Turn with me, if you would, in your Bibles to Second Corinthians, chapter five. We read this in your hearing last week. We are returning to this passage this week because of the very significance of it in the realm of what we claim to be as ambassadors. It is your mascot, is it not? Your title, an ambassador. Are you an ambassador because you attend Agape Christian Academy? Primarily. Or are you an ambassador because you represent the highest authority in all the universe? Primarily. And so, Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 14. And we’ll begin our reading there, but we’re going to focus on just a few verses from 18 to 20. For the love of Christ controls us.

Because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore, all have died. And he died for all. That those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him, who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God for our sake. He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Let us pray. Father, we thank you this morning for your word. And we recognize and affirm that your word is truth. We pray, Father, that your spirit would teach us and draw us ever closer to the foot of the cross, that we would recognize this great challenge but great privilege of being an ambassador entrusted with this message of reconciliation, that you, through us, make your appeal to this lost and dying world to be reconciled to God. These aren’t just words on a page, but they’re words of life.

So, Father, we pray that you bless the reading of it through the hearing of our ears, that by your spirit we might take it and apply it in our lives. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen. If you’ll recall, last week we said, ambassadors are those who represent another’s authority. An ambassador is one who doesn’t speak their own message, nor do they represent themselves. An ambassador is an official who represents one authority or one government in its dealings with another authority or another government on foreign soil. So an ambassador is never on his home soil. He is never in his backyard. The ambassador is always on the soil of a foreign authority, a foreign nation. And so the significance of that.

If we claim to be ambassadors, and the Bible tells us, therefore, that we are ambassadors for Christ, we represent Christ in a worldly kingdom, although we are not, we live here, we abide here, we reside here. We are not of this kingdom. We represent a different kingdom, a higher kingdom, with a great king, an awesome God. And it is his message that we represent, not our own. We represent his authority. Not our own authority. An ambassador is one in the earthly realm anyway. An ambassador is one who relays the will and the conditions and the intentions of their sending government or their sending authority. Well, as ambassadors for Christ, then we are to convey his will. We are to relay his conditions. We are to relay then the intentions of the one who has sent us. And who is it that has sent us?

Anyone speak out loud. Who has sent us? God. And who is it that we represent? God. Now listen, in the realm of church, anytime that there’s a question afloated, you’ll seldom go wrong. If you answer God, Christ or the Bible. Just remember that, right? God, Jesus or the Bible. That’s some free help from a preacher. But look what verse 20 says. That God is making his appeal through us. God is making his appeal through us. His intentions, his will, his conditions. He is making that appeal to who? The world through us. Therefore, we are ambassadors. We are representing his authority. Notice the latter part of verse 20. On behalf of Christ, we are representing Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. So just as an ambassador’s message is not their own message, our message is not our message. It is Christ’s message.

And that message is the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that unless we be born again, we will never see, let alone enter, the kingdom of heaven. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The Gospel of Jesus Christ means that for those of us who were dead in our trespasses and sin, we can be made alive through our faith in Jesus Christ. And that because we are bought with a price, we are purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, who died for us. On Calvary’s Hill, that whosoever would call upon the name of the Lord and shall be saved, that’s our message to this world.

That’s our message as ambassadors to this world. So our message then, as an ambassador, we are to be the messengers of reconciliation. Did you notice there that it says, as ambassadors of Christ, we implore you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. We have been given a ministry of reconciliation. Did you notice that from the. From the text? Twice. It mentions that in verse 18 and verse 19, he has given us not only a ministry of reconciliation, he has given us a message of reconciliation. So ours is a message of reconciliation. Now listen, here you are today, and you say, I go to Agape Christian Academy. I’m an ambassador.

And the only reason that you can say that I’m an ambassador is because you attend here, right now, somebody that attends the local school, say, Berkshire, they don’t claim that they’re ambassadors, but you’re an ambassador because you attend here, you are enrolled here, you are a student here. That makes you an ambassador in this realm. But an ambassador for Christ is something completely different. An ambassador for Christ. No one is born an ambassador. They are appointed, they are received, they are tasked, they are entrusted with that role. And so if you want to step beyond just being a student and therefore being an ambassador of agape, and you want to say, I’m an ambassador for Christ, you must realize, first and foremost, you were not born an ambassador. You were born.

Just like every human being who has ever been born after Adam and Eve, you were born a sinner. You were born a citizen of a dying kingdom, of the worldly kingdom, of the kingdom that is against God and set against God. No. The only way that we can become an ambassador for Christ is if not by birth, but by rebirth, we must be born again. And so if we are born again, then we can become an ambassador with this ministry and this message of reconciliation. But an ambassador of reconciliation, we must say an ambassador of this message or this ministry of reconciliation is one who has first been reconciled to God. Do you notice that in verse 18, all this is from God, who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself.

So in order for us to be that, the ambassador of a message of reconciliation, we must first be reconciled ourselves. Secondly, we hear that this is all from God. This is God’s plan. This is his salvation. And it is through Christ. And it is only through Christ that we can be reconciled to him. And it is God who uses Christ to reconcile us to himself. And you Say, well, you’re talking about this reconciliation an awful lot, and I’m not sure what it is that you’re talking about that you mean by that, well, I want to take this moment just to explain to you what it means to be a messenger or an ambassador of the message of reconciliation or a ministry of reconciliation to reconcile. And reconciliation is the restoration of loving fellowship or peaceful relations after an estrangement, after a.

It’s an end of hostility. So let’s imagine that you have your best friend that you’ve grown up with since kindergarten perhaps, and the two of you have a spat, you have a falling out, and you say, get out of my life. I never want to speak to you again. And your friend says to you, well, that’s good, because I never want to speak to you again either. And you go your separate ways, but you have a third friend, and this third friend lets you stew on it for a day or two. But you. Your third friend comes to you and says, you know what? You’ve been friends for a long time, and. And this really isn’t significant at all.

And it goes to the other friend and says the same thing to them, and then gets the two of you together in a room and parlays a piece between the two of you, and you realize how foolish the argument is and it’s just not worth it. And that your. Your third friend, the ambassador of reconciliation is. Is correct. And thus you reconcile relationships. You’re no longer at odds with each other. You’re no longer at enmity with each other. You no longer never wish to speak to that friend again. And they, all of a sudden, now they no longer wish to never speak to you either. And you throw your arms around each other and you’re friends again. You have been reconciled. That is the ministry of reconciliation. Because all sinners are at hostility against the Holy God. We are born enemies of God.

Do you hear me? We are born enemies of God. The unsaved. Those people that we come in contact with all the time. There are those people who are wickedly unsaved. There are those people who are. Who are hard to recognize as unsaved. There are people that attend your church, or perhaps even this school, who say all the right things but are unsaved. They must be reconciled to God, whether they be wicked and noticeably so, or whether they just be a sterling sinner, one that you like to be around. We all must be saved. The unsaved, as a matter of fact, are at war with God. Psalm 7, verse 11 says that God is Angry with the wicked all day long. God isn’t. God isn’t playing patty cake with the wicked and with the sinners. No. God is at war with them.

And man in his sinful state. Women, men. I say that generally, mankind in its fallen state and in its sinful state is at enmity with God. They are alienated from God. From the moment that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, all of humanity has been thrust into enmity with God. And it’s only if God does what he alone can do shall any of us be brought into peaceful relationships with Him. All are alienated from God. Now, man, young people, until you come to faith in Jesus Christ, I want you to understand something. Until you have a personal, living faith in Jesus Christ, you are alienated from God on account of two things. You are alienated from God on account of your sin. God is holy. He can’t abide with your sin. Your sin is an affront to him. Your sin is sickening.

Before God, the wages of sin is death. Any sin. That little white lie you told. Hey, does this look good on me? Sure it does. So, ugliest outfit I’ve ever seen. But I don’t tell them that because I’m too nice. Well, I’m not. I’m not telling you to be cruel to your friends, but that little. I’m making a point here. That little lie is damnable. Is damnable. Did you do your homework last night? I sure did, but the dog ate it. Damnable. Any lie, any little sin. There is no such thing as a little sin. It is all damnable. So we’re alienated from God on account of our sin. But we’re alienated from God on account of his wrath. You know what wrath is? Wrath is God’s settled reaction against sin. It’s not a temper tantrum. It’s not God being cruel.

It’s God doing what is necessarily right and just in punishing sin. You see, God is patient and he is loving and he is kind. But he is just. And because he is just, he cannot let sin go unpunished. So because he is just, that means that his patience must necessarily wear out at some point or else justice will not be done. So sin must be punished. So we’re alienated from God on account of our sin. We’re alienated from God on account of our. Of his wrath. The wrath of God will be poured out upon all sin. So what shall we do? Well, we need to be reconciled. And it is we who need to be reconciled to Him. God doesn’t move one inch toward us.

He’s already given everything that Heaven has to offer, the best that Heaven has to offer in the person of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t move to us. He doesn’t accommodate us in our sins. And he doesn’t wink at our sins. No, he is the offended party, and he is the one that we have to be reconciled to. So what is this ministry of reconciliation then? Look at verse 18, everyone. Verse 18. All this is from God, who through Christ, reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So what we can see here then, is that God reconciles us to Himself through Christ. That’s the message that you need to live.

That is the message that you need to share. That is his message that as an ambassador you put forth into this kingdom that we live amongst. Look at verse 21. For our sake. Remember last week we said that great exchange that Christ takes our sin upon himself and pays and bears the full wrath of God upon himself and Calvary’s hill. And in the process, when we by faith reach out and receive him, we receive his righteousness so that we can stand before a holy and righteous judge who promises that he will judge sin. We can stand before a holy and righteous God who promises us that his wrath will be poured out on all sin. And we can stand there before this righteous God, wrapped not in our own filthy rags, but dressed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we can stand before him in confidence, not in ourselves, but in the One who died for us. That we can stand there before this holy God with nothing to fear and nothing to hide. This is the message of reconciliation that God through Christ reconciles as he takes our sin. Verse 21. He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. It is his righteousness. He doesn’t count our sin against us. The latter part of verse 19, not counting trespasses against them. He entrusts us with this message, entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. That means that he assigns a duty to us. Are you a Christian in here today? Raise your hand all those who are born again and know that you’re on your way to heaven.

Then you have been assigned a duty, responsibility, an obligation to share this message that I just shared with you. It’s not optional. It’s not. Well, I’ll do It. When I feel comfortable at it. And, you know, maybe that’s just the preacher’s job. Maybe that’s Mr. Copley’s job or my teacher’s job. But it’s not my job. No, we all must if we be in Christ. Now, listen. Here we are this morning, and you represent a lot of different things in your life. You represent your school, you represent your family. You represent your community. But first and foremost, you must represent God. And if you represent God in this ministry and this message of reconciliation, well, then you will represent all these other facets of your life Very well. But you cannot represent God as his ambassador, which is not optional.

You cannot represent him if you do not convey or relay or proclaim his message. Does that make sense to you? Notice what it says. And we’ll close with this. He says, I implore you. Notice verse 20. We implore you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. I beg you to be reconciled to Christ. That’s exactly what that word, implore means. It means to beg for something that is indispensable. It is to beg for something that is so very important. And that’s what preaching is. Preaching. And if you go to church on Sunday, how many of you were church this past Sunday? You know, you go to church and you listen to your preacher preach. He is just a beggar telling other beggars where they might find something to eat.

That’s all we are, and we’re begging you, come and dine and be fed from the table of the Lord. No, we implore you on behalf of Christ. We implore you to be reconciled to God. This is a personal, passionate plea. This isn’t if you would like to or you really ought to. No, this is a begging, a personal, passionate plea to be reconciled to God. What is it then, that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of Christ? We’re sharing his ministry of reconciliation. That God, through Christ, is reconciling the world. It is possible. It is available. And the only reason that people will not be reconciled to Christ is because they don’t want to be. If you’re sitting here today and you have not been reborn as an ambassador, you’re going through the motions. Your mom and dad think you’re swell.

Your best friends, they think you’re just dreaming. That’s a nerd, isn’t it? You think you’re just dreaming. Everybody wants you on their team. Everybody wants you to sit by their side. But if you don’t know Christ, you’re living life in vain. And you’re not an ambassador of Christ. Christ, because you have not been reconciled. But if you do know Christ, if you have been called to it, to his side, if you are placed in him by faith, then you have a message, and it’s that of reconciliation. To tell your friends, to tell your neighbors, to tell your, the kids on the sporting team, whoever is within your circle of influence, that God is indeed angry at the wicked and that all must be reconciled to him. Well, that’s our message. That’s our message. The message of reconciliation.

Acts 4:12 tells us that there is salvation in Jesus Christ alone. That’s it. For there is no other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. There is salvation found in none other but Jesus Christ. That’s our message. That’s God’s command. He says, I appeal through you. That’s his command. Do you know that the first recorded words of Jesus in our Bible is in Mark 1:15? The gospel of Mark is the first gospel written. The first words recorded by Jesus is in chapter one, verse 15. He says, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. The gospel is a command. It’s God’s command. Acts 17. Paul on Mars hill says that the you know, God winked at past sins, but the time is now. He commands all men everywhere to repent. All men.

It’s a command. And this is our manner. Verse 20. I implore you were to beg, if necessary, this personal, passionate plea for them to be reconciled. It’s also our confidence. Verse 18 says, it’s all of God, it’s all from God. This is his plan. It’s his way, it’s his will. And it must be our experience. Verse 17. That if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. That we must first be reconciled to God, or else we are not ambassadors. So it’s our message, it’s our command, it’s our manner, it’s our confidence, it’s our experience. And anything else is not a ministry of reconciliation. And if we have not a message of reconciliation, then we certainly are not ambassadors. So I implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For we have received this ministry, this message of reconciliation, that God through Christ is reconciling the world to himself. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that we have this message that has been entrusted to us. It is your message. It’s not our own. It’s your message. It’s the same message that redeemed the Apostle Paul from a life of persecuting of Christians. It’s the same message that has saved countless millions down for 2,000 years. It’s the same message that ought to resonate and ought to thunder from pulpits all around the world on any given Sunday. But it is the same message also that every believer in Jesus Christ ought to put forth on a continual basis for we are your ambassadors. Help these young people in their walks of faith.

Help them to represent Christ well, to represent your authority well, and to share your message of reconciliation well. It’s in Christ’s name that we pray. Amen.