We Are His Ambassadors Series

Who are we in Christ? That is the subject of this series. Worded slightly different the series title is a statement: “Who We Are in Christ?” Through this series we will look at varying aspects of our status in Christ. Last week we looked at the fact that “in Christ” (a favorite phrase of Paul) we are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

In the weeks that follow, we will see that we are His workmanship:

Ephesians 2:10 (CSB) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

And in consideration of the world in which we live, we will see that “in Christ” we are overcomers.

Romans 8:31 (CSB) What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

Being in Christ we will see that to the world we are Salt and we are light:

Matthew 5:13a and 14a (CSB) 13 “You are the salt of the earth... 14 “You are the light of the world…

These and more we will consider. Yes, Jesus saved us from condemnation, but He has great purposes for us. Being a new Creation, we must grow in knowledge and grace.

Today we pick up from where we left off last week in 2 Corinthians 5. Last week we looked at verses 16-19, today we will overlap with last week and look at verses 18-21. As a new creation, as we will see, if we belong to Jesus, we represent Him to the world around us.

2 Corinthians 5:18–21

To have the title of ambassador, is truly an honor to bestow on someone to represent a nation to another nation. In Paul’s day, ambassadors looked a little different then they do today. But I want to compare for a moment an ambassador in Paul day to being the ambassador that Paul was “in Christ” and the ambassador “in Christ” we are called to be.

1. Ambassadors were considered to be inviolate and were never to be imprisoned. [1] To mistreat an ambassador was considered a breach of a universally accepted custom. Mistreatment of an ambassador could be looked at as an act of war, especially if the ambassador represented a greater power. Today, we would say diplomates and ambassadors have diplomatic immunity.

Paul on the other hand, as an ambassador for Christ, was often beaten, thrown in prison. He considered himself an ambassador in chains, and often dishonored. Yet Paul wore these mistreatments as something not to be ashamed of.

2. Ancient documents make it very clear that ambassadors and foreign envoys were usually sent as a sign of friendship and goodwill, to establish a relationship, to renew friendly relations or to make an alliance. As an ambassador from and for Christ, ours is much in the same vein. We are sent to bring about reconciliation. In verses, 18 and 19 we see that we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18b and 19b (CSB) 18 … has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 … has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

More on thesein a minute.

3. In Paul’s day various cities and provinces usually sent their ambassadors to Rome to plead their cases before the emperor or to offer tribute to gain some sort of imperial favor. Rome never sent ambassadors to faraway places to negotiate. They sent armies to crush any rebellion. Consequently, from these places, ambassadors would go to Rome to seek peace. What a contrast between God and the emperor of Rome! The All-Mighty, the All-Powerful God does not wait for man to approach Him to make appeals for peace, but rather a loving God send out His ambassadors to make appeals of peace to lost humanity.

4. Lastly, Ambassadors were from the finest families, from the ruling elite. In contrast, God calls even the mostly lowly among us, to be His ambassador to a lost and dying world.

2 Corinthians 5:18 (CSB) Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

We discussed this last week. Through what Christ has done on the cross, God reconciled us to Himself. We had to act on what Christ had done. We had to accept the reconciliation that was provided to us. Thus those that have been reconcile to God, those who have made their peace of God (Romans 5:1), we have been given the ministry of reconciliation to take to the world.

2 Corinthians 5:19 (CSB) That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. This verse seems like a repeat of verse 18, but it is broader. The scope of our ministry is described. What Jesus did on the cross was for the whole world.