Excluders vs. Expanders
Ambassadors

Scripture Reading:  2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:20

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

To be an ambassador is to be a representative that is on a mission.  An ambassador negotiates with a foreign nation in behalf of his homeland.  His words and his behavior will reflect on the nation that he is from.  A good ambassador will form a bond between two nations.

            The Apostle Paul writes in our printed key verse for today that we are Christ’s ambassadors.  God makes His appeal through us, according to these scriptures.  That is a challenging thought: God is using us to appeal to lost people around us!  By our words and by our lifestyle, we are to implore all who we influence: Be reconciled to God!  Like a good ambassador, we are negotiating a bond between someone who is far from God to the God who loves them.  Sin has put a vast gap between God and this world.  Jesus is the bridge that can span that gap for anyone who will trust His work on the cross.  When someone takes that step of faith, they are reconciled to God—reconnected in good standing!  This is our message.  It is a message that we have been given to pass on to everyone we can influence—the message of reconciliation!

            If you are a believer, you must fight any tendency to fall into the category of an excluder.  The Bible is clear: every follower of Christ must be an expander of God’s kingdom here on earth!

Father, please use me today to expand your kingdom.  Open my eyes to opportunities to offer the message of reconciliation.  In Jesus’ name, amen.