Did you know that an ambassador of the United States is the President’s highest-ranking representative to a foreign nation? And these ambassadors have a great responsibility to accurately “represent” the President of the United States because they “speak” for him.
Here’s the cool thing, you and I are Christ’s ambassadors. We individually and as the church are the highest-ranking representative of Christ to this world. (Just let that sink in for a moment!) And as His highest ranking representative to the world, we have a great charge to accurately “represent” Jesus and to speak for Him! When you stop and think about it, what an awesome privilege and responsibility He has entrusted to us.
In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul states… “So, we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
God is making an appeal to the world…”come back to God” or as some translations state: “be reconciled to God.” And He makes this appeal through the church and those who believe in Christ.
As ambassadors for Christ, we are living in this world but our citizenship is in heaven. We are citizens of another land, another realm, or another kingdom if you will.
Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
We are citizens of heaven doing the work of an ambassador on earth. Just as an ambassador of the United States may be living in a foreign land, they are still citizens of the United States, that is where their citizenship is held they are simply doing the work in a foreign land.
Likewise, we are “Christ’s ambassadors.” We may be living in a foreign land, the world, but we are not of this world…our citizenship is in heaven. We are of another realm! This is the Kingdom message.
In Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17 He prays “They are not of this world even as I am not of this world.” (John 17:16)
We are Christ’s ambassadors to this world, but we are of heaven! And Jesus prayed that the Father not take us out of this world but that He would keep us from the evil one (John 17:15). The reason He prayed for us to not be taken out of this world, is because we are His ambassadors to this world and we must carry out His work here but we do it with Him, not on our own.
Are you ready to become the voice of God to this world by showing your neighbors the love of God and His desire for all humanity to be reconciled to Him?
God’s given the church and you and me the appointment…it’s now our responsibility to act on it!
Now go, be Christ’s ambassador as He has appointed you!
Keith
