The goal of my writing today is to inspire you to access the powerful transforming grace God has made available to us through the Mission of God.
In this series of articles, we are recognizing one fundamental truth regarding transformational grace: God provides the grace, but we must access it. Doing so requires discipline. We access saving grace simply through faith. Transforming grace is different. It requires more of us—we must do something to experience its power.
The Missio Dei
You are not just a chance collection of minerals, water, and electricity that will exist and consume resources and then die and decompose. You are more than that. Much more! You have a divine purpose—and that purpose is defined by the Mission of God.
God has created, saved, transformed, equipped, and empowered you to fulfill unique and vital aspects of the Mission both in the here and now and in heaven forever. Listen closely: There’s a reason for your breathin’!
As you engage your role in the Mission, God’s transformational grace will flow powerfully into you—changing you into an ambassador of Jesus Christ and an effective minister in the ministry of reconciliation.
As He was ascending into heaven, Jesus declared the mission:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20
Paul the Apostle described it as the ministry of reconciliation and named us as Christ’s ambassadors:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. II Corinthians 5:17-21
Peter describes us as the Royal Priesthood:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As missional ministers, ambassadors, and royal priests, we are more than messengers; we are also the message—the Word becomes flesh. See John 1. How we live in this world determines the validity of the message we declare. Unity (John 17:20-23) and love (John 13:35) are the missional hallmarks Jesus identified. Peter identified holiness and good deeds:
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. I Peter 2:11-12.
Do you see it? You have a divine purpose — a mission to accomplish. You matter!
Getting Started in the Mission
According to Acts 1:8, Ephesians 4, and I Corinthians 12, every believer is empowered and gifted by God to serve in the Mission.
To access the transformational grace of the Mission:
1. Start serving. Stepping out of your comfort zone requires intensified reliance on God, prayer, and preparation—disciplines that increase the flow of transformational grace.
2. Be faithful to the little things. As you demonstrate humble and consistent obedience, the Master will give you more responsibility. See Matthew 25:14-30. Too many people want to start big. That’s not usually the way God works. Start serving in small and seemingly insignificant ways. As He sees the transformational process at work in you, He will give you more and more responsibility. Don’t seek it — let Him bring it. It always smells better when He does it. When we do it, it usually stinks of pride and ambition.
3. Move in the direction of affirmation. Spiritual gifts are generally revealed through service and the affirmation of the Body of Christ. If you’re unsure what your gifts are, just start serving and allow God to reveal your gifts — and what your gifts are not. He will do it as you humbly serve — so just start serving!
4. Don’t lose heart. Serve Jesus and keep your eyes only on Him. We live in a tough world, and the people we serve will sometimes be ungrateful and even mistreat us. That’s what happened to Jesus. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to follow His determined and obedient example:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
If you want to be impacted by transformational grace, then tap into the Word of God, the Word of Prayer, the Holy Spirit, the Body of Christ, and the Mission of God. The grace is there, and it is powerful – but you must pursue it!
