31st May 2021
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
David Abankwah
(SERIES: Day 6)
To Jesus THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
-Hebrews 12:24 | NKJV
The ministry of reconciliation in the Old Dispensation as treated in our previous lessons has finally ended and a New Dispensation has begun, and it couldn’t commence without the announcement of John the Baptist, the forerunner with the Spirit of Elijah. The ministry of reconciliation by the True Messiah – Jesus Christ, had come a long way. Because of His ministry, 400 years of silence had to come. In those years, there was no Patriarch, Judge, neither was there any Prophet to be raised as a minister of reconciliation. Because of Him, the Gospel that was read, preached, taught or interpreted, had to cease because He was the Gospel-in-flesh coming.
These silence years happened between the period of the Book of Malachi and Matthew. Before the Messiah could come, the Spirit of Elijah was sent to lead the forerunning ministry of John the Baptist. His ministry was to make the crooked paths of the Messiah straight and to testify of the ministry of the Messiah who would deliver His people from sin. In the River of Jordan, Jesus Christ buried the Old Dispensation by allowing Himself to be baptised in order to fulfil righteousness to the fullest for the commencement of the New Dispensation. He went on to triumph over Satan when He overcame his temptations after His 40 days and 40 nights of fasting in the wilderness.
After that, He started the ministry of reconciliation in grand style. He did great works of preaching, teaching, and healing. Being the Gospel, He enlightened us about the things we have heard in the Old Dispensation that needed amendment. He rightfully divided the Word of Truth making us understand why certain things were penned down for our knowledge. He lived a sinless life all the days of His life on earth. He then left His footprints for our imitation. Though He came purposely for His own – thus Israelites, He was prepared to lay the foundation for another ministry of reconciliation for the Gentiles (of which Apostle Paul was purposely called to build on).
In the Garden of Gethsemane, He drank two cups of suffering: The cup of Israelites and the cup of Gentiles. He allowed the will of God to be done and was willing to embrace all possible odds as the Perfect Mediator ever lived. He suffered at the hands of those He was trying to reconcile them back to God. He was abused verbally, tortured, slapped, molested, spat upon, humiliated, and went through all inhuman actions for the reconciliation. Going through these, He was still bearing the sins of the world on His shoulders. He finally made peace between God and man by redeeming us back to God on the cross, atoning for our sins with His precious blood when He said: ‘It is finished.’
•| Prayer Diary |•
¹Lift up prayers for the wisdom necessary of neutralising the worldly ideas, values, facts, customs or beliefs of unbelievers with the truth of the Word of God so they can be reconciled to God. ²Lift up prayers for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to cause unbelievers to be friendly with God again in all sanctification, righteousness, and holiness in the name of Jesus Christ.
Quote
The Gospel is the message of reconciliation
One-Year Bible Reading
Job Chapters 17-20
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© 2021 David Abankwah
David Abankwah 