09-25-05-Who We Are-Ambassadors for Christ
In this series on Who We Are, we are examining scriptures to discover what the Bible says about how God sees us. So far, we have seen that we are children, sons/daughters of God—heirs with Christ. We are His special treasure, hand picked and we are a sweet aroma or fragrance to God and the world. This week we want to look at who we are as ambassadors for Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NIV) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore (beg) you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
What is an ambassador? An ambassador is a minister of state, representing his own ruler in a foreign land. He is the highest-ranking diplomatic representative appointed by one country or government to represent it to another. According to Webster’s dictionary, the root word that the word ambassador comes from means mission or task, a messenger. An ambassador is a messenger who does not speak his own words, but rather those of the country he represents. But when he speaks, he speaks with full authority for his country. He speaks with confidence and boldness because he knows he has the government of the country he represents behind him. He is highly respected and honored by his government. He has the ear of the president and all of the top government officials.
There is no more responsible position than that of ambassador.
1. An ambassador of Britain is a Briton in a foreign land. His life is spent among people who usually speak a different language, who have a different tradition and who follow a different way of life. The Christian is always like that. He lives in the world; he takes part in all the life and work of the world; but he is a citizen of heaven. To that extent he is a stranger (in a foreign land).
2. An ambassador speaks for his own country. When a British ambassador speaks, his voice is the voice of Britain. There are times when the Christian has to speak for Christ. In the decisions and the counsels of the world his must be the voice which brings the message of Christ to the human situation.
3. The honour of a country is in its ambassador’s hands. His country is judged by him. His words are listened to, his deeds are watched and people say, “That is the way such-and-such a country speaks and acts.” . . . [i]
Paul says that we ARE ambassadors for Christ. We are the representatives of Christ to the world. This is our privilege and almost frightening responsibility as Christians. The honor of Christ and of the Church is in our hands. By our every word and action we can make men think more-or less-of the Church and of Christ himself.
God has entrusted us with the mission of representing Him to the world we live in. We do not speak our own words, but rather the words of the King of King who sends us. When we speak, we speak with His authority and power. We have His ear and are empowered to speak in His name.
John 14:13-14 (NIV) And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
John 16:23-26 (NIV) In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
So if we are to speak for Christ to this world as His ambassador, then what is our message? Paul very clearly tells in vs. 18-19. He has given us the “word of reconciliation”.
What does reconciliation mean? What is the “word of reconciliation”? Reconciliation is the restoring of friendship or restoring of favor. When couples fight (or argue), and make up, we say they reconciled their differences. They have been restored to the favor and friendship that they had before the fight—and they seal it with a kiss! When couples fight, and can’t settle their argument, we say they have irreconcilable differences.
We must recognize that the reconciliation Paul is talking about starts with God (vs. 18). If God had not reconciled us, or restored us to favor (friendship) with Him, we would have no “word of reconciliation” to give to others. But because He has restored us to friendship with Him, we have the words of friendship to give to others. Simply put, God loves them and wants them to be His friend.
Before we go any further we must talk more about this “word of reconciliation” (favor-friendship), I want you to note the word friend I just used in talking about our relationship to God. We are now His friends, not His enemies!
Romans 5:10-11 (NLT) For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.
This is an awesome truth of scripture. God restored us to friendship with Him while we were still His enemies! How much more do you think He values you as a friend today as His son/daughter? In plain English—God is not mad at us, He loves us!
The word friend is a covenant word. It has the connotations of desire and delight for a loved one. There is only one man in the scripture that was called God’s friend. Was it David? No. Was it Paul? No, it was Abraham.
James 2:23 (NIV) And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” b and he was called God’s friend. (2 Chron 20:7; Isaiah 41:8)
Abraham had a covenant with God and because of his faith, was called God’s friend. David is called a man after God’s own heart, but only Abraham is called the friend of God. That is, until Jesus came along, then Jesus said that we are the friends of God.
John 15:13-16 (NIV) 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
When we obey God’s commands (which are not burdensome 1 John 5:3) we are called His friends. What are those commands? 1 John 3:23 tells us:
1 John 3:21-23 (NIV) 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
So as the friends of God, we have been given the awesome privilege of representing Him to those who are His enemies. What message can we tell them about our God? He loves them and wants to be their friend!
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (GDNT) 18All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. 19 Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ.d God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT) All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20 We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!”
What good news we have to share with those around us! What a message has God given us to give to others! As His ambassadors, we speak on His behalf. We speak just as if God were speaking. We are His voice, His mouthpiece, His megaphone!
Paul says that we are a spokesman for God, and God is pleading through us. This seems rather strange language to apply to an ambassador. Usually we do not think of an ambassador as pleading, (normally they deliver their message with boldness and authority) but that is the glory of the gospel, that, in it, God is actually on bended knee and with tear-dimmed eye begging men and women to be reconciled to Himself. If any enmity exists, it exists on man’s part. God has removed any barriers to complete fellowship between Himself and man. The Lord has done all he can possibly do. Now man must . . . be reconciled to God. [ii]
We should note the words of Paul’s message, which is our message. “Be reconciled to God.” Or “Become God’s friend”! It was because God so loved the world that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to give His life, so that we might become the friends of God. God’s message is an appeal from a loving Father to wandering and lost children to come home where love is waiting for them. Because God has made us His friends, we ARE the Ambassadors of God to deliver His message of friendship to the hurting, bruised, and lost people of this world. We speak in His name and with His authority the “word of reconciliation” to those around us.
Because He has reconciled us to himself through Christ, we have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” (vs. 18). This is not just for preachers, but for every Christian. Anyone who has been reconciled to God through Christ has the ministry of reconciliation and has been given the word of reconciliation.
The word for minister means to serve. We are to serve friendship or favor with God to those around us. We have been given the “word of reconciliation,” but we don’t have to minister through words, but we can do it through the lifestyle we live. In fact sometimes it is more effective without words—“Actions speak louder than words.” We serve friendship or favor with God to others through the acts of kindness and love that we show to them. This is our ministry to the world. This is the ministry that all Christians have been called to because they have received friendship and favor with God.
An ambassador is most effective in his ministry to a foreign country because he lives among the people where he has been assigned by his country. As he learns their customs, language, etc he becomes accepted and then can truly deliver the message of his country to them, where they will believe and accept it.
Go out today and be what God has made you—His representatives of love to show His favor and friendship to a lost world. You ARE His ambassadors for Christ—go represent Him on your job, in your schools, in the stores, everywhere you go. Go speak His message of favor and friendship and love them just as God would.
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[i]The letters to the Corinthians. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
b Gen. 15:6
d d5.19 God was making all human beings his friends through Christ; or God was in Christ making all human beings his friends.
[ii]MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (electronic ed.) (2 Co 5:20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.