Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
4 sermons cite this verse
… entrusted to us. We have responsibilities at work. And of course, our greatest responsibility, 2 Corinthians 5 20, is to be ambassadors, to be representatives for Christ, to be God's mouthpieces, urging people to be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus. So we actually have two responsibilities, preparing for the next world while living in this world. The Bible talks about that here, there mentality. Again, the Bible emphasizes over and over again that there is our final destination. In Hebrews 11 verse 13, the writer says, we are nothing but strangers and exiles on the earth. In Colossians 3, 2, Paul says, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. But here's the ironic thing. The more we focus on there, the more effective we become here. I think of the great Puritan preacher and leader, Jonathan Edwards. He understood that heaven is our true destination. He was consumed as he thought about heaven. At one point he wrote, to go to heaven fully to enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. …
… in the public square. You know, in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 20, Paul said, we are ambassadors for Christ. as though God himself were speaking through us and begging others be reconciled to God. Folks, hear me on this again. God left you here for one reason. It's not just pastors and missionaries that are ambassadors for Christ. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are God's mouthpieces in this world. You are the final link between God and a long chain of events to another person to voice the gospel message to that person. and that's why he's left us here to be able to share that message we are God's representatives here on earth but if we're going to be effective in that assignment we have to know what the message is we have to be prepared to share that message and that's what this series is designed to do to give you the resources you need to be that ambassador for Christ thirdly not only are we being out-thought and out-argued. We're being out-marketed on this issue of exclusivity. …
… And you're like, well, I don't impact anyone. Well, do you earnestly go after that? Like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 20, where he goes, you know what? He made us ambassadors. And he goes, and I'm begging you, be reconciled to God. It's not like, hey, you know, you need Jesus. Jesus offers you a good life. No, it's like, man, I beg people. Please, I persuade people. Please be reconciled to God. And God says, when you have that kind of heart, I'm going to empower you to be my witnesses. And then finally there's the sacrifice. And in Matthew chapter 5. Verse 10. Okay. when I went to China to check out the underground church years ago it was crazy it was this group of people that when they started talking about persecution it's like they were fired up and they took turns telling stories but oh one time the authorities came in they started shooting we started running you know going yeah we're this is the real thing And they're just laughing. …
… nice compact span. And it's always basically the same, but it's always got a different slant. So, for example, you've got 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19 to 21. Listen, here's the gospel in a nutshell. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us, and we are ambassadors of this message. There it is. Or two verses later, he says, We implore you, be reconciled to God, for God made him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And here's another verse, 1 Thessalonians 1, 9 and 10. He's talking about how our gospel came to you. And then he says, you turn from idols to serve the living God and to wait for his son, who he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath. Do you know what the word of truth is? you see it's running through all of those? First of all, you might believe that sin is just a matter of a moral code, failure of the moral code. It says there that sin is worshiping idols, that everybody worships something besides God. Everybody plays God. Everybody avoids God. …