Thursday, June 17, 2010

God has Gifted us to become New Creations in Jesus

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)

God knew that we were in need of help. He knew that people had sinned and
turned away from him. So He sent His Son Jesus to make a way for people to be cleansed from their sin and changed in such a way that they would be able to have a relationship with God and please God in all they do. Jesus willingly laid aside his glorious life to become a servant. The world would see his love demonstrated by his sacrifice on the cross. His life was given so that we could have a brand new life.

When someone chooses to follow Jesus, they become a brand new
person inside. They will not be the same anymore, but will receive
a new life. Just think! We can have the Spirit of the Living God
living inside of us. He changes the way we think, what we desire
and who we are.

It is amazing that we are the ones that turned away from God, but He does everything to make it possible for us to return to him. It would seem like we should be doing things to “make up” for the fact that we did turn away, but that is not how God works. God is so loving and kind that he has done everything for us, even giving his Son for us so that we can have a relationship with him.

Because of our relationship with God, we have been given the
privilege to encourage others to turn to Jesus, so they too can experience the great love that God has for us.

As followers of Jesus, we represent the Kingdom of God to this world and the King, Jesus. So we need to only do and say those things that would be a good representation of who Jesus is. It is just the same as our parents felt regarding how we behave in public. If you were bad that would be a negative reflection on them. But if you are a good example, obedient and have a good attitude it is a good reflection on your parents.

We need to be a good reflection of the light of Jesus Christ in this dark world. Through personal experience I know that following Jesus is the road to happiness. You may believe that you would be giving something up to follow Jesus, but in reality you gain the world. Following Jesus gives you the opportunity to experience pure joy and the ability to share that joy with others.

With Jesus, you do not have to buy anything, you actually receive something. Not only are you given the ability to experience the love of God, you are given many gifts from God that will help you to share that love with the rest of God's family. Take it from me it is the best gift that I have ever received. That is why I write, so I can share that gift with you. I am grateful to God for the ability to do this.

Peace and love,

Sue

"Then Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". (Luke 9:23)





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