“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
Commenting on 2 Corinthians 5:15-17, Warren W. Wiersbe wrote: “He died that we might live. This is the positive aspect of our identification with Christ: We not only died with Him, but we also were raised with Him that we might ‘walk in newness of life.’ Because we have died with Christ, we can overcome sin; and because we live with Christ, we can bear fruit for God’s glory.”
When I first met Warren Wiersbe, he was editor of Youth for Christ Magazine and I was interviewed to be advertising/ circulation director. It was Labor Day weekend 1960. Warren commented “So you produce the Gospelizer.” Warren became my mentor and lifelong friend.
While pastoring the historic Moody Church in Chicago, he produced the weekly radio program “Songs in the Night,” publishing “The Bumps Are What You Climb On,” a series of 30 radio messages. Wiersbe begins: “A little boy was leading his sister up a mountain path and the way was not too easy. ‘Why, this isn’t a path at all,’ the little girl complained. ‘It’s all rocky and bumpy.’ And her brother replied, ‘Sure, the bumps are what you climb on.'”
Later, Warren served as general director and Bible teacher for Back to the Bible broadcast. Author of more than 150 books, including the “Be Series” – 23 books commenting on specific books of the Bible, published by Victor Books, a division of Scripture Press, his crowning achievement is the Wiersbe Study Bible. It includes a “Be Transformed” section in each book of the Bible, specifically pointing to the life-changing impact of that particular part of God’s Word. Included are hundreds of “Catalyst Notes,” which reveal important biblical themes and character issues.
Wiersbe comments on 2 Corinthians 5:18-21. “Because of his rebellion, man was the enemy of God and out of fellowship with Him. Through the work of the cross, Jesus Christ has brought man and God together again. God has been reconciled and has turned His face in love toward the lost world. …Since Christians in this world are the ‘ambassadors’ of Christ, this means that the world is in rebellion against God …He has sent His ambassadors into the world to declare peace, not war. We represent Jesus Christ. If sinners reject us and our message, it is Jesus Christ who is actually rejected. What a great privilege it is to be heaven’s ambassadors to the rebellious sinners of this world!”
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation … Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 NKJV
From the 1961 “Teens Are Most Important” campaign to attract advertisers and build circulation for Youth for Christ Magazine, Warren and I re-connect ed multiple times.
When my daughter Tami was a student at Liberty University attending the National Religious Broadcasters Convention as photographer, Warren enthusiastically said to his wife Betty, “This is the real Tami,” and also introduced her to T.W. Wilson, Billy Graham’s longtime associate and special friend to my wife Mary and me.
One of our last conversations, I called Warren, having learned that his wife Betty was going through a serious illness. Knowing that Mary had been promoted to her heavenly home, he said, “George, losing a wife is like an amputation.” We continued praying for each other. In his book “The Bumps Are What You Climb On,” Warren relates Psalm 91.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust'” Psalm 91:1-2 NKJV
Psalm 91 records God’s response: “Because he has set His love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 NKJV
With Warren in 1961, God gave me the slogan “Christ through you can change the world.”
“Jesus Christ Changin’ the World Summit is to be at TTT July 13, under the banner: “Keep your flag of faith unfurled; you can change the world.”
Will you help people become new creations in Christ? Turn your world upside down.