Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 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. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

As believers, we have entered into a covenant with God—whereby we are free from sin and live to the fullest—and there is in a covenant an exchange of names. In a marriage covenant, the wife often adopts the name of her husband—in the case of Abraham, Abram adopted the Hebrew letter ה from Yahweh (יהוה), God’s personal name. We are now called sons of God and Christians, and as such, we represent Christ.

• Our message: Reconciliation (that we have been brought back to communion and right relationship with God).
• Our role: Ambassadors of this message.

Ambassador: A diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign state to another as its resident representative.

We represent Christ!

—> People get their impressions (good or bad) of what Christians are like from Christians.

Because of this, as Christ’s ambassadors, we must represent Christ accurately. We must understand what we have and who we are in Christ so that we can live accordingly, and witness to other this good news! Paul urges us again:

We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20b)

Know Christ! Experience His love and walk in it so that lives may be changed!

5:24 pm  •  7 September 2011