INSTEAD

You may have heard the story about the judge whose son appeared before him on a murder charge. The trial went proceeded and the son was found guilty. When sentencing time came, the judge looked at his son and read the guilty verdict again with the sentencing recommendation of the death penalty. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the judge stood up and took off his robe. He walked around to the front and declared that he was stepping down as judge and his last act would be to transfer the punishment to himself. He would die instead of his child.

That’s a wonderful earthly illustration of what God for us. He gave His only Son Jesus to accept the punishment for our sin. He died instead of us even though He was without guilt.

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 5:21 (NKJV)

No one on earth can match the perfection of God in Heaven.

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

The punishment for sin is death

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, Blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of sin

God loved us so much; He wanted to provide a way out for us

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He made it so simple

Romans 10:9 - 10 (NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We can’t earn it or buy it. It is a gift of God. Rom 6:23b

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8 – 10; Romans 6:23b (NKJV)

Share this with someone on your email list or someone that you know needs Christ in their lives.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

AMBASSADORS

The Ambassadors…wasn’t that a singing group? I think too, of those people who go to foreign countries and represent the United States; they are ambassadors. What an incredible responsibility, but they have been given the authority to speak for the president.

Those of us who call Christ, Savior, are also ambassadors, not of the United States but of the Kingdom of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Whereas an earthly ambassador attempts to bring peace to the peoples of nations, we, as ambassadors of Christ, bring the Gospel of Peace to those who have not reconciled themselves to God.

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Corinthians 5:18 - 20 (NLT)

If we would only concentrate on doing that, we might be effective for our Lord and Savior. Peace with God is the message and that ONLY through His Son, Jesus.

The problem is we become sidetracked on things that don’t matter:

Communion every week or once a month

Hymns only or songs that are more contemporary

King James or a modern English translation

Instruments in worship or no instruments

We worry, fuss and fight over things like that when the real question is:

Do you want to go to hell or heaven when you die?

Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NLT)

He did not say,

If you have communion every week you can come to heaven

If you sing two hymns, one chorus and a chant, you can come to heaven

If you read the King James with a British accent, you can come to heaven

Is it any wonder that Islam is the fastest growing religion and that Mormonism is gaining ground? They are united. We should be too, not worrying about the little stuff that doesn’t matter.

For there is ONE body and ONE Spirit, just as you have been called to ONE glorious hope for the future. ⁵There is ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ⁶and ONE God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. Ephesians 4:4 - 6 (NLT, emphasis added)

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

PURPOSE

One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel. That’s a saying that goes way back…even before I was born! There is a spiritual truth to that when one thinks about Adam and Eve. Even though it was a “fruit” and not specified as an apple, I think you get the point.

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one (Adam) the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ¹⁷For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:15, 17 (NASB)

Disobedience spread to all of Adam and Eve’s kids…us! The Bible mentions that in a couple places:

The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB)

We are all infected and impure with sin.

When we display our righteous deeds,

they are nothing but filthy rags.

Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,

and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 (NKJV)

But there is Good News that we are to share with everyone…

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 15 (NKJV)

Need a purpose in life? Live for Christ who died for you. What does that mean? Well, for starters, share this Good News with somebody else. Do you really want to know what He wants from you? Check out His autobiography…the Bible, love God and love each other.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

PERSUADE

The vegetables are cooking in a pan on the stove. Your little two-year-old nephew is standing on a stool getting ready to touch the burner. What do you do?

Well, obviously, you run like crazy, scream “no” or “hot” and grab him before he can get hurt. You wouldn’t just stand there, knowing that he would get hurt and watch it happen.

Paul is basically saying the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5:11 (NKJV),

Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

He is referring back to verse 10 where he had explained that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ someday where we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

Paul’s mission in life is to persuade men that Jesus is the Christ, that he is a just and righteous judge. Why? Because he knows that this event, the judgment, is coming and he doesn’t want to see anybody appear before the Lord that has not accepted His atoning sacrifice on their behalf. He doesn’t want them to get “burned” in the fires of hell.

We should care about the people around us in the same manner. Knowing that the judgment day is coming, we should rush to tell them of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, just as we would rush to save our two-year-old nephew from his fate.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

CONSEQUENCES

Life is all about choices. Every choice we make has a consequence, whether good or bad.

If you choose to break the law, chances are you’ll get caught and punished depending on the severity of the law you broke. If you choose to have sex before you get married, you may end up with a baby before you’re ready. There is always a consequence.

Sometimes we don’t experience the consequence until after some time has passed. A meth user may feel great doing their drug of choice…at first. But time shows that they will lose teeth and experience other horrible physical side effects from long term use.

There are always consequences for our actions. Someday we will face consequences in front of the King of kings…

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV).

Judgment is coming.

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (NKJV)

Be friends with the world.

Become an enemy of the Judge.

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:9 (NKJV).

Please the Judge.

After all, there are only two rules that we need to pay attention to …

1. Love God with all your heart, soul and mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself. (see Matthew 22:37-40)

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

TRUST

Who do you trust? Do you trust your friends? After all, none of them would ever let you down. Has anybody that you thought was your friend ever let you down?

Do you trust all politicians? All salesmen? All commercials on the television?

How do you know who you can trust?

If someone were well known for building a giant skyscraper that had been standing for 50 years, would you trust them to build you a house? That sounds like a safe bet, doesn’t it!

If there was a Secret Service employee that had successfully kept the past six Presidents alive, thwarting several attempts on their lives, you might trust him to keep you safe as you walked through a mall in Tucson.

That may sound somewhat silly, but when you stop to think that God, Who made heaven and earth, and created all life, simply asks us to trust Him with our one life, it seems like a “no-brainer.”

When we read in His manual for living (the Bible) how He saved an entire race from slavery in Egypt and led them into another land where He helped them conquer all the people that lived there, we surely ought to be able to trust Him with our one life.

When we read about His love for us and how He sent His only Son to take the punishment for our sin, for your sin and for my sin, we surely owe Him a debt of gratitude and a life of love.

What do you think?

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD