God took the initiative to pursue reconciliation with us when He sent Jesus Christ as an ambassador to pay the penalty for our sin. More than that, He rose from the dead to give us new life and the opportunity to serve Him as ambassadors of reconciliation in a world drowning in conflict. This message from 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 encourages us to remember that as citizens of God's kingdom, we are called to respond to conflict in a radically different way ... a way that leads to reconciliation.
God will not always keep us from experiencing deep pain and loss but, if we are willing to turn to Him during these dark and uncertain times, we will eventually discover His all-sufficient grace and power to bring life and renewal. In 2 Kings 4:1-7, we are reminded that there is provision that can only be reached by an all-powerful, deeply loving God. And this divine provision is ultimately realized in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus reassured his disciples that when he returns from where they could not follow, “In that day, you will know that I am in the Father, and you are in me and I in you.” He then began to share with his disciples the allegorical parable of the True Vine. In John 15:1-8 we discover that apart from a vital relationship with Jesus we can do nothing, but in Christ, we can know the wonderful reality that we have been created to do good works.
