Vessels of His Divine, Redemptive Power

1 Corinthians 1:17

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul served the emerging church in a number of ways, but he understood that God had called him and equipped him specifically to preach the Good News through the power of the Cross.  Paul teaches us that, as we serve our churches and communities, it is important that we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us to find out what God is specifically calling us to do in service to His Kingdom.  We need to discover how we can share the power of the Cross in the world around us.

As we discover our role in God's kingdom on earth, we should be aware of several important aspects of our calling. 

• No role is too big, nor is any role too small, when we are doing what Our Creator called us to do.
• When we find our calling, we will recognize it because we will have the same passion for our calling that Paul had for his calling.
• The fruit that we bear in our calling will be the result of the supernatural work of God released through the Cross.  The fruit will not be attributable to us. 

Paul made it clear to his audience that the redemptive power of the Cross did not rely on anything that he did, nor would it rely on anything that they did or said.  We learn from Paul that it is not our enticing words or the strength of our presentation that wins hearts.  We are simply vessels of the divine truth of God's mercy on all of us.  We should never consider ourselves to be the reason that a soul came to Christ. The redemptive process is totally reliant on the supernatural work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Let us serve from the foot of the Cross.  Let us guard against taking any credit for the salvation of another.  Let us rejoice in the power of the supernatural, redemptive work of the Cross.  Let us give all the glory to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You equip us to do Your work.  We praise You for allowing us to participate in the work of redemption made possible by the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.  We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we can see the unique ways that You have endowed us to serve You.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts so that we may serve You as humble vessels of Your divine, redemptive power.  We pray all these things in the name of Our Lord of the Cross, Jesus Christ.