in 2 Corinthians 5, “God gave us the ministry of reconciliation” and “God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.”
God have given the responsibility for letting the whole world know what God had done for us; upon us who are already Christians, already reconciled. We are Christ’s ambassadors here on earth. We are to speak to others on behalf of Christ and let them know that God wants to be reconciled to them. We know they are destined for an eternity of torment in hell unless they are reconciled to God.
So, God is basically saying, “If you really cared about the eternal destiny of those around you, you will tell them the message, the message of reconciliation!”
What is that message we are to bring to those who do not know God? 2 Corinthians 5 tells us, “God is reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” and “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
That is the Gospel in a nutshell!
However, Satan has been very busy in our society making it so that people do not grasp the message. In this column I will briefly describe three things that block unbeliever’s ears when they hear the message of reconciliation. These blocking concepts must be explained away before an unbeliever can receive the message. In my next column I will describe that message.
The first thing that blocks the ears of so many people today is that humans are not created creatures of God, but rather are a more highly evolved animal. In previous columns I have detailed the concept that we are spiritual beings. The point of bringing up this concept is to have them see humans are spiritual beings, who live on after death. The reason Satan has brought about the concept of evolution is so people will not think about their eternal destiny.
If you understand that you are a spiritual being that lives on after death, you will be concerned about your eternal destiny.
If you think you are just an animal then you will live your live only for this brief time we spend here on this Earth.
Then there is another concept that is very prevalent in non-believer’s minds. There is a judgment after death and you go to heaven if you have been good, and you go to hell if you have been bad.
In Matthew 25 there is a description of that judgment. Jesus separates the nations “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” That separation is made before the judgement. In other words it was already decided if you are going to heaven or hell before the judgment begins.
And a shepherd does not need to make a judgment in order to tell if a sheep is a sheep and a goat is a goat. He can tell just by looking.
Also, we know that Christians all sin daily and bad people still do many good things, but in this judgment of Matthew 25 no mention is made of any sins of the sheep and no mention is made of any good thing the goats have done. There is no balancing of the good against the bad. You are either a sheep or a goat, there is no in-between.
So, how can God look at us and instantly tell if we are a sheep or a goat you ask? Well, He can see His Holy Spirit in us if we are a Christian.
The third concept that is helpful for non-believers to understand before you go on to the actual message of reconciliation. Ask if they know what is wrong with them that they have to be saved, that they need to be reconciled to God. Most will claim not to know, but some may say it is because they are sinners.
Well, it is much more than the fact that we are all sinners. In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God they were told that the consequence of disobedience was death. After being created as eternal beings, they began the process of dying at the moment they sinned.
But even more tragically, Adam and Eve became spiritually dead, spiritually separated from God the moment they sinned. They became naturally inclined to sin and blamed each other, Satan, and even God for their own disobedience. They noticed they were naked and became afraid of God, hiding from Him when He came into the garden. This natural inclination to sin we call our sinful nature. Every person who is born inherits this condition from Adam and Eve. It is not something that comes upon us after we first sin; we are described in the Bible as conceived in iniquity and born in sin.
So, it is not just our sin that must be removed from us. Jesus called this undoing being ‘born again’ and stated unless a person is born again, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God. This is why every person must be saved.
If the sinful condition all are born with is not undone, if we are not born again, the unreconciled person faces an eternity in a place of torment called hell. This is not a fairy tale or scare tactic, but the reality for every human being because we are all spiritual beings with an eternal existence. Everyone, Christian or non-Christian, lives on after death as spiritual beings for eternity.
At this point it is very important that you tell the prospect that it is God’s express desire everyone be saved, be reconciled to Him. He takes no pleasure in having anyone wind up in hell.
We are spiritual beings with an eternal existence, that you do not get into heaven by being good, and why every person must be saved, the person you are witnessing to is ready for the actual message of reconciliation.
How did God undo what happened in the Garden of Eden?
Stay tuned! Blessings!