Mark 16:15,16 My Responsibility to the World
“And then he told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.’” (NLT)
My responsibility to the world, as a Christian, is very simple: JESUS! That’s right, we are told in two places, Mark 16:15-16 and Matthew 28:18-20, to tell ALL THE WORLD the Good News about Jesus, about His sacrifice that guarantees eternal life for all who believe. That’s pretty simple, right? Not necessarily—you see we have an adversary who does not want people to learn about the Good News. He’s been working on this for over 2000 years, and he has developed strategies that help his cause. We need to learn how to frustrate him and his strategies.
God has provided us with numerous ways to show the love of God and to “preach the Good News.” The first one is obvious; tell people what Jesus said about Himself. In John 14:6, Jesus says, “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV). To “come to the Father”—spend eternity in heaven—is available to all. Acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior, and ask Him for forgiveness for all our sins.
There it is, but many will not accept that straight forward approach, so other ways have been made available. As one blessed person said many years ago, “Preach a sermon every day. When necessary, use words.” Matthew 7:12, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Luke 10:27, “He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:40, “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone.” (All Scriptures from NIV)
One obvious way to point people to God is to point out the magnificence of creation. The beauty, diversity, and inter-dependence of everything speaks of an omniscient God of creation. This is a good beginning, but it needs to be followed up by discussion of sin and the separation from God.
All of the strategies given in the above two paragraphs are good, but finally the Word must be spoken: Jesus is the only way, and a decision must be made for or against Jesus. The point must be made that it is possible to accept Jesus as Savior anytime up until death. Once that time has been reached however, there is no longer an opportunity to say, “Yes, I choose Jesus.” It will be too late then.
It's not hard to see that our responsibility to the world is immense, vital, and not only life changing, but more importantly, eternity changing. Yes, we are responsible for living in peace with our fellow man, and to treat him well, to care for him, and to demonstrate the love of God through our actions, but our PRIMARY responsibility to the world remains JESUS! May we enlarge the population of heaven by our actions and our words.
0 Comments