Identity : Ambassadors of Christ

Identity

This morning I want to talk to you about your identity. Who are you?

(have someone come up)

*Who are you? ok. Where are you from? Tell me what you like to do. A little bit about you.

If we were going to meet someone for the first time and they would ask about us. We would tell them our name, maybe where we are from, if your a student you would say what level, you might even say who you family is, things that you might like to do. That is just a simple introduction right? But this morning I want us to look deeper than that. I want you to really understand who you are. Because if you understand your true identity, it should change the way you live.

This is Dr. Uzoma Emenike. She is the Ambassador of Nigeria sent to the United States. As the Ambassador to the US from Nigeria, it is her duty to represent Nigeria in America for political reasons. When things are happening in the world and my president and politcal officials needs to know how the Nigerian government is reacting to those circumstances, she receives the details from the Nigerian President and government and she is in the United States to meet with the US government as the representative of Nigeria. She stays there, she lives there, but she is the one who represents Nigeria to the USA.

The same is true here. In Abuja, since 2019, Mary Beth Leonard has been the Ambassador from the US to Nigeria. She is there in Abuja now and represents the US before the Nigerian government.

That is what an ambassador does, they are a representative of the one in which they are sent.

Identity

++++CBC Creed

There is a change that happens when you give your life to Christ. You become a different person.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Our lives are different. Our focus is different. And that focus should be turned to make sure that what is most important to us is God’s will and his way.

Before we get into our identity, I want to take just a moment to see this change in our focus from a life that was controlled by our own wants and desires to a dependance on the God who loved us so much that he would give us his Son so that we could have eternal life.

Mark 1:14–17 (ESV)

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

This morning I want to make this very clear to you. If you don’t hear anything else I say, I want you to hear this. If this morning you can say “I am a Christian.” I know what Jesus did. I know that he died and rose again three days later. I have pray to make Jesus my Lord and Savior. Let me ask you think…. are you following him?

Maybe you can remember a time where you said a prayer in church and got saved. Maybe you repented of yoru sins and even believed he went to a cross and rose again…but are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Is that your identity? Is that who you are? Is that who you represent?

Because. that is the difference between belief here (head) and belief here (heart). A belief here is just something that you know. Two plus two equals four. I know that, I don’t even have to think about it. But when you know something in your heart, it changes you. You think different, you talk different. Your focus is different.

And when your focus is different…that can be seen when Jesus says….follow me.

“Follow me” means that you become an representative of Him, Jesus… the one that sacrificed his life for yours.

You are now an ambassador for Christ. You represent Christ to the world in which you live. You village. Your school. Your family. Your friends. YOU ARE A REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHRIST.

So, is that you? If you can remember a time when you have given your life to Christ, when you have repented of your sins, acknowledged your belief in him and what he did for you, and you walk away from that time and say, I am a Christian…. can you look at your life and say I am truly following him. I am moving about my day and constantly thinking, how can I represent him. How can I be an ambassador for him?

How is it evden possible to represent Christ to our friends and village? Let’s look at all Paul had to say about the old going away and the new coming, and how the new should move us to be ambassadors for him…representatives of him daily in our lives.

Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

How does the old way go away and the new life take over?

Verse 18 says that ALLOF THIS IS FROM GOD. You are not good enough. I am not good enough. No matter whatever good things you do in your life, you will never be good enough to earn your salvation.

You may be a good person. You may do good things. But when it comes your life, the best you can do would never bring you to holiness before God.

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Death is what we deserve. Why, because our sin separated us from God. He is holy, we are not, so we could not experience the new life on our own.

Only he can provide that holiness. And he did this by sending his Son Jesus Christ into this world with the purpose reconciling us back to him. They way it was before Adam and Eve brought sin into the world.

To reconcile, is to be brought back. To be restored. That is what Jesus did as he went to the cross. He was reconciling us back to God. He was bringing us back to the place we were meant to be, a relationship with God.

But some turn to God while others don’t. This morning everyone will here the gospel preached in this room. Some will put off the old and follow Jesus, and some will walk out of here still clinging to the old.

Paul talks about those who choose to not follow says in Ephesians 4:18-24

Ephesians 4:18–19 ESV

18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Those are those people who do not follow. They may have said a prayer and said that they are now a Christian, but Jesus said that the evidence of one who believes is one who follows. Look how Paul identifies those who follows:

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV)

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Speak the truth with his neighbor. What is the truth? The truth IS the gospel. The Kingdom of heaven came down to earth. Jesus is the Messiah who went to the cross and rose three days later. When the Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sin. They believe, and begin to follow, they are a representative of the one who saved them.

So how does a person represent? How do they act as an ambassador? (Eph 4:25) speak the truth with his neighbor…

Let’s go back to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians…

What does Paul say about being an ambassador?

2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV)

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Just like he charged those early apostles in Acts to take the gospels from where they stand (in Jerusalem), Jesus tells you, as an ambassador of his, to make his appeal to the people in which we come in contact with. The people you know, that you go to school with, and later that you will be around in your life, that is who you will represent Christ to.

It’s not a choice, it is a duty, as an ambassador of Christ. You may not be a Pastor or a missionary, but you are still an ambassador for Christ. You may be a student in Secondary…you are still an ambassador. You may be in primary…you are still an ambassador, a representative for Christ. Ten years from now you may be a mother, you are an ambassador for Christ, you may on day be a father, who has a business in the market…still, you are an ambassador or Christ.

A follower of Jesus Christ, eagerly waits for the time we will see Jesus face to face, but until then, we must speak the truth to our neighbor, always looking for chances for others to be reconciled to God.

That is our identity!

Last week I was really encouraged by Darlington’s preaching. What he spoke about last week, God had already been preparing in my heart what to preach about this week.

I know that for a church this size, there are people who God has called into the gospel ministry. So let me take a moment and show you two different responsibilities for an ambassador of Christ.

1. Every person who “follows me” is an ambassador for Christ wherever they go and whatever they do.

This person is not a pastor, or a missionary, this person may be a cook at the orphanage, a barrister, a person that works in the bank, or Shoprite or hawks pure water on the road. This person is a follower of Christ who is trying to make him known in their everyday lives.

2. There are those who “follow me” is a calling to the gospel ministry.

These people are called to be ambassador with a specific calling. They are to leave the passion to do the work of the world, and concentrate on the work of the Lord. This is a special calling and is not for everyone. But it is a calling from God for a special purpose.

Paul writes about these people…

Ephesians 4:11–13 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

A calling to the gospel ministry is not for everyone. But I believe that there are those who are called to the gospel ministry that turn away from it.

I know that, in my heart, and I’m not God or the Holy Spirit, but I believe that there are those here have had that calling to the gospel ministry and have turned away.

Why? Because outside influences from people, family, or even your country will tell you that other things are more important. Education is more important. Money is more important. The things of this world are more important.

It reminds me of the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13

Jesus told the parable of how the Word of God fell on the hearts of different people. How is was recieved or how is was not recieved. One of the places on the land the seed fell was among the thorns. As Jesus explained what happened to the word of God that fell on those people he said..

Matthew 13:22 (ESV)

22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Now let me say, that the purpose of this passage and this parable isn’t talking about those who are called to the gospel ministry, but it actually is meant for those that receive the Word of God and the cares of the world become more important…but, as I read this passage I can’t help but see that the same thing happens when there is a calling to the gospel ministry, and that person is pulled away from the cares of the world.

I have seen this happen at least two times here in Nigeria. A man and a woman. Both had expressed that God was calling them to the gospel ministry, When they said this, they were in Secondary School, then the closer that both of them got to SS3 and their WAEC, now they’re minds were turned to education, to aking money…the cares of this world. Both of them today, are not following that calling to the gospel ministry. Both have forsaken the call they said that God had on their lives.

Don’t do this. If at any point you feel that God is calling you to follow him in the gospel ministry, don’t turn away. There will be people in yoru life that will say, no, you don’t need to go to Bible School or Seminary, you need to go to University, you need to make money. That one man I told you about, his family never came around for all the years he was at A Place of Hope. Only his mother would come once a year. But the moment he entered into SS3 and plans were being made for his future…then.. his uncle, who has never seen him in the years he was here…said you need to make money. You don’t need to go into the gospel ministry.

Today he is in school. The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches has choked the word from him.

Listen, he is still a follower of Christ. He still loves the Lord, but the ambassador that Christ called him to be in not being fulfilled.

Everyone is called to be an ambassador of Christ. Everyone one who calls upon the name of the Lord, believes, repents, and follows him is to be a representative for him wherever they are. That is our identity! That is who we are! That is who we should be.

Is that who you are? Are you being an ambassador for Christ? Are you being his representative? And maybe, he is calling you into the gospel ministry. Don’t let the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word from you and show you life unfruitful.

Let me share one more verse with you. It’s from Paul and it is the first verse in 2 Corinthians 6:1

2 Corinthians 6:1 (ESV)

1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Paul was writing to those Christians in Corinth, and he said “don’t allow the grace of God that you recieved be for nothing.”

The only reason that we have salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ is because of God’s grace. He gave us his Son and we did not deserve it. He gave us the free gift of salvation, and we didn’t deserve it. That’s what grace is. We recieved the gift of salvation when we have no reason to deserve it.

Paul says here, don’t let that gift of grace that you have recieved be for nothing. Yes, it is for you salvation. Yes it is to bring us back into a right relationship with God. Yes, one day we will join him forever. But before that time happens…be an ambassador! A representative of Jesus Christ where you are.

That is the identity we are called to have…ambassadors of Christ. Just as the Nigerian Ambassador stands before the American government and represents Nigeria… we are called to stand before a world who needs the truth, and represent Christ.

That is for every follower of Christ. That is the responsability. But for some, your ambassadorship will extend to not allowing the cares of the world to choke the word from you, and today, if he is calling you to do so, you need to surrender to the gospel ministry.

I was 42 years old when I surrendered to the gospel ministry. 42. I know it was God’s plan and his timing to wait until I was 42, but I always wondered, what it God would have called me at 16, or 17, 18, 19, 20? Would I have said yes, or would I have allowed the cares of the world to overpower me? I don’t want that for you. If God is calling you to the gospel ministry…say yes. But what about money? Say yes! But what about university. Say yes! But what about what people will say? Say yes!

You are an ambassador for Christ, show yourself faithful.

Let’s pray.