Ambassadors For Christ

“George Shultz, when Secretary of State during the Reagan administration, kept a large globe in his office. When newly appointed ambassadors had an interview with him . . . Shultz would test them. He would say, ‘You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country.’ They would always go over, spin the globe, and put their finger on the country to which [they were being] sent. But, when former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was appointed ambassador to Japan and was put to the test, Mansfield spun the globe and put his [finger] on the United States. He said: ‘That’s my country’.”(1)

Shultz said, “Never forget you’re over there in that country, but your country is the United States. You’re there to represent us. Take care of our interests and never forget [that] you’re representing the best country in the world.”(2) And this morning, as we look at being an ambassador for Christ, we will come to see how we, while being sojourners on earth, must represent our real homeland, the kingdom of heaven. So, at this time, I want to invite you to stand in honor of God’s Word, as I read 2 Corinthians 5:18-21:

18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

A Message of Reconciliation from the King (vv. 18-19)

So, let us begin with verses 18-19. In these verses, God made known His plan of reconciliation, which must be proclaimed to all people through what is called “the word of reconciliation” (v. 19). You might say the King of our heavenly country has made a decree. It is His word; one that must be proclaimed to the entire world. It is a message of restoration; of being made right with God through the forgiveness of sins. You see, “because of his rebellion, man was the enemy of God and out of fellowship with Him. Through the work of the cross, Jesus Christ has brought man and God together again . . . The basic meaning of the word reconcile is ‘to change thoroughly.’ It refers to a changed [or mended] relationship between God and [a] lost world.”(3) 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

Now, “another key idea in [these verses] is imputation. This is a word borrowed from banking; it simply means ‘to put to one’s account.’ When you deposit money in the bank, the computer (or the clerk) puts that amount to your account, or to your credit. When Jesus died on the cross, all our sins were imputed to Him – put to His account. He was treated by God as though He had actually committed those sins. The result? All those sins have been paid for, and God no longer holds them against us, because we have trusted Christ as our Savior. But even more: God has put to our account the very righteousness of Christ!” (v. 21).(4)

We read in Ephesians 1:13-14, in the New International Version, “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory.” This is good news that must be shared with the world; and Jesus give us a charge to do just that in what is called the Great Commission. He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Ambassadors Must Share the King’s Message (vv. 20-21)

In verse 20, we learn that as we go forth proclaiming “the word of reconciliation” (v. 19), we are acting as Christ’s ambassadors, to negotiate with others regarding their reconciliation unto God. The Greek word that Paul used for “ambassador” is presbeuein. If you have ever heard the word Presbyterian, then the word presbeuein might sound familiar. In addition to “ambassador,” this word can also mean, “an aged man” or “an elder.”(5) For example, in 1 Timothy 5:19, Paul said, “Do not receive an accusation against an elder [presbeuteron], except from two or three witnesses,” and the word that Paul used for “elder” is the same word that he used for “ambassador.”