The Church, Reconciled Family of Christ, is the product of the ministry of reconciliation which is received from Christ when they heard it and believed it. The Church can thereby be described as the mission of the ministry of reconciliation fulfilled in the people through the gospel of Christ. And if it is a symbol of the mission of Christ in reconciling people of the world to God through Himself fulfilled in the people, then these people that are reconciled to God to become His Church has no other mission than what they symbolized. In essence, the mission of the Church is basically and principally to reconcile men to God and the Father of Christ all over the whole world and to enhance the reconciliation between men of this world and God where such reconciliation has meaningfully been established.
This is the principal mission of Jesus Christ in this world. This is because redemption of man by His blood from the curse of the law, salvation of man from death, even eternal death, the loss of soul of man because of the sin which Adam had committed in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, forgiveness of sin which man has committed in his ignorance in his unbelief by God, purification of man from all his sins that he may be holy to God and even sanctification of man that he may be separated on to God for the use of his God for only good works cannot be accomplished without that man is reconciled to God.
It follows thereby that reconciliation is the baseline of all the works which Jesus has come to do in this world. If He were a saviour, He is a saviour because He could reconcile man to God. And if He were a door for the sheep that they may come to God to be blessed by Him with all the blessings of life, He is a door because He could reconcile man to God. Even if there would be forgiveness of sin which man has committed through His blood, it is needed that there is reconciliation between man and God first before this could be enhanced. It is as well needless to say that purification of man from his sin which entails washing of man in the blood of God and word of God is also impossible without that man is reconciled to God. This, obviously, is enough reason for everyone on earth to know and believe in it that sanctification which makes man to become separated for good works only also shall be impossible without reconciliation.
This makes reconciliation the main mission of all those that shall be named sons of God because they are peacemakers like God Himself. This is what Christians are in this respect because they share the share the vision of Christ with Him to reconcile men to His Father by making peace between them and God after which they have been reconciled to God by Christ themselves. This is what you will be also if you have been truly reconciled to God as well; and this has to be through Jesus Christ only. And, as thus, the mission of this ministry is not ours in this ministry alone. It is that of all Christians, Churches and all Christ ministries all over the whole world. It is for this reason that we are only co-sharers of the ministry with other Christian, Churches and Christ ministries all over the world as no one of us can obviously do nothing meaningful for God through Christ without passing through reconciliation ministry.
The mission of this ministry thereby is a universal mission in the world of Christianity. This makes the mission the needs of all men truly want to have peace with God here on earth and hereafter in the heavenly kingdom of God to come. It is also the needs of the people who cannot but have something to do with God in this world because they know that they have their existence from Him and that they cannot exist without Him as they have always discovered by experience that they need something from Him on daily basis and that they cannot do without having something to receive from Him for as long as they live here on earth. This, of course, will teach such people to know that the only way to have what they want from the only source that is available to them to receive it is to be reconciled to Him who it is in His power to give it to them.
Why was reconciliation so important to the people of Tyre and Sidon in the days of Herod that they were seeking audience with him that they might make peace with him because he had been angry with them (Acts 12: 20)? …… It was because he was supplying them with food – one of the basic needs of life and without which no man can live when other essentials are met (Acts 12: 20). He must have stopped the supply of the food to these countries because he was angry with them (Acts 12: 20). And they must have seen death ahead of them because of the supply of food that was cut from them (Acts 12: 20). Therefore, they had had no choice than to make Blastus, the king’s personal aide their friends that he might speak well on their behalf to him to pacify his anger against them that they might have their supply of food restored back to them as they had had before because they knew they could have it from no other one than him (Acts 12: 20).
What do you think that these people could have done to court the friendship of Blastus to this end (Acts 12: 20)? …. Indeed, they must have done so much good thing for him to court his friendship that he might speak well of them on their behalf in the hearing of the king (Acts 12: 20). And they had done all these that they could have done only to have peace with the King Herod that they might have their supply of food restored back to them (Acts 12: 20). They had even considered their reconciliation to him so necessary though they would have to be paying for the food that would be supplied to them because I am very sure that he could not have been supplying them food without that they had been making payment for it (Acts 12: 20).
Did Tyre supply Solomon Cedars and Cypress for the building of the temple of God in Jerusalem and his palace from Damascus without receiving anything from him in exchange (I Kgs. 9: 11)? ….. No, he had given him twenty cities in Galilee (I Kgs. 9: 11, 12). It is even said in the Scripture that Hiram was not pleased with what Solomon had given to him in exchange for the services he had rendered to him as a sure sign that the service which he had rendered to him was not for free (I Kgs. 9: 11 – 13). And, indeed, there is hardly any nation in the world that could be rendering any service to another without that it is having any particular thing to receive in return for such a service (I Kgs. 9: 11 – 13). This thereby establishes it that Herod could not have been supplying food to Tyre and Sidon without that they had been paying for it (Acts 12: 20). And, yet, though they would pay for the service they would receive from him, they still thought they had to make peace with him because they had had no other place they could turn for their supply of food (Acts 12: 20). So, they had done everything they could do to court the friendship of Blastus (Acts 12: 20).
They were even ready to do more than that to seek for peace with him (Acts 12: 20). They, indeed, must have been ready to agree with the terms of his agreement with them which possibly they had not agreed with before and for which reason he had been angry with them (Acts 12: 20). Besides, they must have been ready also to reconcile to him by doing away with their own condition of peace-making with him which he did not accept from them (Acts 12: 20). It was even evident on that day that they had the opportunity to meet with him for the peace to be made that they were ready to do all that would please him so as to enter into the peace agreement with them (Acts 12: 20 – 22). This is the reason they flattered him (Acts 12: 20 – 22). They called him god when he was not and said that his voice was that of a god and not just like that of a god (Acts 12: 20 – 22). This is the extent to which they had gone to make peace with Herod just to have the supply of their food restored to them (Acts 12: 20 – 22).
If men can go to this extent to make peace with ordinary man because they wanted the supply of food to be restored back to them (Acts 12: 20 – 22), what then disturbs men from making peace with God to receive all things which they need from him? ….. There is just nothing as there is no other way and cannot be another way to receive something that is needed from the only source where it could be received than to be at the peace with such a source as the men of Tyre and Sidon had discovered. There is just nothing that can be done than this to receive from God than that all men in this world be reconciled to Him by making peace with God as the people of Sidon and Tyre had done with Herod. Even there is more reason for which this has to be done with urgency – it is because God is not only holding the supply of food in his hands. He is holding the supply of everything which accounts for the life of man in His hands. So, God, in this way, is a God with whom reconciliation should be sought by all men if they will have their supply of everything that accounts to their life from Him and have it supplied regularly. Halleluyah!
What could Israel do when God withheld rain for three and half years in Israel? ….. They could do nothing. It is said that there was a famine in the land because of it and that the famine was a severe one. The famine was so severe that the king himself together with Obadiah had had to search for grass to keep the horses and mules alive that they might lose none of them because they were about to be dying. They had had to search for grass from the springs and brooks in the land that could support the growth of grass because there was no rain to keep even grass alive in the land. Yet, it was only rain that God had withheld. He did not seize the air. Neither did He withhold the sun that it should not shine upon the face of the ground. He did not even withhold the land from bringing forth fruits for man to eat.
In-spite that God had not withheld other basic needs from them, see how greatly troubled the whole land of Samaria and the king had been because they had not been at peace with God! They were not in peace with Him because they did not know Him as God and had provoked Him to jealousy by their idolatry. And He was ready to make them to Him as God and the supplier of the basic things that account for life which they needed. It was to this end that He had withheld the rain from them that they might see a reason to reconcile with Him by knowing Him as God and believing in Him as God. What then would happen if God had withheld all the basic amenities which are at His disposal away from them for just a day? ….. That would mean death and total destruction of the people from the land. So, for man to live on earth and preserve offspring for themselves in the world there is the need for him to be reconciled to God than the people of Tyre and Sidon had needed to be reconciled to King Herod.
But there is this foolishness I have seen with men when it comes to reconciliation. They really feel the need to be reconciled to God as they feel the need to be reconciled to men. This too is very obvious from the life of the people of Tyre and Sidon. Did they feel the need to be reconciled to God when Jesus was on earth though they heard about His message of reconciliation that was preached in Chorazin and Bethsaida? …. They did not think that they needed it as they thought that they needed to be reconciled to King Herod with what they heard that He did at Chorazin and Bethsaida. They did not see any reason they should court the friendship of Jesus who is the aide of the King of Heaven as they felt that they needed to court the friendship of Blastus many years after the resurrection of Jesus. They did not even have any reason to glory God as God though they saw His glory being displayed to them through Jesus in Capernaum and Bethsaida as they glorified Herod though he was an ordinary man.
They were expecting Him to come to their region to do the same thing which they had heard that He did at Capernaum and Bethsaida before they would know that they needed to be reconciled to God. They were even waiting for Jesus to come down to their region to do what they heard Him doing at Capernaum and Bethsaida before they would believe Him that He is really the Son of God and the aide of His Father and that they needed to court His friendship before they could be reconciled to His Father. But, amazingly, this grace was not given to them. And, so, they did not reconcile themselves to God throughout the period which Jesus was with them on earth. But see how they eagerly desired to be reconciled to Herod that was an ordinary man that was given the grace from God to have control over the supply of food only some years after the death of Jesus to testify against them that they were foolish men and that they are good examples of the foolish people that can be found in this world.
This is what you are also if you prefer to be reconciled with men than to be reconciled with God because of what you think you need from them. If only that woman can realize that she needed to be reconciled to God more than she had needed to reconcile to her husband, she would have since a long time ago been reconciled to all men and even her husband by God. Similarly, if only the people of this world have known that it is more important for them to be reconciled to God than they have felt that they needed to be reconciled to themselves and have eagerly desired to, they would have since a long time ago been reconciled to one another by God; and the world would have become a peaceful place for everyone of us to live in. So, reconciliation with God is all that is needed by all men in this world if peace that is being eagerly sought for by them would be realistic. It can thus be said that the mission of this church is peace for all men and peace with all men all over the whole world. Halleluyah!