Engaging the Reader

Authors write stories …. or narratives. Now narratives are a sequence of real or imagined events. And in the sequence of events, a writer seeks to engage the reader. Writers want the reader to be involved in the story … to interact with the story - to give the reader a feeling of being in or relating to the story….. and writers want them to understand the story. The way writers seek to engage the reader is through conflict. Conflicts are problems or struggles between two more people or parties – they are on the opposite sides of an issue. Writers generally use the 5-pronged approach to describe the conflict in order to engage the reader. The writer begins their narrative by giving the background of the conflict – like what happened and how it started and who’s involved - and then you see an increase of events in the conflict – after the increase comes the peak or the climax of the conflict – the top most upper portion of a conflict – the height of the action, and then you see a reduction in battle in the conflict - and finally you see how things are made right or how things end. You even see this method storytelling in history books. Our Creator, the Author of life itself, uses the narrative method as well to engage the reader - you see it as you read the pages of the Bible – the greatest narrative ever written – the greatest history book ever developed. Throughout time as God writes his story, his narrative – his history - or as Some have even said that “history” is “His-Story,” because His handiwork on events is so obvious, God engages the reader by using people that are just like us. He also uses us in events - and Each of us have a story to tell. Parts of your story are good, or interesting, or difficult, and sad, or even tragic. But it’s your story, and it is a unique one. God wants very much to be a part of your story. A co-author of the story that is your life. As we learn who God is, we discover that His story intersects our own, woven in the very fabric of time.

Over the last 3 weeks we as we’ve gone through the Series entitled “This is My Story” we have learned The Plot of our story can be the result of God’s love for us - that We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God – that He was involved in our conception – remember – He knitted us together in our mother’s womb - and He loves each and every human being ever created. And He has a plan for us in his redemptive story as He writes parts of our story. And we sadly know people don’t always join in that plan, but He’s often writing parts of that story as well. We also learned that Your Character can develop. God can change how your story ends – that the person you were in the past does not have to dictate your story. – because you can make different choices – and you can change or be changed from what you once were. And last week We learned God is the Ghostwriter – we don’t see the big picture, the end of the story, -He is there even when you didn’t know it, He is there when you are worried, fearful, exhausted, depressed, scared, lonely, or in despair – we learned that God allowed events to take place in your life because He meant it for good – and we learned that we need to depend on God’s presence to get us through - He is the author of your story.

A friend of mine ended up asking God to author his story. We’ll call my friend Matthew. Now Matthew is from one of the least Jesus believing and Jesus following states in this country – California. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study released on May 12, 2015 entitled “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” 20% of Californian’s identify as evangelical – that means 80% of Californians do not believe in or follow Jesus. California’s population in 2014, at the time of the Pew study and now is about 39 million…..that means 7.8 million people believe in and or follow Jesus…… alternatively 80% of 39 million is 31.2 million…. 31.2 million was around the total population of California during my friend Matthew’s upbringing in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Now - there are 31.2 people in California do not believe in or follow Jesus…… that is 31,200,000 lost people…. 31.2 million people whose eternal destination is hell! Think about that…… all those people that were made in the image of God are headed to hell …… they will never experience God ….. they are separated from Jesus forever! That is sad…. That should break your heart ….. people God made in His image will never be with Him, they will never experience His glory! My friend Matthew was one of those people. Matthew came from a broken home – his parents got a divorce when he was young - his mom remarried and her husband raised Matthew as his own….Matthew ended up taking his step-dad’s name. Matthew did not know Jesus when he was growing up – his parents did not go to church or seek to follow our Savior…he once went to church with a girl just so he could become her boyfriend…but that didn’t last long but going to church with her did help plant and water a seed of faith in Christ. Now Matthew’s hobby was and is working on and restoring old cars. His first car was one he found abandoned so he went every day after school to the place where the car was located and restored it to working condition – and that’s how he learned to work on old cars. That is where he developed his hobby. Matthew ended up joining the Air Force after high school because he wanted to be a fireman…instead the Air Force made him a military public health specialist and he learned his trade in Texas…..there is where he met a young lady named Michelle – who was a Christian – and they fell in love. Not too long after technical school, they were stationed together in Mississippi and Michelle kept insisting that Matthew needed to know the Lord or they could not continue to be together. Matthew was resistant…and Matthew continued to be resistant ….and it was causing issues in his relationship with Michelle. Matthew ended up going to a small Bible study - he went to the study in order to maintain his relationship with Michelle because he loved her – the small bible study is where he met a gentleman that shared the gospel and his faith in Christ – and that gentleman began to spend time with Matthew and took him under his wing. God was working on Matthew’s heart and his head. One evening Matthew went out for a run and while he was running he was having thoughts of God and of his relationship with Michelle – and he was also having an overwhelming sense that he’s being followed by something dark – and he didn’t know what it was and it scared him – and he ran straight home – and when he got home he confessed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It was at that point Matthew became a new creation in Christ Jesus…..and we read about becoming a new creation in Christ in the Bible…..so let’s go there – please open your Bible, phone app, or other device to Second Corinthians chapter five verses sixteen to twenty-one – or follow along on the screen. We’ll be reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible - And it says….. “16 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.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 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. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

So let’s go back and attempt to break down the passage starting in verse 16. And it says “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.” The passage begins with a conclusion from the previous passage that is designed to serve as a transition…how do we know that – see the words “from now on” – meaning because something was said or happened… this must take place going forward - and also note the word “therefore” – when you see ‘therefore”, we need to know what it’s there for….in this case it’s there to tell you to go back and read the previous section…. In the previous section we are told by the Apostle Paul starting in verse 14 going through verse 15 that Jesus died and was raised for everyone because of the sins of mankind - and because he died for our sins, those who do not know Him as savior are spiritually dead….and those that have confessed Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead are no longer spiritually dead…and because they are no longer spiritually dead they are to live their lives for Jesus…… so going back to verse 16 and knowing the context – let’s sum it up this way….from now on because we know that people are either spiritually dead in sin or spiritually alive in Christ we should not see people in a nonspiritual way…we should see them the way Jesus sees them… as people that need Jesus and to love on them and share Jesus with them so they can be with Him forever. And the second part of verse 16 says that even though we used to look at Jesus the way people that don’t know Him see Him – in a nonspiritual way – as unbelievers see Him – we now know better – we now know Him as God – as our Lord and our Savior… that is the transition to the new section of scripture…the next verse is the next subject…verse 17 says… “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We just talked about what “Therefore” means and we just discussed what it’s there for…it’s there to remind us that we now see Jesus as Lord… because Jesus is our Lord… and if Jesus is your Savior…. He has taken you from spiritual death to a new spiritual life that is one in service to Him for His glory and His kingdom….. the blood Jesus shed on the Cross for you and your confession of Him as Lord and belief in His resurrection has made you new…. He has given you a new life…… your old ways are gone….. your sins are gone never to be held against you…… He has made you completely new…. Amen!! Now let’s go to verse 18... and it says “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” The verse says that God did all of this…. God made it possible for you to know Him… God made it possible for you to worship Him…. God made it possible for you to be in His presence…. God made it possible for you to be saved from your sins… and it was your sins that caused the conflict with God – and because Jesus died on the cross for you… God made it possible for you to be reconciled to him…. Not Him to you but you to Him…. So because we are with Him….. because he made it possible to be with Him….. because He has forgiven us…. because we are His, He has given us a responsibility….. The pleasure of… The right to share the gospel of Jesus with others that do not know Him so they can be forgiven of their sins - so they can be with him forever …… that is the ministry of reconciliation. So let’s go to verse 19, and it says “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.” The first part of verse 19 is in essence what you read in “for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” And it’s what you read in “3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” And in the Roman Road…. Like “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” and “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” and “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of reconciliation. God did all for each and every one of you… God made it possible for you to have peace with Him…. There is no way you or anyone in all of history could have ever made peace with Him on their own…. Because it was and is impossible, God made it possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus! God has left us… those that have been saved by God…. with the message of peace that is to be shared with everyone. We are to share it… not keep it for ourselves….. not to be selfish with it… but to share it …. we are to share it out of love for everyone with everyone! Amen! Now let’s go to the first part of verse 20 – and it reads “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” There’s that word “therefore” again – here it’s referring to the fact that God gave us the ministry of reconciliation and entrusts to us the message of reconciliation….. since we Christians – we followers of Jesus have the ministry and the message, we serve as God’s ambassadors…..

Let me ask you… have you ever thought of yourself as an ambassador, as God’s ambassador? So, what is an ambassador? Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an ambassador is an appointed representative of a leader, a king or a government, an official envoy, a high-ranking diplomat. The Greek word used for ambassador in verse 20 means “be an ambassador” …… we are to be God’s ambassadors to a lost and dying world….. as His ambassadors He makes an appeal to all those that do not know Him… that do not know Jesus as Savior….. so, what is that appeal… what is God imploring…. What is He urging every person on this planet to do? Well let’s go to the last part of verse 20 to find out…. And It reads “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Because Jesus died on the Cross for your sins and was resurrected….. because He made it possible….. God is urging every single person to make peace with Him! He doesn’t want you making yourself an enemy any longer …. He doesn’t want you to die in your sins…. He wants peace! Peace ladies and gentleman….. peace!!! He made it possible and has offered it to you… and all you have to do is accept His offer. So why did God make this offer…. Let’s look at the final verse from today’s passage… verse 21 and it says” For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

I have a question for you….. There is a very short list of all those that have ever walked on this planet to have never sinned…never committed one act of sin….. can you guess who is on the list? It’s not difficult….. it’s a really short list…. of one name….. can someone shout out the name? Yes…..It’s Jesus! so… Jesus… on our behalf became sin… Jesus took on to Himself every single thing anyone has ever done or will do against God…. and on our behalf paid the penalty we deserve for our sins against God….. Jesus paid your way out of having to stand before the perfectly Holy Judge…… perfectly just God and account for every single sin you have ever or will ever commit …. He died in your place….. He did it so those that confess Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that He was risen from the dead are guaranteed eternal life with Him forever and can be an example to the world of God’s perfect justice.

Earlier I shared a story about my friend Matthew and told you that he became a new creation in Christ Jesus….. I laid out Matthew’s story of conflict with God and his conflict with Michelle to engage the reader … I gave you background information about Matthew, I gave you an escalation of events that led to the climax of the conflict where Matthew made the decision to follow Jesus…. and now I give you the final two pieces: a reduction of action in the conflict and the end of the conflict…. Matthew and Michelle are married now and are raising and discipling their 4 children…. They take their responsibilities of discipling their children seriously and do not leave the responsibility solely on the church. Matthew ended up serving in the Air Force for 22 years and retired a few years ago. My friend Matthew serves as God’s ambassador … Matthew shares Jesus’ story with people that do not know Him….. Matthew tells people how God took it upon Himself to make a way for people to make peace with Him…. how God doesn’t have to make peace with us, but we need to make it with Him and He did it all so it could happen. My friend Matthew uses his car restoration hobby to help people restore themselves to a Holy and just God. Matthew and his story serve as an example of God’s perfect justice. Matthew’s story that started in California changed and God made him a new creation…. and is writing a new story for Matthew.

As we close today, I’d like to leave you with something ….. Think about this…. If Jesus only died and saved us so we can go to heaven….. then why did He leave us here? If He only died so we can live a safe and happy life here with no possibility of going to hell for our sins, then why did God leave us here? There is no reason to leave us here once we are saved if the only goal is to get saved just so we can go to heaven forever, right? That is what some of us might think, right? ….. but we become a new creation when we accept God’s offer of peace - He gave us a new life, and a new story, and gave us His story , and left us here for His purposes…. Which are to be His reconciled, Gospel of Jesus sharing ambassadors and to serve as an example to the world of His perfect justice. That is why we are still here. Amen!