FOR JUST BEING HERE

by C. R. Stam


When you sigh for heaven, remember:

“…Christ…loved the Church, and gave Himself for it…That He might present it
to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph.5:25,26).

Too readily we forget that Christ loves us infinitely more than we love Him;
that He paid the penalty for our sins on cruel Calvary and shed His life’s
blood that one day He might have us for Himself to share His glory with Him
forever.

Surely, then, He would rather have us at His side in heaven than here in this
scene of sin and sorrow, and sickness and death. We should bear this in mind
when we long that we might leave this world and go to be with Him.

But there is more: The Saviour, who was exiled from this earth, and is, even
now, rejected by men, has not yet rejected them. Rather, He has left us here
as His ambassadors on hostile territory, to plead with his enemies, praying
them “in His stead” to be reconciled to God, assuring them that He has done all
that is necessary to effect a reconciliation (IICor.5: 20,21).

And this is His attitude toward mankind now, though the prophetic Scriptures
declare so emphatically that man’s rejection of Christ was to be — and will
be — visited with the severest judgment (Psa.2:4-9; Acts 2:16-20).

But not yet! Though man had declared war on Christ (Acts 4:26,27), He did not
yet make a counter-declaration, but interrupted the prophetic program to save
Saul of Tarsus, the leader of the rebellion and sent him forth to usher in
the present “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph.3:1-3).

This is why, in His love and compassion, He leaves us here still to plead
with His enemies: “Be ye reconciled to God”. And what about His special love for
us? Entirely apart from rewards earned by service or suffering for Him, God
will richly reward us (II Cor.4:17) just for being here as “ambassadors for
Christ”.