AMBASSADORS WITH GOOD NEWS

Yesterday, I said that all believers are preachers. All of us have been commissioned to serve as ambassadors for our King, to a lost world (2 Cor. 5:20). An ambassador's primary function is to communicate his government's message to those to whom he was sent. Jesus is our King, and He has given us His message, the Gospel. But in order for us to relay His message, we must understand exactly what His message is; we must know what the Gospel is.

The Gospel begins with "In the beginning" and it ends with "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 22:21). Of course, the "skeleton" of the Gospel is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). But that doesn't explain why He died, was buried, and rose again. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, explained the importance of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. He said that we are all guilty of sin, that is, we have failed to obey God (Rom. 3:23). He said that God's justice, in dealing with our rebellion, requires the sentence of death (Rom. 6:23). Christ's death, burial, and resurrection occurred for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Paul emphasized Christ's resurrection from the dead because it is through our faith in the risen Lord that we receive salvation. He wrote: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9). Paul summed it all up in his letter to the Corinthians.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 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. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

Of course, the long, detailed version of what this all means is found in the entire Bible. Sixty-six books, covering from the day of creation until eternity, tell us of God's desire to share Himself with mankind. That God, being Holy (Ps. 99:9), could not have fellowship with unholy man. Because He is Love (1 Jn. 4:16), He was willing to show us mercy (Ps. 117:2), and give us what we do not deserve: grace (Jn. 1:14, 17).

As ambassadors, we may not have but a short audience with "foreign kings." In that case, we should whet their appetites with the short version. Some will show interest in hearing more, so then we can give them the "Apostle Paul's version." If there are some that want the "unabridged version," we can hand them a Bible, and spend as much time as they will allow us to share it glorious message. Should they accept the Gospel as truth and receive God's gift of salvation through faith in Christ, we will need to "commission them" to take our King's message to others. Spread your King's message today.