Ambassadors for Christ

Introduction

Good Morning, I am Shawn. I am the Family Pastor here at First Grace.

Title: “Ambassadors for Christ”

Big Idea: We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying God’s message of reconciliation.

This morning we will be looking at what it means to be ambassadors for Christ. As representatives we ought to be carrying is message. However, we are not motivated by obligation but by the love of Christ. This love for him comes out of our belief in the gospel which transformed us. We see that we are new creations the old person is gone and we are a new man born again by the spirit and faith, so we do not look at our brothers and sisters and regard them according to the flesh, but by the Spirit. So let us carry the message of reconciliation to a world who needs to hear it, that they might taste the love of Christ as we have and see that he is good.

We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying God’s message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:11–21 (ESV)11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 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.

Let’s Pray: Our Father, teach us according to your Word. Make your will knowing to us. Open the eyes of our faith that we might understand the surpassing worth of Christ and what that means for us who were created anew in him. We were born again to a living hope. Teach us what it means to be ambassadors for Christ and what it means that we carry your message of reconciliation. It is not our message, it is not our treasure we carry, it is yours. Yet, at the same time, it is so precious to us. Help us to see that pearl of great price with the delight we had when we first believed. At the same time, remind us of what ought to motivate us, the love of Christ. Shape and guide us, your church, according to your will and the love of Christ, constrain us and compel us forward to do what you have called us, that is to bear your message of reconciliation to those who would never hear it if we did not speak. Be with us this morning, transform us from one degree of glory to another, and may Christ be magnified in your people. It is in the name of Jesus I pray, AMEN.

I have 3 questions (points) this morning: What Motivates you? How do you regard people? Do you carry the message of reconciliation?

My First question is: What Motivates you?

11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

My First question is: What Motivates you?

Since, as verse 10 says, we all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, knowing what it is to fear the one who has the power to judge every work of ours both good and evil, we persuade others.

This persuasion, at least in part, is what this letter is about. Paul contacted the church in Corinth to confront serious situations and sin among their members. Part of what he confronted was a certain level of partiality, that is a measure of inequality, which had developed among them. This perception was being perpetuated and encouraged by certain teachers. One of the things they communicated was Paul’s weakness as an apostle. He just didn’t measure up to them. Paul sent Titus to them with his letter and when he returned to him with their response, he sent them this letter. Paul found himself in the unenviable position of defending himself. He is having to commend himself and defend his ministry without boasting in himself. At the same time, the Corinthians know better, they should be the ones to commend and boast in him. They lived with and worked with Paul. They saw the work he did and how tirelessly he ministered and taught among them. Regardless, he was being reinterpreted among them, and he had no way to counter it, being so far from them. Hence the letter. It is why he is appealing to their conscience again, which he had done previously.

It seems one of the charges against him is that Paul was “beside himself.” This phrasing has many possible meanings, but the most hurtful would be the charge of insanity or erratic behavior. Other meanings don’t make much sense for the context. The charge could be because of Paul’s chosen lifestyle. He has undertaken a life, a devotion to Christ, which many would consider to be insane. He endured many hardships for the sake of his mission. He lived on the move, constantly taking the gospel to the uttermost parts of Roman Empire of his day. Yet, he says, if he is “beside himself,” it is for God. At the same time, if he is ever in his right mind, it is for the Corinthians. It is for his beloved disciples, for whom he is poured out like water to the glory of Christ.

All of this is because he is controlled, constrained, that is motivated by the love of Christ. He is driven by it because, as he says, “one has died for all, therefore all have died.” This had meaning in their lives, that they might no longer live for themselves, but instead for him who died and rose again for them.

I want to focus on Paul’s motivation for a moment. The man endured a lot for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Paul says, “the love of Christ controls us.” Some of your Bibles might say “constrains.” The word here means to hold together, to press together, or to constrain. As an idiom, it carries the meaning of a continual habit of life, we might say self-discipline. That said, I think in the terms of how the banks of a river constrain the water, but doesn’t control it completely. There is freedom, but it is within certain boundaries. This sounds a lot like Christianity, does it not?

The love of Christ constrains us. What does he mean by “the love of Christ?” Is this the simple idea of Christ’s love? Is it his affection or a warm feeling when I think about him? Is it the feeling I get when I sing to him or when I pray? What is Paul talking about? I don’t mean to belittle those things, but no it is not those things. One of the things I have learned the hard way is love can be expressed in word, but not only in word. If I tell my wife I love her, but in contrast I show her contempt, I don’t truly love her. This is true in the life of the church as well.

1 John 3:16–18 says,“16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Romans 5:6–9 says “6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

These two passages make the point. Jesus didn’t just say to us, “I love you,” he showed us. This love is what directs Paul’s actions in his ministry as a whole, and toward the Corinthians in particular. Paul proceeds to use some confusing language to speak of how Jesus communicated his love for us. The fancy words we theologians use for what he describes is Vicarious Atonement. Vicarious means “done in the place of someone else, and atonement is a process of reconciliation between two parties. So, as Paul says, One died for all. Jesus died vicariously, as our substitute, he died for us.

I don’t want to get overly complicated, but it is my hope to help you see how cool this is. The substitution works in two ways. First, He died in our place, so, second, in Jesus we died. He took the death we deserved, therefore we have already died.

The substitution doesn’t end there. We begin to take on an identity tied to his. Just as he was raised to life, so are we. This is both a spiritual reality now, and it is a future hope. As we live now, we are not just living the same life we always lived in the passions of our flesh, ruled and constrained by sin and death, but we have been given a life to live even now, constrained by the love of Christ, beyond self-interest, to live for the one who for our sake died and rose again. Jesus traded our sin for his righteousness; our death for his life.

All of this is represented and pictured in the ordinance of Baptism. As Baptists, we only recognize two ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Now I know there are many perspectives here on baptism, but I just want to communicate one thing on this and let the Spirit move how he wills in your hearts. While the Lord’s supper is about remembering what Christ has done for us and communing as one body in him. Baptism is primarily about identity. It paints the picture of our repentance, that is dying to ourselves, putting to death the former manner of life and being buried with Christ. Then, as we have identified ourselves with him, his vicarious atonement, and his resurrection, we are also raise up with him in the newness of life. This is why in so many contexts, confessing Christ is a little awkward, but mostly ok. However, baptism means a death sentence. It is our taking on his identity in a tangible way, a display of a new life and identity in him.

So, lets back up and ask What motivates you?

Paul’s motivation was, to state it simply, the gospel. However, it wasn’t the gospel in the academic sense. He was transformed by it in a very real sense. Christ’s love struck him and stopped him in his tracks. It prevented him from continuing on and leading Christ’s church in chains to their deaths.

When we think about the gospel, is it academic? or is it connected to something real in your life? How has Christ’s love struck you? It may not be as dramatic as Paul, it could be a simple, quiet thing, but representing a true devotion. I always loved the simple testimony, “I met Jesus when I was young and fell in love with him and I have been falling in love with him more and more ever sense.” There is wonder and devotion in that.

We all should take time to consider our motivations. What controls you? What constrains you? Are you directed by the love of Christ, or the idea of him? When you look around at your Christians and you say “I love you,” is it real? What motivates it? Is your love for others tied to their behavior or what you can get from them? Is it easy to give up? If it is, is it love? Is your love only expressed in word, or do you express it in deed? If Christ is our example, we ought to be loving one another self-sacrificially. He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, that is our example of Christian love.

As an implication of this idea: Husbands, this is how we ought to love our wives. Have you ever considered this? Ephesians 5 says, “husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.” Think about how much that actually is. He took on a fragile human nature and body and lived as lowly, then he lay down his life for his bride, would you? He didn’t just say it, he showed at great cost and he continually cleanses her by the washing of water with the word, do you?

Christian, the church is the bride of Christ and while not worthy of it, has been given this sort of love from Christ, do you have the same sort of love for her as he has commanded?

We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying God’s message of reconciliation.

My first question was, What motivates you? my second is: How do you regard people?

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Paul moves into an important implication of his previous thought. If it is true “that one has died for all, therefore all have died,” it therefore follows that the playing field has been leveled. Paul says he no longer regards, he no longer assesses or judges others based upon things of the flesh, things of the body, the mind, or other cultural considerations. He takes this even further, applying it to Jesus directly. He says that even though they had once regarded Jesus himself according to the flesh, they do so no longer.

I think this is particularly interesting. He is saying many of them had met or encountered the living Jesus at some point. It makes sense if you think about it. Paul was a disciple of Gamaliel, one of the most prominent Rabbi’s of the time and incidentally in all of jewish history even to our day. Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin and, under him, Paul was allowed the opportunity to speak to the gathered assembly in persecution of the church. It is possible, even likely, he was present for the trial of Jesus. Though, he does not specifically say so, which would be a significant silence from a man who seemed humbled by his persecution of Jesus through his church.

Regardless as someone who had at least some encounter with Jesus according to the flesh, he did not consider it to be what was most important. This is because the old has passed away and the new has come. Jesus, the man (according to the flesh) died, then Jesus who was raised was exalted. Paul’s regard for Jesus according to the eyes of faith was of greater value, than eyes of the flesh. He, Paul, therefore had no more value than the man who had never seen Jesus in the flesh. He who has put his faith in Jesus Christ is a new creation. Who he was, is gone, who he is, is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, granted in Jesus Christ.

I have 3 things for us to consider with this in mind.

First, we regard Jesus according to the Spirit, not the flesh.

This may not be a new or novel idea to many of you, but sometimes it is worth reviewing anyway. Jesus says this to Thomas after his resurrection, John 20:29 “29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” As those who believe in Jesus now, we are not granted the privilege of seeing him face to face, or even bodily. However, both Jesus and Paul tell us this is actually a good thing. We are able to consider Jesus for who he truly is unencumbered by the man we may have seen walking the streets of Galilee and Jerusalem.

So, be encouraged in your faith, while you do not yet see him, renew your faith and you will be blessed by him in it.

Second, we regard ourselves according to the Spirit, not the flesh.

If you are a Christian, you are a new creation. When you repented of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ, your old-self, who was corrupt through deceitful desires, was crucified, put to death with Jesus on the cross. Now you have been transformed in the spirit of your minds and have been created anew with the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ your substitute. This is one of those Now-Not Yet things. We are being transformed now from one degree of glory to the next, but the full reality will unfold when Christ returns in glory.

So, be encouraged, you are greater in the eyes of God than you realize. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus and have been filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Third, we regard others according to the Spirit, not the flesh

Paul is referring to what James 2 calls partiality. When we, as Christians, treat others as superior or inferior, this is a sin before God. We are not to regard one another according to the flesh. This is especially true toward other Christians. We should not be weighing and measuring one another. We should not be coveting one another, competing with, or comparing ourselves to one another. This is especially true when we do it according to the flesh. This doesn’t mean we never have cause to call out sin in one another. This is particularly true when the sin is causing harm to themselves or others. This doesn’t mean we never look up to another or are discipled by them, this isn’t the same as lording over one another some sort of superiority.

This has an implication for how we lead and guide one another as well. Matthew 20:25–28 says, “25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” When we have responsibility or leadership over other Christians we need to keep this in mind. I may lead for the moment, but I am not greater. We were all equally laid low before the cross, and we will all kneel before the judgment seat of Christ. So, Elders, deacons, anyone with the gift of leadership, we may lead others, we may guide the flock of Christ to clean water and green pastures, but we are not greater. If we are to raise ourselves up before others, we will be humbled by Christ in his kingdom, we will be less later.

So let me encourage you to humble yourselves now, because if Christ came not to be served, but to serve and lay down his life; then he is our example and we can do the same. It is more difficult, but it means true discipleship because we are raising up a flock who will grow more and more capable and may end up surpassing us in every way. This is what Jesus said of his own disciples, that they would do even greater works than he. We want this.

As we consider our relationships with one anther, the fact that we are brothers and sisters in Christ is our primary relationship. This is true between spouses, between parents and children. This matters because, while I may be my children’s authority now, I will be their brother in Christ for eternity. So, while I bear responsibility for them now, the responsibility to shepherd them so that who they are becoming is refined by the judgment of Christ, not burned up. That, like Jesus with his church, I am cleansing them by the washing of water with the word, not forcing them to conform to my preferences and comfort. I should regard, then, my wife, children, and everyone, according to the Holy Spirit of whom we all partake, not according to the flesh. What about you? How do you regard people?

We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying God’s message of reconciliation.

What Motivates you? How do you regard people? Do you carry the message of reconciliation?

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.

All of this, that is our being a new creation, is from God, who through Jesus Christ our savior, his death and resurrection, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. What’s that?

Paul continues in verse 19 to elaborate. The ministry of reconciliation is that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. This is applied to all who repent of their sin and believe in Jesus Christ, his vicarious (or substitutionary) death and resurrection on our behalf. Having paved the way of reconciliation through his own son, God entrusted the message of reconciliation to the church of which Paul was a primary representative as an apostle. This made Paul and the rest of the church ambassadors for Christ, messengers of the sovereign God of all existence. It is through us, those filled with the Holy Spirit, whom God has chosen to make his appeal continually to humanity.

This is God’s appeal: For the sake of human beings, God made his own son to be sin even though he had never known it himself, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God.

With this in mind I have two appeals: First, believe the message of reconciliation; second, bear the message of Reconciliation

First, believe the message of reconciliation.

If you are here and you are not a Christian. It is God’s desire to reconcile with you. You may not have fully realized this, but you are his enemy. You have offended him more deeply than you could possibly imagine, this is because you are broken by sin and so you sin like you breath. You heart is full of wickedness and you often can’t even see it. Regardless, even though you offended him, God offered up his Son, who knew no sin, Jesus took your sin upon himself so that you could take on his righteousness. This act, if you repent of your sin and believe in Jesus, reconciles you to God. This is the gospel. So, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Believe the message of reconciliation, carry it with you like a treasure you will bear in a jar of clay.

If you are here and you are a Christian, don’t become bored with, or ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. Do you remember the wonder you had at first? Do you remember what first drove you to your knees before him, to lay your sin at his feet and to stand to take the light and easy burden of your cross with him? Do you still believe it with the same zeal? Do you carry the message or reconciliation like a treasure?

Second, bear the message of reconciliation

God, in his manifold wisdom, has established his church in Christ Jesus to be a display to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. We are bearers of the gospel, mouth pieces of the ruler of everything, imploring the world to be reconciled to him. God has done all of the work, he desires all to be saved, are we telling them? Are we carrying the message of reconciliation to those who need to hear it?

We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying God’s message of reconciliation.

In Conclusion:

What Motivates you? Does the love of Christ constrain you. Are you still enamored with the one who, as a substitute, bore the burden of reconciliation between you and God? Does his love motivate you toward in your love toward others? Is this love in word only or in deed and in truth?

How do you regard people? Do you see yourself as greater? as less? In Christ we are a new creation and we do not regard one another according to the flesh. We see Christ himself according to the Spirit and faith, we view ourselves and others, not accord to the flesh, but accord to the Holy Spirit whom we all share.

Do you carry the message of reconciliation? God is reconciling the world to himself and if you have put your faith in Jesus, you have been reconciled as well, do you now bear that message of reconciliation as his faithful ambassador?

We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying God’s message of reconciliation.

Let’s Pray: Our father, convict us. Move in our hearts by your Spirit of Holiness. Shape and guide us that our motivations would be based upon the love of Christ, not preference, selfish ambition, or vain conceit. Remind us that we are new creation, saved by grace through faith, and born again to a living hope. Show us that because we are all born again into the family of faith, we ought to regard one another as equals and lead one another humbly as servants as you served us and gave your self up for us. Teach us to love one another with that sort of love and help us to carry your message of reconciliation. You are wonderful, thank you for your marvelous grace, which you lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. We love you and it is in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, AMEN.