Saturday, September 14, 2013

Ambassadors for our country .......................... Parables 019

The election is over. Certain candidates are reverting to “plan B” while others are looking forward to four years of representing the people in their constituency.
 

A person who has been elected to the position of Member of Legislature has a high calling. They must give account to the people who they represent, and they must be deeply concerned for those people, making every effort to govern and legislate with a priority investment in the interests and concerns of the people. Any breach of this not only raises public outcries against any offender, it also determines the outcome of the next election.
 

Those who understand something of the Biblical doctrine of election know that God, in sovereign wisdom, has elected certain people too. While He does not use ballots nor make His selections on the basis of any campaigning, He does have a body of believers given the task of representing His interests here on earth. He calls them “ambassadors.”
 

The dictionary defines an ambassador as “an accredited diplomatic agent of the highest rank, appointed as the representative of one government to another.” God’s realm of government is called His Kingdom, the King is the Lord Jesus Christ. The ambassadors are those people whose sins have been forgiven and who have been reconciled to God. They are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2) and now belong to the family of God. Their citizenship is in heaven. 

But even though that heavenly citizenship is an established fact, God leaves His citizens in their former homeland for a time. These are His agents, appointed as “ambassadors for Christ” with the high calling of bringing the message of reconciliation to those who do not know Him. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was making His appeal through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf: be ye reconciled to God.”
 

During election, when most of us were making evaluations of the performance of those who sought to represent us, I was wondering what God thinks of the performance of His ambassadors? Have we looked to His interests, and sought to represent His Kingdom while living here as foreigners? Have we been faithful to give a clear understanding to others the reason for which we are here, or have we been too caught up with concerns of our own to fulfill the position of representation for which we have been given? And do we even bear the marks of one with a heavenly citizenship . . .  so that we are recognized as ambassadors in the first place? We would not tolerate any such infractions in our political representatives, would we?
 

I didn’t become a citizen of the kingdom because of my record prior to office, nor can I keep it based on anything I do while in office. The love and mercy of God in the death and resurrection of His Son secures not only that heavenly citizenship, but secures my post for all of my life here. There will be no reelection based on any track record. Yet when I go home, I want to stand before my King and hear Him say, “Well done, you have served me well, you have been a faithful ambassador.”

(Note: These parables were written in "real time" but are reproduced here in order, not according to the events that were happening when they were written, like elections, holidays, disasters and so on.)

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