Ambassadors 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:1

Sunday, I mentioned briefly 2 Corinthians 5:20.  When God created man, He did so in His own image.  After Adam and Eve sinned, they did not erase that image, only distorted it.  Therefore, we are all still made in the image of God and still have qualities, characteristics, and attributes of God; however, we have become inclined to worship and glorify self and sin and not our Creator.  Since this is the case, we have overshadowed God's qualities and characteristics and have taken on qualities and characteristics that are more accustomed to Satan.  

When a person places his or her faith in Jesus Christ and what Jesus did and accomplished on the cross, the bible teaches, that person becomes a new creation, as we see in this passage.  The old nature has been buried and a new nature, a restored nature, has been given to them.  Our image has not been completely restored.  It will not be completely restored until the second resurrection when God gives us glorified bodies.  

So the old nature is not completely exterminated yet or done away with, but we have been given new perspective.  We understand whose we are and who we are.  Paul here in this passage teaches that since we have been saved, reconciled, and restored to a right relationship with God, we then are to be what He created us to be, His ambassadors to His created order (or creation).

"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.  Working together with him, then,  we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain." (2 Cor 5:18-6:1)

How are we doing in representing our Creator, our Lord, our Savior, our God?  How are our words glorifying Him?  How are our actions representing Him?  How are our marriages reflecting Him?  How is our labor and the way we work bringing Him praise?  Is what we watch and think about singing His praises?  Is our involvement in telling others about His great love bringing Him attention and honor?  Our image was tainted,  but in Christ it is restored enough, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring God glory and bear His image to His creation.  Let us be the best image bearers we can possibly be while here on earth!