Tuesday, July 24, 2018 - Ephesians
6:20
Your Royal Ambassadorship, Pt. 2
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Stand in Warfare –
Eph 6:10-20.
The
Bible contains no finer characterization of the exalted and spiritual nature of
the believer’s vocation as the representative of Jesus Christ, the King of
kings, and Savior of the world, Mal 2:7.
Malachi 2:7, “For the lips of a priest should preserve
knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the
messenger (MALAKH) of the LORD of hosts.”
This verse confirms the solemn
responsibility and high calling of the priesthood in the OT. In applying here this
term, “messenger of the Lord,” the priest is made aware of the awesome
responsibility that, just as angels and prophets, he is to be a spokesman for
God. (Many times in the Old Test. MALAKH or “messenger” is used with YHWH that
indicates the “angel of the Lord.” Only here is this term applied to a priest,
KOHEN. As such, our Ambassadorship goes hand-in-hand with our Royal priesthood,
1 Peter 2:9.
In 2 Cor 5, instead of a nation, Paul is an ambassador of the Kingdom
of God. Unlike modern political ambassadors, Paul did not originate from the
“nation” he represented. He had to be adopted in, through Christ’s sacrifice,
and then he had to undergo a change of perspective. He was no longer a citizen
of the world and he no longer saw things as a citizen of the world. He saw
things through the perspective of a citizen of the Kingdom of God; he was a new
creation, vs. 17.
If we are to represent Jesus to
the world, we must first belong to the Kingdom of God instead of the kingdom of
Satan’s world and self. We must live by the standards of our new King, even
though we are temporarily away from Him, vs.
6-9. Most importantly, we must accept that this earth is not our home; our
home awaits us, “eternal in the
heavens,” vs. 1, even if we are
imprisoned and abused by our host country, Eph
6:20. In addition, ambassadors must spread His message: that everyone is welcome
to have such a relationship with God.
Paul’s work as ambassador, as is
ours, was to spread his Ruler’s message to his host nation. That message was
reconciliation. God wanted to be personally reconciled to the people Paul lived
with. In a way, Paul was asking his hosts to commit treason against the kingdom
of the world and pledge citizenship to the Kingdom of God. They could then
follow in Paul’s footsteps by becoming an ambassador for Christ in their own
lives, just as we have become. It starts with a change in citizenship.
I am convinced that many of us
have misunderstood our ambassadorship and our ministry. We think it is clocking
in and clocking out, either as a paid employee or as a volunteer. But God has
something radically different in mind. He wants us on call in every
conversation and in every interaction.
The OT gives us some understanding
as to the role of the Church Age ambassador for Christ:
- David sent ambassadors to Hanun, king of the Ammonites, to congratulate him upon his accession to the throne, 2 Sam 10:2, and Hiram sent them to Solomon for a like purpose, 1 Kings 5:1. Toi, king of Hamath, sent his son Joram to David “to greet him and bless him” after his victory over Hadadezer, 2 Sam 8:10. Therefore, we see the ambassador as one bringing a word of encouragement to others.
- Ambassadors
were also sent:
a.
To protest against a
wrong, Judges 11:12,
b.
To seek friendship, Num 20:14,
c.
To contract alliances,
Joshua 9:3-6.
As ambassadors for Christ, we are
to save people from their sins, plead for them to be reconciled to God, and
invite them into the Royal Family of God.
In addition, the OT shows us that
faithful ambassadors bring health to a nation, Prov 13:17, i.e., salvation to the people. In addition, we see in
Isaiah that he condemned Israel for sending ambassadors to Egypt seeking
military aid rather than seeking God’s aid, Isa 30:4; Cf. Isa 57:9.
Therefore, we are to make it clear that the world cannot save or truly provide,
but only God can. Ambassadors need to encourage all to trust in God, rather
than themselves or the world.
When we became ambassadors for
Christ, our lives ceased to be our own. We need to acknowledge that our lives
belong to another Person now.
But if we are honest with
ourselves, this is where we fall into trouble, because we do not really want to
live as ambassadors, at least not ALL the time. Some days, we would rather live
as a mini-king. We know what we like and the people we want to be with. We know
the kind of house we would like to own and the car we want to drive. Without
even recognizing it, we quickly fall into a “my kingdom come, my will be done”
lifestyle.
Why does it seem that people,
things, and situations get in our way? Why do we seldom go through a day
without some experience of conflict? The answer is that we view our lives as
our own. Often, we are more committed to the purposes of our own little kingdom
than we are to God’s eternal kingdom. This is why Christ said that to be his
disciples, we must die to ourselves,
Luke 9:23, Gal 2:20, and why no one can serve two masters, Mat 6:24.
As ambassadors, we must sacrifice
our own kingship before we can properly represent the one true King. The
biggest reason for lack of ministry in the church and in our culture is not a
lack of training. It is our hearts. Where is God specifically calling you to
die to yourself so you can live for a kingdom much bigger than your own?
Therefore, if we know what God’s
intention for ministry is, (everyone, everywhere, all the time), and if we know
what the biggest obstacle to our ministry lifestyle is, (our hearts pursuing
the kingdom of self), what then is the best way to minister to others? The last
phrase of 2 Cor 5:20 tells us, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God.”
That directive does have
evangelistic application. Believers should look for opportunities to implore
non-believers to be reconciled with God, so they can experience eternal life.
But, in the context of this passage, Paul has another line of reasoning.
Look back a few verses, 2 Cor 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ
controls us, because we have concluded this; that One has died for all,
therefore all died; 15and He died for all, that they who live should
no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
Paul is saying that the purpose of
the Cross is not just to secure an eternity for sinners, but to also recapture
the hearts of God’s people to serve God alone. Our sin not only separates us
from God, but even after we have been reconciled to God through justification,
our remaining sin causes us to be incredibly self-absorbed, reducing us to
idolatrous worshippers of self.
The focus of Christ’s work is to
deliver us from our bondage to ourselves, even after we have been saved! As
long as sin indwells us, which it will until Jesus returns or we are taken
home, we tend to wander away from the worship of God and serve ourselves. God
is intent on owning our hearts unchallenged. His goal is that our lives be
shaped by a worship of Him and nothing else. And, He has chosen to send us as
His ambassadors to make His appeal for people’s hearts. What an exciting
calling! Who is God calling you to engage with in “the ministry of
reconciliation?”
As such, an ambassador is one
through whom a sovereign speaks. 2 Cor 5:20,
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for
Christ, since God is making His appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of
Christ, be reconciled to God.”
The apostles, as sent by Christ with
authority to speak in his name, and to negotiate with men, proposing the terms
of reconciliation, and urging their acceptance, were in an eminent sense His
ambassadors. Just as all believers are sent by Christ and are commissioned by
Him to propose the terms of salvation, they too are entitled to the same
honorable designation: AMASSADOR!
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