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Ambassadors Of Christ!!! Series
Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Jan 13, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Bringing out different dimensions of the subject (related to our highcalling as) Ambassadors of Christ
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Ambassadors for Christ!!!
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors….2 Cor 5:20
While the Holy Spirit has inspired the Biblical writers’ to describe Christians’ using several analogical terms in the Holy Scriptures such as “Light and Salt of the World”, “the Bride of Christ” et al, yet another royal term used in the Scriptures to convey the high-calling of Christians’, is that we are Ambassadors of Christ.
In this Message, Yours Truly is inspired to bring different dimensions of this wondrous role Divinely assigned to us by our King of Kings.
Toeing the line of the Biblical Preacher (in Hebrew Language the Book of Ecclesiastes is known as Qohelet meaning Preacher) who used “words of delight” (in Hebrew language Chephet) to package and present his messages (Eccl 12:10), Yours Truly is also inspired to use creative sub-headings (opposite words) whilst presenting this message.
Home and Away…
But our citizenship is in heaven…Phil 3:20
Let us firstly get our co-ordinates right in understanding the role of the Ambassador and his place of stay. An Ambassador of a Country say India in Pakistan is a Citizen of India stationed in the foreign country of Pakistan to work for the best interests’ of his home Country and it’s citizens (Indians’) living in Pakistan, addressing and solving whatever problems they (Indians) may encounter therein. Though away from his home country. his citizenship is that of his home country only and not that of the country of his posting. Similarly for Christians, after they are born-again and their names are registered in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Luke 10:20, Rev 3:5), their Citizenship is in Heaven as the afore-referred Scripture testifies where their King resides and not in the physical place of their stay (Planet Earth).
Invisible and Visible…
for we walk by faith, not by sight….- 2 Cor 5:7
What is visible to an Ambassador at the place of his posting is not his homeland but a different Country altogether. But this factor, ought not to reduce his passion behind his service for the invisible (to him) Kingdom/Nation, he is representing.
While Heaven, may not be visible to us Christians that ought not to diminish our passion in our sincere service for our Invisible Kingdom and its altogether Wondrous King. We ought to be spurred on by the Biblical promise that nothing we do our Lord would ever be in vain (1 Cor 15:58).
Permanent and Temporary…
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.- Col 3:2
No Ambassador would ever forget that his permanent abode is in his native country and not in the country of his posting. By the same token, his investments (eg…purchase of immovable property) would also be in his native country and not in the place of his posting, as he would not stay there permanently.
No wonder, there is a Scriptural exhortation to invest in our permanent place of stay (read Heaven) by utilization of our resources in helping the poor and needy who cannot help us back. The Scriptures affirm that our selfless investment of our time, talents and treasures in this field would yield eternal dividends (Matt 6:19-20, Acts 2:45, James 1:27).
Minority and Majority…
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.- Matt 7:13-14
Make no mistake, the place (Planet Earth) where Christians’ are posted as God’s ambassadors is ruled by His adversary…Mr.Devil (John 14:30/2 Cor 4:4) since the Fall of it’s first and original God-ordained King namely Adam. No wonder, the followers of Mr.Devil would be more than the followers of our Holy Father. In any country, where an ambassador (say of India in Pakistan) is posted, people of his own country would be less and the people of the country of his posting would be more. For example the Indian Ambassador in Pakistan would never be surprised to see his own Indian citizens always being in minority vis-à-vis the Pakistani population. Natural laws of disadvantage of being in minority would apply and the Indian Ambassador in Pakistan would swim against the tide many times whilst protecting the interests of his own citizens. Similarly, Born again Christians’ whose names are registered in the Lamb’s Book of life would always be in minority even in so-called Christian countries, as such the genuine Christians need to care more for one another in the wake of majority opposition even while always extending love to the unbelievers (Gal 6:10) …. a La Mordecai who was always there for the fellow Jews in the vast Medo-Persian Kingdom, where the people of the said Kingdom outnumbered the Jews (Esther 10:3).