Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever been sent by someone as their representative? Perhaps your boss sent you to a meeting representing the company you worked for? Or perhaps your parents urged you to remember you carried your family name as you headed out the door as a teenager?
In our journey with the apostle Paul, we’ve come to one of his most startling statements in all the letters he wrote. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul urged the Corinthian Christians to realize that: “We are therefore Christ’s AMBASSADORS as though God were making His appeal [to the world] through us.” What did Paul mean and how does it apply to you and me 2000 years later?
You’ll remember that in the past two days we’ve looked closely at Paul’s profound statement that: “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. And all this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ…” (2 Cor. 5:17,18) This is one of the greatest statements in the Bible with remarkable meaning, so if you missed yesterday, I urge you to go to our Daily Archives tab and review it.
Following that remarkable, miraculous statement, Paul then adds these words which must have overwhelmed the Corinthian Christians: “God gave to us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. He has committed to us this message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19) It is remarkable, isn’t it?
Have you ever met someone who was saved from nearly drowning, by an alert lifeguard? Following that rescue experience, that saved person has the potential to be an excellent lifeguard! Their life saving experience has prepared them to…
* Be much more alert and aware of a person struggling in the surf who may need to be rescued but they don’t yet realize they are in trouble of soon drowning.
* Also, they will likely be much more passionate about refining their rescuing skills to high proficiency, ready to rescue anyone in any desperate situation.
* Also, they will have great empathy for a person struggling to stay afloat in the water because they well remember the terror, they felt when they nearly drowned!
So do you see God’s wisdom as God invites ALL those who have genuinely experienced the dramatic rescue of Jesus Christ, as they were drowning in their sin, to understand HOW and FROM what Jesus saved them! Furthermore, Jesus knows those He has rescued are now well prepared to help other people drowning in their sin, understand how Jesus is prepared and ready to rescue them!
That’s why Paul wrote that “God has committed to us this message of reconciliation.” Yes, my friends, you and I, and EVERY rescued person, all around the world, is entrusted by God with the privilege of telling other people how to be rescued by Jesus and reconciled to God!
Now perhaps you are thinking, oh but I don’t understand all the deep theology involved in my rescue. Or maybe you’re thinking, I don’t know how to explain it to someone else. But may I assure you that just like the person sitting on the shoreline, still soaking wet and maybe pulling seaweed out of their matted hair, their most powerful words are simply telling the story of how they nearly drowned but they were rescued by a lifeguard who pulled them to safety.
YOUR story of how Jesus rescued you is the most powerful thing you have to share! As you learn more and more about the deeper theology of what God did with Jesus on the cross, then you’ll be able to share that as well, perhaps even using Scripture verses.
Did you notice Paul then made a radical, shocking statement that raises all of us up to a much higher, worldwide, privileged role? Paul wrote: “We are therefore Christ’s AMBASSADORS as though God were making His appeal [to the world] through us.” (2 Cor. 5:20) That’s very clear, isn’t it?
God declares that EVERY person Jesus has rescued from their sin bondage and sin condemnation is then transformed by the miraculous power of God, filled by God’s Holy Spirit and COMMISSIONED out to be a LIVING Ambassador of Jesus Christ! No matter your age or ethnicity or education or where you live… every waking moment, wherever a Christian is, they represent Jesus there!
Thus, when a Christian opens their mouth to speak… they represent Jesus. When a Christian engages in ANY business transaction… they represent Jesus! When a Christian is at work or at school or at home with their spouse or parenting their children… they represent Jesus!
There is NO time, and NO situation in which a Christian person could ever find themselves that they DO NOT represent Jesus!
Now we need to pause right here and really ponder that. In fact, we need to talk with Jesus about that, and I suggest you consider Psalm 139:23,24 as you discuss being HIS ambassador, with Jesus!
The ‘lessons learned’ study notes will be very helpful to you, and the worship song I found built on these verses will be very encouraging to you, and I’ll meet you here again this weekend.
Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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