RECLAMATION

RECLAMATION

Wednesday, March 07, 2018      

   Isaiah [GW] 43:1-12 The LORD created Jacob and formed Israel. Now, this is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid, because I have reclaimed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.  When you go through the sea, I am with you. When you go through rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not harm you. I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Egypt is the ransom I exchanged for you. Sudan and Seba are the price I paid for you. Since you are precious to me, you are honored and I love you. I will exchange others for you. Nations will be the price I pay for your life. Do not be afraid, because I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not keep them." Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Bring everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Bring the people who are blind but still have eyes, the people who are deaf but still have ears.

All nations have gathered together, and people have assembled. Who among them could have revealed this? Who among them could have foretold this to us? They should bring their witnesses to prove that they were right. Let the people hear them. Then they will say that it is true. "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD. "I have chosen you as my servant so that you can know and believe in me and understand that I am the one who did this. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me. I alone am the LORD, and there is no savior except me. I have revealed it to you, I have saved you, and I have announced it to you. There was no foreign god among you. You are my witnesses that I am God," declares the LORD.

   Luke 19:10  Indeed, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save people who are lost."

   Romans 5:8-9 Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God's love for us. Since Christ's blood has now given us God's approval, we are even more certain that Christ will save us from God's anger. If the death of his Son restored our relationship with God while we were still his enemies, we are even more certain that, because of this restored relationship, the life of his Son will save us.

  Because God loves us, His creation, ever since Adam’s disobedience He is in the reclamation business . . . retrieval paid for by the effectual sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah (1Cor.15:1-4), Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son (Jn.3:16).

  Do we Christians, as adopted sons and daughters manifest in kind as His witnesses? Or have we left our first love and vision of those lost without Jesus for some sort of social churchliness? Is our message now the same as is that of Jesus and the apostles? Do we personally share the gospel or limit ourselves to church invitations and promotional marketing strategies?

  As John 1:12 family we are His ambassadors of reconciliation. (2Cor.5:1-21) Are we acting accordingly?

EBB4