5:20 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.
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a
highest ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually
accredited to another sovereign state, or to an international
organization as the resident representative of their own government or
sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment.
You see there are two kingdoms: God's kingdom and the
dominion of Satan. At the present time Satan's kingdom is confined to this
world. We are the only beings in the entire universe or multiverse that he has
access to. The messages from his side are many, conflicting, and confusing
because as Jesus pointed out, he is a liar and the father of all lying. He has
convinced some that we came from random chance in a universe that has no
meaning. Stuff happens. When we die it's over. As such you best eat, drink, and
be merry for tomorrow you die. He has convinced others that death is an
illusion and no one ever dies, they just enter a new dimension, a different
phase. Some he has convinced there is no God. Others are convinced there is a
God but He is not to be trusted. Others he has convinced that there are many
gods etc... Still others he has convinced that we are all gods.
Confusion. That is the essence of his kingdom.
What we know for certain in this life is that something is
very wrong, not just around us, but in us. We do things we wish we didn't do.
We don't do things we wish we did do. We say things we don't want to say and
struggle to say the things we wish we could. It's like we are prisoners within
our own selves.
Then someone tells us about Jesus. We hear the Story and
piece by piece the confusion clears away. We are prisoners. We have two
kingdoms within our own mind. One desires to give and receive love, the other
desires to be selfish. The selfish side has done some stuff that has caused
others pain, and us shame, and guilt. When we find out about Jesus we discover
that burden of guilt and shame and the fear that comes with it has long ago
been dealt with. We discover we can leave the kingdom of selfishness and
darkness and fully enter the kingdom of love and light. When we do we become
ambassadors of the King. We become His representatives in a world still
fumbling in confusion and darkness. We have the privilege of turning the light
on in the minds of others.
God has long ago reconciled us to Himself through Jesus. All
that's left is for us to understand that and embrace it and then we become
reconciled to Him. It's sort of like being penniless and then finding out we
have money that was given to us through an inheritance long ago and it's just
been sitting in an account until we could be found and notified. Jesus provided
the inheritance of forgiveness full and free. It's our job as Christians to let
people know it's there, waiting for them to claim it.
And you though being a Christian was difficult and
complicated... It is not at all complicated but it is difficult because we are
ambassadors in hostile territory but we have nothing to fear because He that is
in us is greater than he that is in the world. :)
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