I’m a guy who gets distracted…a lot. As a matter of fact, as I was typing this, I uninstalled a game on my phone that has been distracting me for the last 12 or so hours (I slept, of course, but I could have slept BETTER if I would have uninstalled it sooner). In thinking about this distraction, I got to thinking about other distractions. For example, we think Satan is opposed to good and moral people and societies. The thing is, he’s not. He’s used good and moral societies as much as reprobate ones. Satan is, and has always been, opposed to Jesus Christ. He’s an angel in rebellion against his Creator, and has always sought to distract us from the Image and Holiness we are called to.
Many of us don’t play games, but we sure pay attention to politics, or theological arguments, or missions, or ministries or church traditions, or music styles, or many such things that seem like we’re doing good, but aren’t really advancing the work of the Gospel. And, Christian, if you’re a follower of Jesus, than your whole life should be completely about the Gospel. Every mission we do should be about the Gospel, every ministry, everything we do is about winning souls to Jesus Christ. And why? Because every hurt could be healed tomorrow (hypothetically) every disease cured, every war ceased, everyone living in harmony, but the fact remains that without Jesus Christ, even a utopia is temporary. We’re doomed forever apart from Jesus Christ.
And this is the Gospel: that we are all sinners, irreconcilable by our own means and ways to the One who made us. Yet the One who made us in His Image, whom we have rebelled and sinned against, sent His Son to live as one of us, and though being fully human, Jesus was also fully God and did not stray from His ways one bit. He willingly offered Himself in our place. He took our punishment on the Cross, and fixed what we could not: our standing with God. As the word says “He became sin who knew no sin that we might become His righteousness.” Jesus died and was buried, and rose again on the third day, conquering sin once and for all. This promises us that, not only are our sins removed as far as the east is from the west (immeasurably), but we no longer have fear in Death, because Jesus conquered death by rising again, proving we will rise again in Him, now and in the time to come. To get in on the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ, we must surrender to Jesus, follow Him and be born again. That is what Baptism signifies: we crucify our flesh with Christ, we are buried in Him and rise again a NEW Creation in Him. It is a seal of the covenant between God and us through Jesus Christ, and ratified by the Holy Spirit.
Stop getting distracted Go and preach the Gospel everywhere.
2 Corinthians 5
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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