August 7 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 72–73; Romans 9:1–15

Our Purpose

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 2 Corinthians 5:20

2 Corinthians 5:20

READ 2 Corinthians 5:16–21

When I gave my life to Christ, my desire for a career in art faded and instead I went to Bible College with a view to becoming a missionary. There I was asked to paint three huge murals on campus. God used Bible College to give me my start as an artist! Whenever I paint murals now, I pray for opportunities to share Christ as well. It turns out artists and missionaries are not so different after all.

Since Bible College, I’ve been a stay-at-home parent, an art teacher, a hotel cleaner, a Bible study leader and a writer. My purpose, however, has always been the same. As Paul explains, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). God has committed his “message of reconciliation” to each of us so that we can be living invitations for others to return home to Him (v. 19).

If we are parents, how can we be actively introducing our children to Jesus? What might it look like to bring His love and kindness into our workplaces? How frequently are we praying for openings to share our faith with family or friends? We don’t have to be missionaries to take the “message of reconciliation” with us wherever we go.

Whatever our vocation or life stage, God has given us all “the ministry of reconciliation” (v. 18). We are His ambassadors, so let’s seek opportunities to speak the message entrusted to us.

By Debbi Fralick

How can you be sharing the “message of reconciliation” in your own circumstances?

Dear Jesus, help me to be a good ambassador for Your kingdom. Help me to look for opportunities to share my faith with others. Amen.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

A key element of this important text is found in verse 20: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” Tyndale Bible Dictionary defines an ambassador as a “messenger or envoy officially representing a higher authority.” It explains that an ambassador in the Old Testament was “a messenger, envoy or negotiator sent on a special, temporary mission as an official representative of the king, government, or authority who sent him.” This description gives us a valuable backdrop to the challenge to Paul (and to us) to be God’s ambassadors to our world. Our mission is to officially represent the highest of all possible authorities—the Creator of the universe—and to present His message to those we encounter in His name.