The Indispensability of God's Messengers
The Indispens ability of God's Messengers
THERE COULD PROBABLY be no better illustration of the love and compassion of God towards man than to show His never-ending desire to save people from the liability of eternal punishment. Such desire of God to save man from the consequences of sin is manifested in His sending of messengers to preach the message for salvation.
The Bible amply presents a pattern of interaction between God and man throughout human history. Man’s nature is characterized by stubbornness and hostility toward the will of his Creator. People may initially be subservient to God for a time but then turn away from Him, sometimes even to the extent of obliterating God in their lives and thoughts. Others, however, retain belief in the Creator and yet recognize another, either unknowingly or deliberately.
Sad to say, under such conditions, man’s plight is undoubtedly jeopardized. Yet. God does not want to see man in this state of hopelessness. He rather committed Himself to a decisive principle of sending men as His messengers to reverse the situation and to bring man back to Him. By this, man’s life grows into one with the active intervention of the true God.
MESSENGERS: INDISPENSABLE
The indispensability of God’s messengers could not be overemphasized. No less than Christ Himself says:
“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
(Reference: Jn. 6:29 RSV)
But it must be noted at the outset that:
“one does not take the honor [of being God’s messenger] upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.”
(Reference: Heb. 5:4 RSV)
Anyone who claims to be God’s messenger but cannot present any valid proof of being called by God is a deceiver—a false preacher, indeed. Such a preacher could not be the genuine speaker of the truth regarding the salvation of man. And to listen to a false preacher is to be led towards perdition.
Since the call of God is unquestionably of vital importance. the messenger himself
shares much in this value.
WHY GOD APPOINTS MESSENGERS
Why does God send messengers of His words? For what purpose does He do this? The Bible answers these queries:
“The LORD, the God of their fathers. sent persistently to them by his messengers. because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.”
(Reference: II Chron. 36:15. RSV)
Indeed God is persistent in sending messengers. He has sent numerous messengers such as Noah in the era of the patriarchs; Moses and the prophets in the prophetic era; the Lord Christ Jesus and His Apostles at the very start of the Christian era; and the last messenger. Brother Fellx Y. Manalo in these last days.
In doing so, God wants man to respond by allowing themselves to benefit from this opportunity to be saved through faith in God’s spoken word. But. what need is there for these men to be sent for that purpose? In the first place, what has befallen man such that the sending of messengers becomes necessary? The Bible says:
“All the leading priests and the people also were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.”
(Reference: II Chron. 36:14 NRSV)
People in the world have grown to be exceedingly unfaithful to God — a condition quite contrary to the will of the Lord. This unfaithfulness had its own consequences which had broken man apart from his God. This is declared in the book of the prophet Isaiah which says:
“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear.”
(Reference: Isa. 59:2 RSV, Emphasis Mine)
Such severe condition is aggravated when God considered sinful men as His:
“enemies because of the evil things” they thought and did.”
(Reference: Col. 1:21 TEV)
This generated a predicament that individuals must solve. For God’s judgment is to condemn the world. The whole world indeed was made accountable to God (Rom 3:19) due to man’s sins (Rom. 3:23). What does God demand from man as payment for his sins? Apostle Paul declares:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Reference: Rom. 6:23 RSV)
By death, here is not meant simply the termination of man’s earthly existence but the second death in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). The second death is man’s total payment for his sins. Were man left alone to face the penalty for his sins, he would have no other choice but to wait for the appointed time to suffer the consequences of his mischief. God set His laws for man’s obedience. He likewise decided on the consequence of both obedience and disobedience of His will. Yet:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
(Reference: Rom. 3:23, NKJV)
It now becomes man’s problem and not God’s.
THE ROLE OF GOD'S MESSENGERS
God sends His messengers to counter the evil consequence of man’s sin. It is also for His desire for “all men to be saved” (I Tim. 2:4, RSV) that he sends these men. But what are messengers for? What is their exact role in the lives of men who would like to benefit from them? In answer to this, we better take the case of Apostle Paul, who was unquestionably God’s messenger to the Gentiles during the latter part of the Apostolic period. We are reminded here that while on his journey to Damascus, Apostle Paul received the call of Christ and was appointed as one of His Apostles. In this particular event, Christ stated the reason for appointing or sending Paul to the Gentiles. Paul was sent:
“to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified…”
(Reference: Acts 26:18 RSV)
This is none other than God’s love and concern actively working for man’s benefit and salvation. By sending messengers like Apostle Paul, God makes man the recipient of His compassion. With such a condition, man is given a chance to escape from the undesirable consequence of his weakness to sin. In the very words of Apostle Paul, the mission that messengers in the name of Christ would be assigned to execute was made clear. They would act as ambassadors for Christ to take charge of the ministry of reconciliation ― that is, the reconciliation between man and his Creator. Apostle Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians contains the following:
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 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. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
(Reference: II Cor. 5:18-20, RSV)
No individual on earth is given the authority to reconcile man with God except those whom God sent for the purpose. This is because the message of reconciliation can only be found in the ambassadors for Christ, who are also the messengers of God. No genuine reconciliation with God is possible unless man listens to the message from God’s appointed men. In the absence of the messenger of God and, therefore the absence of God’s message, even Israel, which was God’s nation, lost the true God:
“For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.”
(Reference: II Chron. 15:3, RSV)
Does this mean that there was at least one time when God ceased to exist? No. God existed; He exists, and will continue to exist forever. So what does this mean? This means that God refused to be the God of Israel. He had forsaken His nation because He was likewise forsaken (cf. II Chron. 15:2). Who are these teaching priests being referred to in the verse immediately quoted above? The Bible answers:
“For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”
(Reference: Mal. 2:7, RSV)
They are God’s messengers. It has been made clear now that the words of God could be found in the lips of God’s messengers and not from anybody else’s. God’s instruction regarding man’s reconciliation with Him is to be taken from the true messengers of God alone.
MESSENGERS SUFFER PREJUDICE
But despite this truth, it comes as a surprise that these messengers of God seem to be the least respected in the society where they perform their ministry and speak of God’s message. They are never received cordially. They suffer the pain of unfair judgments and prejudices from others even before they can speak of the message they bring. But is this really surprising? No, because the Bible foretold of this. People:
“…kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets…”
(Reference: II Chron. 36:16 RSV)
Their detractors hurl vehement and unfavorable opinions to discredit their preaching. The prophet Jeremiah wasn’t able to escape from this. The Bible testifies so:
“Then they said, ‘Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not heed any of his words.”
(Reference: Jer. 18:18, RSV)
So was the experience of our Lord Jesus Christ:
“Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him.”
(Reference: Jn.12:37)
His courage in preaching His message caused Him to suffer a violent death on the cross — yet, that death caused man’s only opportunity to be saved. It was just that people could ill afford to close their eyes and pretend not to hear the message that messengers of God bring.
WHY MESSENGERS ARE DESPISED
But there has to be a reason at least for this despicable attitude prevalent among people. There has to be at least a reason for hostility towards God’s messengers. The Gospel of Mark, being one of the records of the Lord’s life, teaches us why:
“And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.”
(Reference: Mk. 6:2-3 RSV)
It is the personal nature and human characteristics of the messengers of God that is being measured by those who offer nothing but disparaging remarks. What they fail to realize is the value granted by God to His messengers when He sends them to bring His words to man. Christ Himself explained how evil it is not to listen to God’s messengers much more to despise them:
“And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomor’rah than for that town.”
(Reference: Mt. 10:14-15 RSV)
This should serve as a warning. To refuse to listen to God’s words from the messengers of God is equally evil as being condemned on the Day of Judgment. Such is discernible since those who refuse to listen to the message of reconciliation are far from being reconciled with God. So, what is the manner by which the messenger of God must be given due value and importance? Christ continued further by saying:
“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
(Reference: Mt. 10:40-42 RSV)
It, therefore, becomes every man’s duty to receive the messenger of God as the messenger and not to count against his own personal nature. It would do no one good to do otherwise. But what good will it serve to receive the messengers of God? Christ finally said:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me.”
(Reference: Jn. 13:20 RSV)
By receiving God’s messengers and the message they bring, man becomes truly reconciled with God through Christ Jesus.
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(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)
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(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)