Monthly Archives: August 2024

Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

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Titles of Christians (#6)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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The good soldier of Christ Jesus

Today we are going to study another title of Christians:

 NASB 2 Timothy 2:3—4 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. (2Ti 2:3—4 NASB)

Here Apostle Paul says that we are to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, and we should not entangle ourselves in the affairs of everyday life, so that we may please the one who enlisted us, namely our Lord Christ Jesus.

Last time we studied the title “Ambassadors for Christ”; today we study the title “Good soldiers of Christ Jesus.”

A soldier’s work is the opposite of an ambassador’s work. As a soldier we are to fight the battle for Christ; but as an ambassador, we implore people to reconcile to Yahweh God.

So are we to reconcile or to fight? What kind of battle are we fighting? With whom are we fighting? Now let us find the answers one by one.

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Ambassadors for Christ

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Titles of Christians (#5)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Last time we studied the title of Christians, “Witnesses of Jesus Christ”; today we are going to study a very interesting title:

ESV 2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:20 ESV)

Here it says that Christians are ambassadors for Christ.

The meaning and task of “ambassadors for Christ”

What does it mean to be “ambassadors for Christ”? According to English dictionaries, an ambassador is the highest-ranking person who represents his or her own government while living in another country.

Certainly ambassadors for Christ are different from the international diplomatic ambassadors, for we are not dealing with diplomats in foreign countries, but dealing with the people in the world, so we implore them to reconcile with God.

When an ambassador is sent to a foreign country, he represents his own country. Christians are the people of the kingdom of God; Yahweh God sent us into the world to represent the kingdom of God. What is our task? What are we supposed to do in this world?

ESV 2 Corinthians 5:18 – 20 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconcilingthe world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:18-20 ESV)

Here it says that Yahweh God wants to reconcile the world to Himself through Christ, not counting their sins against them. There are two steps: first He reconciles us to Himself; after that, He entrusts the message of reconciliation to us and sends us into the world to be ambassadors for Christ. Our job is to tell the world that God doesn’t count their sins against them; and we are to implore the people of the world to be reconciled to Yahweh God.

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