In last week’s post, I stated that, as Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ. That is, as ambassadors, we are citizens of another nation (Green V world) who live in an embassy (the body/family of Christ) in a foreign country (Red Pyramid world) for the care of fellow citizens of that foreign country.
Let’s explore this more: What is the need for ambassadors?
If Adam had remained loyal to God’s kingdom, there would be no such thing as foreigners or a foreign land. There would only be us—body, soul, and spirit in paradise as He created us.
The foreign idea that made us foreigners and enemies of God and each other was the idea that I could be god. Since everyone has their own particular idea of what being god means, we live in a world of foreigners and foreign lands all in competition and conflict with each other.
Yet the kingdom of God/heaven endures according to the Word and promises of God. God has and will continue to send ambassadors from His kingdom in order to reach us and repatriate us—to make us His own children again and citizens of His kingdom. The greatest and everlasting ambassador is the Son of God, incarnate and ever-living to advocate for us. By His Word and servants of His Word, Jesus regenerates our souls in His own image and thus we too become ambassadors. Each of us is, in our essential soul, a native of God’s kingdom but living in the foreign and hostile land of our own human nature and that of everyone else’s—the devil asserting himself as prince over all.
As ambassadors of Christ we seek to reach people where they are, which is why we continue to live in these foreign lands. We are here to help those who are already citizens of the kingdom of heaven, like us, but struggling to make their way through (and out of) a foreign place (i.e., their body and this world). We are also here to the sake of all foreigners, knowing the bondage they suffer in this foreign land and inspired to inform them of and welcome them into God’s kingdom. Granting them asylum, if you will.
This reflection is the beginning of a new series of posts: “How to be an Ambassador, More and More”. In the weeks ahead, we’ll continue to look at differences in world views, consequences of those differences, and how God rescues us and others through ambassadors.