“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” -2 Corinthians 5:20
The whole world is experiencing upheaval in the pandemic created by COVID-19. This is no regional sickness, it is not relegated to a few nations, for this virus absolutely knows no borders. A contagion over the whole world, it has encompassed the entire globe.
Can this contagious nature of a deadly virus be compared to the similar effect of a saving gospel on the entire world? Has not the gospel really moved like a wildfire through the world population for two millennia? This coronavirus makes many ill, and for too many it is lethal. Those who catch it often have no idea how they contracted it; the source of the germs is often hidden from their knowledge.
The gospel too moves in mysterious ways. It penetrates certain peoples’ hearts while leaving others quite unaffected. It is like the wind described in John 3: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The virus is like this, just as the gospel which greatly impacts the lives of many; still, the virus impacts only this life, while the gospel bears fruit for eternity.
The message of the gospel spreads throughout society just as the wind blows across the earth’s landscape. This message is carried on the wind by the intentional Spirit of God, by the printed word, by spoken word, by film, by every media imaginable, and by those myriads of folk who have believed its message and been transformed. God’s Word goes out into all the world, and it never returns void from wherever it goes. It accomplishes the task for which it was sent, and it can never be stifled by any person, power, or spiritual entity like Satan or his minions.
So, both like and unlike the virus, microbes which exist for a time in the air and find their way into a fertile place in human bodies to grow and do their devastation, the gospel is a penetrating message bearing the seeds of truth and life, all stemming from the life and words and actions of the Word made flesh, Jesus the Christ. It infects human hearts and minds, bringing life rather than sickness and death.
You can be a carrier of both the virus and the gospel, but it is the gospel you must carry quite intentionally by your own will wherever God leads you in His providence. Your body may possibly carry a dangerous virus unknown to you, but the seeds of the gospel are purposefully present in your heart, your soul, your words, your thoughts, your deeds.
You need to constantly remember that, as a genuine believer, you belong to the Lord and are therefore His personal ambassador by your presence wherever you go, wherever you are. So then, the intents of your heart, the words of your mouth, the purpose of your actions are spreading the gospel message in a dying world.
This is exactly how the true church exploded from a small band of fearful disciples in the first century to the largest body of faith in the world today, men and women and children of every tribe, language, and race. The church is everywhere because of the contagion of faith through the carriers of the germs of salvation. You are a contagious element of this faith. So, intentionally infect people with the gospel message. Ensure you come into contact with as many as you are able. You can be the contagious carrier which saves many lives!
“From utmost east to utmost west, wherever feet have trod, by the mouth of many messengers goes forth the voice of God: ‘Give ear to Me, you continents, you isles. Give ear to Me that the earth may be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.’”
(Second verse of Walter Campbell Ainger’s hymn, “God Is Working His Purpose Out,” 1894)
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