“Ambassadors For Christ: Reconciled Reconcilers (Part I)”

First streamed on 1.18.23. First posted on 1.20.23.

This study is largely based on a previous 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 sermon and Bible study.

Introduction
Context
Bible Study Audio
Bible Study Video
Live Stream Recording
Bible Study Slideshow
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction

Sinful Separation

Now how do you feel when people do you wrong? Do you feel close to them? Or do they now feel far away?

Is there someone in your life who you don’t talk to as much because of something they’ve said? Is there someone in your life who you don’t hang out with as much because of something they’ve done?

Does their wrongdoing get in the way of being as close as you once were?

Well, our wrongdoings – our sins – they get in the way of us being as close to God as we once were. Our depravity creates distance.

When we transgress in our relationship with God, we put stress on our relationship with God. And it’s hard to maintain a relationship when there’s a strain in a relationship.

Brothers and sisters, with God, our sin causes separation.

As we mentioned last time, in Isaiah 59:1-2, it says:

1 Surely the arm of the LORD [YHWH] is not too short to save,

       nor his ear too dull to hear.

2 But your iniquities have separated

       you from your God;

   your sins have hidden his face from you,

       so that he will not hear. (Is 59:1-2, NIV)

Also, in Colossians 1:21, it says:

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. (Col 1:21, NIV)

You see, when we transgress in our relationship with God, we put stress on our relationship with God. Our sin causes separation – alienation from God.

The Justice Of Jesus

Now, have you ever heard of a court case in which justice did not prevail? Ever read of a case where someone commits the crime, but doesn’t do the time?

Ever been upset when a judge lets someone off easy – when someone only receives a slap on the wrist? Ever thought that things would’ve been different if the defendant had looked different? Ever seen someone get away with breaking the law because they were loaded?

Have you ever been fed up with injustice?

Well, brothers and sisters, it’s good to know that we serve a just God. And if God did not punish moral crimes, He would be unjust.

But the bad news is that we all commit moral crimes that deserve punishment. We all sin and separate ourselves from the Sovereign.

Yet, thanks be to God, the good news is that, to remedy our alienation, through Christ, God the Father brings about reconciliation. The Prince of Peace allows for peace with God – by paying the penalty – that we justly deserve.

Through Jesus our Redeemer, there is justice and reconciliation. And once we have been reconciled to God the Father through God the Son, we should seek to reconcile others.

We are to be reconciled reconcilers – Ambassadors For Christ.

So, for the next few lessons, I’d like to talk about being ministers of reconciliation and ambassadors for Christ – a powerful metaphor Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 5.

Context

Again, all of us who have been reconciled through Christ, should seek to reconcile others through Christ. But, unfortunately, as Christ says in Luke 10:2, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Now, you know a lot of these biblical metaphors don’t make sense unless you know a little something about farming. Anybody out there grow up on a farm?

Well, as you may recall, harvest time is when you gather the crops that were planted months earlier.¹ It takes a lot of work, but selling harvested crops is how farmers make their money.

So, before harvest time, if there’s a drought, and the crops aren’t getting enough rain to grow, it’s bad for business.

Now, a few years ago, a fellow church member told me that back in her day, down South, there would be people who would guarantee rain – for a fee.

They proclaimed “good news”! If you paid them, they would guarantee that it would rain on a certain day.

Now it may rain; it may not. But you can guarantee that that day; they were not going to be around. For they were peddling false good news – for a profit.

Now I didn’t grow up on a farm; I grew up on the internet. So, when I see someone forward me a chain message that says, “Good news: If you send this message to ten people, God is going to bless you with a financial breakthrough”, I know that’s false good news. That’s not how it works.

And people still send emails like: “Help, I’m a prince whose trapped in a foreign country. But the good news is: If you just send me a little money to help me leave, I’ll give you a lot of money when I get out” (apparently, Americans would lose over $700,000 a year to this scam).[1]

People still peddle false good news – for a profit.

And we have people who claim you can be healed if you buy their special water or come to their special service. I sometimes wonder why they don’t just stop by the emergency room or the local children’s hospital…

And, you know, there’s preachers who claim that if you would just give money to them, God will give money to you. People peddle a false gospel for a profit.

In other words, fake prophets like to make profits.

And in 2 Corinthians, Paul is likely addressing such fake prophets.

You see, 2 Corinthians is a follow-up to 1 Corinthians, in which he calls out people for their sin and their tolerance of sin. And in this letter, Paul is happy that some people in the Corinthian church had repented (NIV intro).

That said, throughout 2 Corinthians, Paul defends his ministry against accusations made by false teachers.²

Apparently, Paul’s ministerial credentials are being doubted by fake prophets and others partly because he is not as “powerful” of a leader and as polished as a preacher as some would like.³

Moreover, Paul is also known for his suffering⁴ – as he lays out plainly in 2 Cor 11:22-28. Yet, Christ’s power is made manifest through weakness.⁵

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul says Jesus tells Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9, NIV)

Nonetheless, apparently, some of the false teachers were less than impressed with Paul’s weakness and suffering. To many, weakness and suffering could be seen as a sign that someone is doing something wrong.

And the fake prophets thought that Paul was wrong and that they were right. And, again, many of these fake prophets liked to make profits.

As Paul writes earlier in 2 Corinthians 2:17:

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Cor 2:17, NIV)⁶

And we all, as ambassadors of Christ – as messengers of the Master – should seek to speak sincerely, as those sent from God.

Later in 2 Corinthians 4:2, Paul says that he and other Spirit-filled ministers of the true gospel do not lose heart:

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:2, NIV)⁷

You see, the fake prophets who liked to make profits were distorting God’s word and deceiving God’s people. And they were preaching a different gospel. They were proclaiming a different Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 11:4, Paul tells the church:

For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (2 Cor 11:4, NIV)⁸

Apparently, the false teachers were teaching falsely – and the Corinthians were tolerating it.

And later, in 2 Corinthians 11:13, Paul writes bluntly about these fake prophets, saying:

For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. (2 Cor 11:13)⁹

So, you see, in this letter to the church at Corinth, which he himself founded (cf. 1 Cor 4:14–15; 2 Cor 10:13–14),¹⁰ Paul is trying to persuade the Corinthians to be committed to him and his ministry.

For he is a minister of the true Gospel¹¹ – a true ambassador for Christ.

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/nigerian-prince-scams-still-rake-in-over-700000-dollars-a-year.html

Bible Study Audio

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Bible Study Video

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Live Stream Recording

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Bible Study Slideshow

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1-18-23 Bible Study Slides 2 Cor 5_11-13

Conclusion

In conclusion, like Paul, once we have been reconciled to God the Father through God the Son, we should seek to reconcile others.

We are to be ministers of reconciliation, reconciled reconcilers – Ambassadors for Christ.

Like Paul, we should not seek to minister out of selfish-ambition. And unlike the fake prophets, our motivation should not be to make profits.

Our motivation for our persuasion should be our fear of the Lord – our reverence for God. We aren’t accountable to people; we’re accountable to God.

And, the true and reasonable gospel is not our message; we’re just the messengers. We have no authority of our own; our authority comes from the Author.

Yet, most will likely not respect that authority – thus ambassadors for Christ do not have diplomatic immunity. Many will suffer for the Savior.

But suffering for the Savior signifies that one truly is on the side of Christ. And, the power of Christ is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9).

So, come what may, let’s be bold and firmly hold to the gospel. And as it’s been said, our lives and our lips ought to speak the same language. We ought to practice what we preach.

Let’s watch out for false prophets: wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing (cf. Mt 7:15). Let’s focus less on the outward appearances and more on the inward heart. And let’s boast only in the Lord.

And, we don’t need golden tongues when relaying God’s golden rules. We don’t have to have fancy speech or credentials, just the Spirit of Christ.

Substance is more important than style. Faithfulness is more important than flashiness.

Finally, don’t be surprised when people call you crazy. But let’s be crazy for Christ.

May the LORD bless you and keep you.

Bibliography

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