April 1, 2018 • Life for Leaders
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
For centuries, Christians have greeted each other on Easter Sunday with these triumphant words. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus not only because one we love has conquered death, but also because we share in his victory. Because Christ is risen, sin and death have been defeated. Because Christ is risen, we are saved. To use the language of 2 Corinthians 6:2, “now is the day of salvation.”
The salvation we have in the risen Christ includes the assurance of the fullness of life in God’s future. One day, we too will be raised with Jesus, thanks be to God.
But we begin to live in the reality of salvation today. “Now is the day of salvation,” Paul exclaims. Thus we mustn’t “receive God’s grace in vain” (6:1). Rather, we should allow the grace of God given in Christ to transform us, inspire us, and empower us so that we might live for God and others in God’s name.
Though God has done all that is necessary for salvation through Jesus Christ —who died on Good Friday and was raised on Easter—we are nevertheless “God’s co-workers” (6:1). Even as God created humankind to cooperate with God in the stewardship of the earth, so we also work with God in passing on the message of salvation in Christ. Through living as people in which God’s grace is alive and through speaking of what God has done to save us through Christ, we, along with the Apostle Paul, are God’s co-workers.
Thus, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on this day of salvation, we also commit ourselves once again to receiving God’s grace fruitfully and to living our whole lives as God’s co-workers. May God receive all the glory!
Something to Think About:
In what ways have you experienced salvation through Jesus Christ?
Would you say that you have received God’s grace in vain? Why or why not?
Do you see yourself as one of God’s co-workers? Why or why not?
How might you live differently if you truly believed you were a co-worker of God?
Something to Do:
Join with the people of God today as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!
Prayer:
Gracious God, indeed, now is the day of salvation. Because of the cross and resurrection, death has been defeated. Your love is triumphant. Your life prevails. Hallelujah!
Dear Lord, even as I celebrate the resurrection today, I also open my life to be transformed by your grace. Help me not to receive you grace in vain but instead to be renewed and empowered, so that I might be your co-worker. Thank you, O God, for the privilege of this responsibility. How honored I am! How blessed!
All praise be to the risen Christ! Amen.
Explore more at the Theology of Work Project online commentary:
3 Reasons Easter Matters for Your Work
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and the founder of the De Pree Center’s Flourishing in the Third Third of Life Initiative. Previously, Mark was the Executive Director of the De Pree Center, the lead pastor of a church in Southern California, and the Senior Director of Laity Lodge in Texas. He has written eight books, dozens of articles, and over 2,500 devotions that help people discover the difference God makes in their daily life and leadership. With a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard, Mark teaches at Fuller Seminary, most recently in his D.Min. cohort on “Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation.” Mark is married to Linda, a marriage and family counselor, spiritual director, and executive coach. Their two grown children are educators on the high school and college level.
More Like This
Hi, Mark,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
It’s been a long time since I’ve found a typo. There is one in today’s devotion. In the second line of the second paragraph of the prayer, ” Help me not to receive you grace in vain,” “you” should be “your.”
Blessings!