I Am Christ’s Ambassador

In review of 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

Bottom Line:

Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The old has gone, the new is here!

What this means to me:

When I became a follower of Christ, I became a new person, where my old life has gone and a new life has begun.

Today's verse comes from 2 Corinthians 5 where Paul is telling us how we are now God's ambassadors. As such, Christ's love should control us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

So we are to stop evaluating others from a human point of view. Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

All of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. God has now given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "come back to God!"  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Knowing God's perfection and that he will judge everyone's actions should spur me to good deeds, to what pleases our God. The fear of the Lord also frees me from all of life's anxieties and worries. Knowing that God is "for me" can keep me unafraid of earthly powers; people, governments, or the forces of nature. God will care for me. The fear of God gives me uncommon courage in the face of life's troubles.

Everything that I do should be to honor God, letting the fear of the lord motivate me, and control my actions. Jesus willingly "died for everyone." Because Christ died for me, I am also dead to my old life. So like Paul, I should no longer live to please myself; rather I should spend time pleasing Christ.

As a Christian, I am a brand-new person on the inside. The Holy Spirit has given me new life, and I'm no longer the same anymore. I am not reformed, rehabilitate, or reeducated, I am re-created (new creation), living in vital union with Christ.

Because I have been reconciled to God, I have the privilege of encouraging others to do the same, and thus I am one who has the "task of reconciling people to him." As a believer, I am Christ's ambassadors, sent with his message of reconciliation to the world. An ambassador of reconciliation has an important responsibility. We dare not take this responsibility lightly. Today I should consider how well I'm fulfilling my commission as Christ's ambassador?

When I trusted in Christ, I made an exchange: He took my sin and made me right with God. My sin was laid on Christ at his crucifixion. His righteousness was given to me at my conversion. This is what Christians mean by Christ's atonement for sin. In the world bartering works only when two people exchange goods of relatively equal value. But God offers to trade his righteousness for our sin, something of immeasurable worth for something completely worthless. How grateful should I be for his kindness to me.