This past week, we in the United States had the opportunity to elect a new president. I have always been intrigued by the process but never have I wanted to put a toe into the arena of politics. Don’t worry, I won’t start now. This isn’t about a political sphere but Paul does use political terms to describe to us our standing with God and the responsibilities God has given to us in response to saving us and giving us a new identity in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 give us this picture that in Christ, we have been made “new.” Who we were before is no longer here, they are dead. The mistakes we made before no longer define who we are today. We sometimes get caught up in verse 17 without understanding the ramifications, the conviction, and the set up for 17 that 16 communicates.
2 Corinthians 5:16 states, “Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”
Let’s look at a couple of key terms from this verse. First off, From now on. Paul had just spoken about how Christ came in the flesh and died so we could have new life in Him. He book ends this from verse 15 with verse 17 stating that “...if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation;” Paul drives home the truth of this new status with God. We are not who we were before, we are new.
From now on. There is a point when we surrender to Christ, we confess our sins, and we repent from the old ways of living. This isn’t a single prayer you pray on a Sunday morning and everything is good. It is a decision, a commitment, to something deeper. Once that decision is made, there is a “from now on” in your life. When we accept and receive what Jesus Christ died to provide to us, there is a change in who we are, as well as a change in the direction and purpose of our lives.
“We recognize no one by the flesh;” This is a statement I believe many in the church today lose sight of. When we turn our lives to Christ, we no longer recognize people, situations, even God Himself in the same manor we did before. We can’t. We have been made new. We are new people, new creations. This doesn’t mean we will instantly be without struggle or sin, but it does signal a change in the direction and way of perceiving the world.
If we call ourselves disciples of Christ, followers, believers, than there should be a decisive difference in how we live, how we approach life, how we live our lives, and how we relate to others. How can we continue to live as the old, dead person if the Holy Spirit has made us new creatures? A dead man who is made alive cannot go on living as a dead man…unless he wants to go back to being dead man! That new, alive person will look and live different because they now breath, eat, and live!
This should be the same with me and you once we have our from now on moment of surrender to Christ. We will relate to people differently. We will no longer look at the world, or people, with the same eyes as before because we aren’t the same set of eyes as before. We begin to see things through the eyes of Christ because He has come to make us into His child and given us His identity, and even has given us a share of His inheritance (Romans 8:17).
Ambassadors for Christ. I cannot imagine what life is like for the President of the United States, or any government official for that matter. I can’t imagine the weight of making decisions knowing full well it will impact tens of millions of people. Can you imagine carrying the weight of figuring out how to help three hundred and thirty-six MILLION people? President Joe Biden is our current sitting president. We are getting ready in January to swear in a new president. President Biden, and soon President Trump, will take on the responsibility of representing 335,893,238 million people.
Can you imagine the weight of that they carry? I understand some people may want that and others, like me, want nothing to do with it. I appreciate those who do serve in public office and carry the weight of representing their constituents. I appreciate their service but I would not want to have to make decisions that would influence and impact all those families. I have enough weight just carrying my own family!
The truth of 2 Corinthians 5 is we all carry the weight of representing an authority much greater than our families, or even our nation. We carry the responsibility of carrying the name of the Creator of the Universe. When I pump gas, text my employees, or write a post on social media, I am telling others around me who God is and what He is like. As a parent, I do that every day to my kids. To my wife, I communicate to her each day what God is like, how God talks, how God serves. Because I am Christ’s ambassador. I carry His name in all I do, in who I am.
One of the phrases you hear often at my church is, “Represent Him Well.” We state this often but I wonder how often we lose the impact of that statement. I know I do. We have a responsibility to represent the name of Christ well. People are looking to us to get an idea of what God Himself is like. I hope that scares you as much as it does me.
Paul tells us in this passage that God is making a plea with the world around us to “be reconciled to God.” The life me and you live each day is God’s plea to the world. Did your text messages this morning say that to your spouse? When your co-workers were standing around complaining about your boss, was your speech and attitude a plea to them to be reconciled with God? Was your social media posts through this election, and in the days following, pleading with the world to be reconciled to God and each other?
It should be a sobering call and awakening to us. We are God’s mouthpiece to the world.
What is the main point? Here is the two things I want you to ask yourself today: Am I viewing myself as the new creation in Christ Jesus or am I still seeing and speaking about myself as if I was the previous failed sinner before Christ? Secondly, am I living as an ambassador for Christ Jesus to those around me, being a billboard for God’s message of reconciliation to those around me?
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
You and I no longer have to live under who we were before Christ. We have a new identity in Christ Jesus, a new name, and a new nature. However, we do have to live under the new direction and calling as His ambassadors to the world. This was a command, not a recommendation. If you want to see those who claimed the name but didn’t obey the calling, read Matthew 25 and the story of the Sheep and Goats.
God is calling you to a new live and a new purpose in Christ Jesus. It is a life well lived and brings great joy in obedience. There will be missed opportunities and failures along the way. But thanks be to God who provided grace to us in the process together. Represent Him well today.
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