The ministry of reconciliation is the ministry of reconciling the world to Christ through the forgiveness of sins for their judicial redemption, and the reconciling of the believers to Christ that they may be persons who live in the spirit for their organic salvation.
Hallelujah, we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation: God has reconciled the world to Himself through Christ, and in Christ, we are at peace with God!
Even more, we need to be reconciled to God further from our flesh, even to be brought into the Holy of Holies to be one with God, to live Christ, and the bring others into a further reconciliation with God.
We have seen that 2 Corinthians reveals the ministry of the Spirit (the ministry of the new covenant) and the ministry of righteousness.
The ministry of the Spirit is to deify man by inscribing the hearts of man with the Spirit of the living God to make them living letters of Christ; this is the highest peak of the divine revelation for us to arrive at and enter into a new revival.
In the book of 2 Corinthians we see many aspects of the Spirit who is not static or passive but rather, this Spirit anoints us, seals us, is the pledge, is inscribing us, gives us life, ministers to us, frees us, transforms us, and transmits the Triune God into us.
As long as we remain under the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity, constantly receiving the Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, we will be infused with God, the element of God will grow in us, and we will become living letters of Christ read and known by all men.
Such a process consummates with the New Jerusalem, the holy city; this city is a giant letter of Christ, for all men can read and know God by simply looking at the New Jerusalem for eternity.
The ministry of righteousness (2 Cor. 3:9) is the ministry of Christ as our objective righteousness (for our justification) and as our subjective righteousness (to be our subjective righteousnesses, our wedding garment) for our living of Christ.
The result of being under the ministry of righteousness is that we express Christ; on one hand, we are covered in Christ as our objective righteousness and, on the other hand, we live out Christ as our many subjective righteousnesses to express Him.
This is the God-man living for us to express Christ in our daily living to bring in a new revival.
On one hand, Christ is our righteousness objectively to make us acceptable before God; on the other hand, righteousness is being wrought into us to be our subjective righteousness and enable us to meet the requirements of the overcoming Christ. Hallelujah!
Today we want to see something further concerning the ministry of reconciliation so that we may enter into a new revival by practising to shepherd people according to God!
The Ministry of Reconciliation is to Reconcile the World and the Believers to God to be Persons Living in Spirit, in the Holy of Holies
In 2 Cor. 5:18-21 Paul says that we have the ministry of reconciliation; God has reconciled us to Himself and has put in us the word of reconciliation so that we may be His ambassadors, entreating both sinners and believers to be further reconciled to God!
As believers in Christ, we have been reconciled to God from sin, but we need to be further reconciled to God from the self and the flesh so that we may be persons living in the mingled spirit, in the Holy of Holies; we all need to be reconciled to God!
The ministry of reconciliation is the ministry of first reconciling the world to Christ through the forgiveness of sins, and then of reconciling the believers to Christ that they may be persons living in the spirit for their organic salvation (2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 Pet. 5:1-6; Heb. 13:20).
God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself so that any unbeliever who believes into Jesus would be reconciled to God.
Through repentance and believing into Christ, we can be reconciled to God so that we may receive forgiveness of sins.
Then, when we’re reconciled to God from sin, we have the ministry of reconciliation, that is, God has put in us the word of reconciliation so that we may bring others into being reconciled with God.
We are now ambassadors, entreating others on behalf of God even as God entreats them through us, that they may be reconciled to God!
It is not only unbelievers who need to be reconciled to God but also believers, those who have been initially and partially reconciled to God, even they need to be reconciled to God.
The believers at Corinth, after being reconciled to God, still lived in the flesh, in the self, and in the outward man; they were initially reconciled to God, but there was still a separating veil between them and God – the flesh, the natural man.
This veil had to be torn down through the cross applied to the flesh and the natural man so that they may be further reconciled to God.
This is similar to the entrance into the tabernacle through the two separating veils: first, there was the veil at the entrance of the tabernacle, which signifies the first aspect of being reconciled to God from sin for us to enter into the enjoyment of God as light, life, and fellowship.
However, we need to be further reconciled to God, realizing that Christ not only died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) but even more, He has died for us, the sinners so that our flesh and natural life would be crucified for us to live to Christ in the resurrection life (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
This is the subjective aspect of the Lord’s death; He not only took away our sins but also was made sin on our behalf and He was done away with by God so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him.
By these two aspects of His death, God has fully reconciled His chosen people to Himself.
We have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation and we entreat all – both believers and unbelievers alike – to be reconciled to God.
As believers in Christ, we have passed the first veil of the tabernacle to be reconciled to God and be in the Holy Place, but we still need the second step of reconciliation to enter into the Holy of Holies.
We still live in the flesh and in the natural man, so we need to pass the second veil, which has been rent already (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20) to enter into the Holy of Holies so that we may be persons in the spirit, in the Holy of Holies.
We ourselves need to be reconciled to God, and we need to carry out the ministry of reconciliation for others to be reconciled to God from sin, even to be reconciled further with God from the flesh and the natural man. May we be reconciled to God until there’s no more distance between us and God until we see Him face to face and we live Christ!
Thank You, God, for reconciling us to Yourself through Christ and for giving us the ministry of reconciliation! Hallelujah, we have been reconciled to God from sin through the Lord’s death on the cross, for He has bore our sins in His body on the tree. Lord, reconcile us further with You – reconcile us from living in our flesh to living in the Holy of Holies, in our mingled spirit, to express You! Amen, Lord, bring us further with You in the process of reconciliation until there’s no more distance between us and You! Reconcile us to God until we see God face to face and we live Christ by living in the spirit! Amen, Lord, put in us the word of reconciliation so that we may bring others into the process of being reconciled to God from sin and from the flesh until they live in spirit and are face to face with God in the Holy of Holies! Hallelujah, on behalf of Christ we are ambassadors, beseeching all men to be reconciled to God!
By the Ministry of Reconciliation, we are Shepherded into God and we Shepherd the Flock of God for the Body consummating in the New Jerusalem
Psalms 22, 23, and 24 are quite amazing, for they present to us a view of the totality of the eternal economy of God.
In Psa. 22 we see what the Lord did in the past; He became a man, He died for us, and He accomplished an all-inclusive judicial redemption.
In Psa. 24 we see that the Lord is coming as a King to establish His kingdom. In Psa. 23 we see the bridge between Psa. 22 and Psa. 24, which is the Lord’s shepherding. In the past, the Lord redeemed us and produced the church through His death and resurrection.
In the future, the Lord will return as the coming King to set up His beautiful and sweet kingdom.
But today, in His heavenly ministry, He is doing the work of shepherding so that we all may be reconciled to God until we become the same as Christ.
Even more, today the Lord is shepherding us so that we may shepherd others; He is doing the work of reconciling us to God so that we may cooperate with Him to help others be reconciled to God.
The Lord’s present recovery is to bring us into the reality of Christ’s shepherding as the Spirit in Psa. 23 as the issue of His redeeming death and church-producing resurrection in Psa. 22 and as the accomplishing factor of His coming as the King to establish His kingdom in Psa. 24. Hallelujah!
So today God is reconciling the world to Himself from sin, and He is further reconciling the believers to Himself from the flesh; even more, we as those being reconciled to God, are given the ministry of reconciliation!
By the ministry of reconciliation, we are shepherded into God to enjoy Him as the springs of the water of life so that we may become the eternal Zion as the corporate Holy of Holies, the place where God is (see Rev. 7:14, 17; 14:1; 21:16, 22; Psa. 20:2; 24:1, 3, 7-10; 48:2; 50:2; 87:2; 125:1; Ezek. 48:35b).
By the ministry of reconciliation, God is shepherding us into Himself so that we may enjoy Him; He is shepherding us to the springs of the water of life, and He is making us His Zion, the Holy of Holies in a corporate way, so that we may be called, Jehovah is here. Hallelujah!
In the past the Lord came to shepherd us by dying for us to reconcile us to God from sin; in the present, He is shepherding us by reconciling us to Himself even further, from the flesh, through the cross, so that we may be persons living in spirit.
In the future and for eternity, Christ will shepherd us into God to enjoy springs of waters of life and to become the eternal Zion, even the place where God is.
When people will look at us, the New Jerusalem, they will see God, for they will see a group of people who have been united, mingled, and incorporated with the processed and consummated Triune God as their Husband! Hallelujah!
The ministry of reconciliation is not only for us to personally be reconciled to God but also to cooperate with Christ’s heavenly ministry to shepherd the flock of God for building up the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem according to God’s eternal economy (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28-29; Rev. 1:12-13).
In John 21, when Peter went fishing and the brothers went with him, the Lord came to shepherd him and recover him; He rekindled his love for the Lord and charged him to shepherd His sheep, feed His lambs, and feed His sheep.
When we are being reconciled to God in a further way, we are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation so that we may shepherd others according to God; because we love the Lord, we will feed His lambs, shepherd His sheep, and feed His sheep.
This is something that not only the apostles and the elders have to do but even more, something that we all, the believers in Christ, need to enter into; we need to cooperate with Christ’s heavenly ministry to shepherd the saints for building up the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem! Amen!
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for dying to redeem us and for resurrecting to produce the church! We open to Your shepherding ministry today: shepherd us by reconciling us further with God until there’s no distance between us and God! Amen, Lord, we open to Your shepherding so that we may be brought to enjoy the springs of waters of life and become the eternal Zion, the very place where God is! We love You, Lord, and we give ourselves to cooperate with Your heavenly ministry of shepherding. We want to shepherd others according to God so that they may be reconciled further with God and would be built up as the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem. Amen, Lord, may all the saints enjoy Your shepherding and cooperate with Your shepherding to shepherd others according to God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 37, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 2, The Factor of Closely Following the Completed Vision of the Age through the Ministry of the Age.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In redemption He is all, / All through Him is reconciled; / By His blood all things with God / Now in peace are domiciled. (Hymns #495)
– Separation has been dealt with, / We from God no more exiled! / Through Your sacrifice forgiven, / We to Him are reconciled! / We can live in resurrection, / Joined to God through Your oblation, / To express Your life and person, / In our spirit, by the blood! (Song on, Separation Unto Reconciliation)
– For the Lamb who is in the midst / Of the throne / Will shepherd them and guide them / To springs, to springs, / Springs of waters of life; / And God will wipe away / Every tear, every tear / From their eyes. (Scripture song)
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