02 Feb Grief-Stained Joy

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Over the past several Sundays we have considered our new life in Christ from 2 Corinthians 5. So far we have learned that it is marked by eternal hope, knows the fear of God, and is controlled by the love of Christ. This week we will consider how this new life leads us to be ministers of God’s work of reconciliation through the gospel of Jesus Christ. As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering, let these words from Milton Vincent spur you on in developing a true burden for the lost to be reconciled to God.

Heart Preparation

The more I rehearse and exult in gospel truths, the more there develops within me a corresponding burden for non-Christians to enter into such blessings. This is also what seems to happen to the Apostle Paul while writing the book of Romans.

In Romans 5 Paul exults in his righteous standing before God. In chapter 6 he speaks of the freedom from sin which Christ has accomplished in the lives of believers, a freedom which Paul later confesses had not yet become fully realized in his own daily practice (chapter 7). Nonetheless, coming into chapter 8, he recounts the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. With increasing flourish, he rehearses numerous gospel themes throughout the length of chapter 8, and he climaxes the chapter with a triumphant exclamation regarding the endless love of God which enables Christians to conquer overwhelmingly in all things.

What effect do such gospel meditations have upon Paul? What emotions do they produce in him besides the obvious joy he feels while reciting them? Paul bares his soul at the very beginning of chapter 9: “I have great sorrow,” he says, “and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Coming down from the heights of gospel meditation, Paul’s heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow-Jews to experience the saving power of the gospel. His burden existed long before he started writing, but it is undoubtedly intensified by his rehearsal of gospel truths in Romans 5-8, a rehearsal which inevitably leads his thoughts toward the plight of those outside of Christ.

Hence, if I wish to have a ‘Romans 9′ kind of burden for non-Christians, I should become practiced at celebrating the gospel as Paul does in Romans 5-8. Over time, my joy in the gospel will become increasingly tinged with grief, and this grief-stained joy will lend a God-inspired passion to my ministry of evangelizing the lost.

“A Heart for the Lost,” in A Gospel Primer for Christians, by Milton Vincent

Song List for Sunday

1. “Let Your Kingdom Come,” by Sovereign Grace Music
2. “Before the Throne,” by Shane and Shane
3. “The Power of the Cross,” by Stuart Townend
4. “Come Ye Sinners,” by Daniel Renstrom

Check out Crosspoint’s Sunday Set List on Spotify to listen to these songs!