Mission Devotional Day 25
Ambassadors for Christ
Mission Devotional Day 25
READ: II Corinthians 5:16-21
In this marvelous statement of God’s mission, Paul describes how in Christ, God was reconciling the world unto himself, and he has entrusted to us a ministry of reconciliation. In Ephesians, Paul writes of how God is gathering up all things in Christ.
Imagine that each Christian church is an embassy, an outpost for the kingdom. Your role and mine is to serve as an ambassador. Our authority comes from the one who sent us. Our priorities come from the one who sent us. We take our instructions from the one who sent us.
We are, Paul writes, ambassadors for Christ. God is making his appeal through us. This is an awesome responsibility. This is a joyful privilege. We are entrusted with the good news that
“for our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God.”
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
In Matthew’s Great Commission, Jesus makes the point that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. In this text, Paul clearly understands that we go in Jesus’ authority to participate in his mission. What does that mean to you?
An embassy is built on land that is owned by the nation or king who sent the ambassador. What would it mean to think of our churches as places where God’s rule and reign are acknowledged?
PRAYER
Dear Lord, as we think about what it means to live as your ambassadors, we pray that your kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven. Help us to live lives that reflect your reign and that disclose your priorities for this world. Amen.