Power to live as an ambassador for Christ
"There for we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God". (2 Corinthians 5:20)
An ambassador must walk a very fine line. He lives in one country, but he is responsible to another. He must represent the message of a leader who is not directly present. He must also embody the character of his home country, following laws and customs that are not necessarily known or even welcome in the host nation. He must do this all while respecting the laws and customs of that host.
Being “ambassadors of Christ” is a powerful concept. Christ Himself was an ambassador, the perfect example and representative of God’s government “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ,” (John 1:9).
In turn, Jesus called on His followers to become lights to the world. How?
Doing good things for others clearly benefits them. But what Jesus said went deeper than that. “Let your light so shine before men,” He said. Why? He continued, “That they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
God wants people to see His way of life in action, to capture the hope it represents for the Kingdom Jesus will inaugurate. Scripture calls this “the good news,” a phrase often translated as “the gospel.”
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, “He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:1). He tells His followers to continue to proclaim that good news until His second coming (Mark 16:15; & Matthew 24:14).
The gospel proclaims a time when all evil will be eradicated. God wants people to see that His way of life—the way that will make the Kingdom
“Even though the Bible speaks of our ‘citizenship’ as being in heaven after we are baptized But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20), in order to enter the Kingdom, humans must be changed from flesh and blood into spirit, from mortal into immortal, at Jesus’ second coming I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. -51- Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -52- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. -53- For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50-53) "so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."
(Hebrews 9:28).
When the Kingdom of God comes to earth, it will rule over all the ‘kingdoms of this world’ The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15).”
Christians are to become ambassadors of Christ in the sense of being representatives of that coming Kingdom.
Whom does your life represent? Christ or you? Are you living for your own self-interests, or living for Him? It may be easy to live for Him some of the time, but the rest of the time are you just living for yourself and your own interests? Whom are you representing when you sit down at the computer or use social media? Is your role as ambassador for Christ part-time or full-time?
The truth is that our actions speak volumes more to people around us than what we say. We can think that we are representing Christ if we are often speaking of Him to others. But it is our life – our decisions, what we do, and what we don’t do in the daily situations – that truly speaks to others the most.
You are an example to others, no matter how you live. The question is whether you are a good example, or a bad example. We can say it another way: Your life is at all times representing someone – the question is “Whom?”
Jesus said that you will know the tree by its fruit. People always taste the fruit that comes from your life in daily situations.
Do you go along with the crowd at school or at work because it is difficult for you to say “No” and go against the peer pressure? Or do you live your life for Jesus and take a stand for what is right? Do you give in when frustration or anger rises up within you, or do the people around you sense only peace and patience in a very trying situation?
When you do what is good and right in difficult situations, then you are being an ambassador for Christ. People see the life of God’s Son manifested once again in human flesh! And the power of that life, manifested as goodness and love in difficult situations, can bring hope to others who also have a longing for such a life of goodness and love – the life of Christ.
Paul writes: “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1. And again in Ephesians 5:1 he writes: “Therefore be imitators of God, as dear children.” It must therefore be possible for us to imitate Christ, that is to say, to represent and communicate His desires and will while we are here on earth.
If we only had our own strength to try and live such a life, it would truly be impossible. But the Holy Spirit can come into the heart of every believer and empower them to live a life worthy of their heavenly calling, a transformed life of goodness and love.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
(2 Timothy 1:7). And again it says “… for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
Blessed is each one who believes what is written, who believes in the power available to those who love God with all of their heart – power to live as an ambassador for Christ during our short time on earth and communicate His gospel of a transformed life by way of example and living, tangible proof.
You Have the Power to live as an ambassador for Christ
12/25/2021
Reverend Dr. David May
From Prison to God's Ministry