ICS Daily Devotions
Ambassadors of Christ
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NKJV) Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word 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.
God’s heart is for the entire world to return to Him and have a restored relationship with Him. Many people have died of COVID-19 and the numbers will increase daily until the pandemic is declared to be over. As Christians, the key question we need to ask ourselves should be, “Has the person who is pronounced dead had the opportunity to hear the Gospel and call out the name of Jesus to be saved?” The spirit of the person would have been Jesus’ greatest concern, so shouldn’t it be ours too? What if the next person to die is someone we know, and God has entrusted us to reach out to them?
Every believer without exception has been commissioned to preach and teach the Gospel. Jesus did not call us to be a believer but His disciple. Sometimes, we forget what is important in the heart of God when we are so caught up with believing God for a good job, for our business to pick up, for our children to be blessed and everything else on our prayer list. However, He has entrusted us all with a ministry to disciple new believers, but first and foremost, to share the Gospel with the lost.
The Spirit of God is pleading through us to have the lost reconciled back to Him. We are to share with those we know that God has sent Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to Himself. This has become more pressing as we witness how people are suffering from the effects of COVID-19 and the ripple effects on all the economies around the world. We need to remind ourselves time and again the purpose for which Jesus was sent. In fact, every day should be a reminder of whether we have been faithful to the Great Commission given to us in Matthew 28.
As Christ’s ambassadors, we are to share with those who have yet to hear the good news that God is not imputing their trespasses to them, but instead He has placed all their sins and transgressions onto Jesus Christ and judged all the sin placed on Him. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself and received the wrath of God when He was hung on the cross. He was made sin for us so that we can have His righteousness that enables all of us to stand right before Him. This is the message we are to tell the world, that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save us!
Sermon Series – Arise and Build
