A Kingdom requirement for both the religious and irreligious...

This week we are looking at the reality that when we read the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that God had, from the very beginning of time, had a plan and promise in mind when it came to how He would respond to our selfishness and rebellion. A plan and a promise that would bring rescue, restoration, and healing from the consequences of the corruption that our selfishness and rebellion brought into humanity.

God had a plan and a promise; a promise of a new kingdom. In Matthew 3, we see a man named John the Baptist proclaim a pretty rough and tough message about this new kingdom; repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. If John the baptizer was communicating this message in the language that we use in our culture today, his message would sound something like this “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and your mind when it comes to the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God and turn back to God, because God is coming soon. The kingdom of God is approaching and will be here soon”.

Matthew then explained that as people heard the message of John the baptizer, they responded by being baptized in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. All Jerusalem was going out to him and were being baptized as a public proclamation that they were identifying and aligning themselves with his message.  The people of Jerusalem recognized their need to repent from their selfishness and rebellion and change the trajectory of their lives that had been moving away from God back toward God. These people recognized their need to be right with God before the Messiah, the promised one of God appeared to usher in the kingdom of Heaven that they were waiting for.

And as Matthew continued to give us a from row seat to the event from history, we see Matthew introduce us to another group who also came out to see John the baptizer. Let’s meet them together, beginning in Matthew 3:7-10:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; ⁹ and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Here Matthew introduces us to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were the leaders of the two largest religious denominations of the Jewish people.  These were the religious people; they went to church and had their lists that they followed and tried to convince others to follow on what it meant to be right with God.

However, as these religious leaders approached John the Baptizer, Matthew tells us that John looked at these religious people and called them a brood of vipers. Now a viper was a poisonous snake that inhabited this region of the world. John’s point was that these religious people were like poisonous snakes that were infecting the Jewish people with religion, instead of leading them into a relationship with God.

John then called these religious people to do the same thing as the irreligious people who were coming to see and hear him- repent. The religious people needed to repent from their religion and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. John was basically saying to these religious leaders “you need to change the trajectory of your life from religious performance for God to a genuine and authentic relationship with God that results in a change in your lifestyle.” John here is revealing the reality that an inner desire to change will produce external changes, or fruit, that will be evident in one’s lifestyle.

John then raised the stakes with the religious people of his day by stating “and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” John was basically saying to the religious leaders of his day “don’t think that just because you were born Jewish that you are part of the kingdom of Heaven. It is God’s supernatural work in our lives that makes us part of the kingdom of Heaven, not just our physical birth into the right family, ethnicity, or culture.”

Matthew tells us that John concluded his scathing comments against the religious people of the day by painting a word picture of a tree being cut down by an axe to proclaim that time was running out. John basically said to these religious leaders, and the crowds that were listening “just as an axe is at the root of the trees before they are destroyed, time is running out before you will face judgment if you do not repent and produce the fruit that demonstrates a changed life. A failure to recognize and feel remorse for a life that is in a trajectory away from God will result in judgment from God.”        

Now a natural question for those listening to John’s message would be “is John the Messiah, the rescuer, the redeemer”? We see John answer this question in Matthew 3:11-12. Let’s look at it together:

"As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Here we see Matthew explain that John denied that he was the Messiah. And to demonstrate that he was not God’s promised Messiah, John contrasted the baptism that he was providing with the baptism that will come when the kingdom of Heaven appeared through the Messiah. John explained that while the water baptism he was providing was an external sign, the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will come for those who enter into the kingdom of heaven will be internal.

For those who refuse the kingdom of heaven, John explained that their baptism will be of fire. The fire refers to the fire of judgment of those who reject the kingdom of Heaven. John then painted to a word picture to explain to the crowds listening what the Messiah would do when the kingdom of Heaven arrived.

Now a winnowing fork was used in Jewish agricultural society during harvest to sift through grain. Piles of grain would be scooped up by the winnowing fork and thrown into the air. The heavier grain would fall to the ground, while the worthless chaff would be blown away by the wind. The wheat would be then gathered into a barn, while the chaff would be gathered to be burned with fire.

John painted this word picture to explain that the Messiah will sift through all of humanity and gather all of those who recognize their need to change the trajectory of their lives to follow God into the kingdom of Heaven, while allowing the rest of humanity to experience the eternal judgment that awaited those who reject the kingdom of Heaven. Matthew then gives us a front row seat to the encounter that the messenger of the kingdom of Heaven had with the kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 3:13-17:

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

Now can you imagine what John must have been thinking and feeling? Here is a man that has been proclaiming, God is coming, the kingdom of Heaven is coming, and there right before his eyes is the promised one of God, the Messiah Jesus. And then the Messiah, who you have just been saying will provide a greater baptism that people will publicly proclaim and identify with than yours, asks you to baptize Him?

Matthew tells us that John responded to his situation by stating “I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me”? John recognized his need for identification with the message of the kingdom and responded by wanting Jesus to baptize him. However, Jesus replied to John’s request by saying “permit it at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”. But what does that mean? And why would Jesus, God in a bod, without sin, without a need to change the trajectory of His life, want or need to be baptized?

You see, Jesus told John that He needed to be baptized not because Jesus had ever sinned; Jesus wanted to be baptized because He wanted to identify Himself with sinful people, even though He never sinned. When Jesus stated that He fulfilled all righteousness, Jesus was explaining that He fulfilled all the requirements necessary to be our rescuer and deliverer from our selfishness, rebellion, and sin. And one of the ways that He did that was through this act of baptism.

This act was Jesus way of identifying Himself with us so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful life so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. Matthew then recorded God the Father’s response to Jesus desire to identify with rebellious humanity in verse 16.

We see all three members of the Trinity present as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus to empower Him to accomplish His mission of revealing the kingdom of Heaven as God the Father proclaimed “this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”.

And a little later in Matthew’s account, we see Jesus uttering a familiar message. A message that we will look at on Friday…

A messenger announcing a message about God's promise and plan...

The past two weeks we have discovered that, as followers of Jesus, we are to live as ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf. We discovered that, as followers of Jesus, we have been rescued from something and we have been rescued for something. We have been rescued from a position of hostility against God to a position of being and ambassador for God.

We discovered that the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to live our lives as an ambassador of Jesus that places Jesus as large and in charge of our lives and that shares that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those around us who are far from Jesus. And we discovered that, as followers of Jesus we are an ambassador that is used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus. We discovered that just as Jesus was on a mission to make followers of Jesus, as followers of Jesus we have been given a mission by Jesus to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus.

Now the reason why followers of Jesus are called to be ambassadors to Jesus that speak and act on His behalf because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has accomplished. You see, when we read the letters that make up the Bible, we are entering into the history of God’s creation and passionate pursuit of rebellious humanity.

The letters of the Bible chronicle the reality that while humanity was created by God to live in a loving relationship with God and one another, all of humanity chose to selfishly reject that relationship to instead love themselves over God and others. And it is that selfish love over God and others that has led humanity throughout history to act in ways that have hurt God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion against God and others that the letters that make up the Bible refer to as sin. And it is this sin that separates us from the true community and relationship with God and others that we were created for.

However, when we read the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that God had, from the very beginning of time, had a plan and promise in mind when it came to how He would respond to our selfishness and rebellion. A plan and a promise that would bring rescue, restoration, and healing from the consequences of the corruption that our selfishness and rebellion brought into humanity. God had a plan and a promise; a promise of a new kingdom.

A kingdom that would be marked by rightness and justice. A kingdom that would be marked by peace and wholeness. A kingdom that the letters that make up the Bible refers to as the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom that we are introduced to in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew.  Let’s jump into this introduction together, beginning in Matthew 3:1-6:

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ² "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." ³ For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'" ⁴ Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

Matthew begins this section of his account of Jesus life by introducing us to a man who was called John the Baptist. Now when Matthew called John the Baptist, it wasn’t because he was a Baptist instead of a Methodist or a Presbyterian; John was called a Baptist because of what he did. John wasn’t a Baptist, he was a baptizer. Matthew tells us that John the Baptizer lived out in the wilderness and wore an outfit made of camel’s hair with a belt that probably had one of those huge belt buckles on it. He lived off the land, eating locusts and honey.

And Matthew tells us that John the Baptizer had a pretty rough and tough message; repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This morning, can you imagine what that must have looked and sounded like? I mean here is a dude who lives out in the wilderness who eats grasshoppers covered in honey. Here is a dude wearing a hairy garment who was probably a pretty intimidating guy. John sounds like a pretty rough and tough dude. And then this pretty intimidating, rough and tough dude starts saying in a loud voice “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand”. Can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine what that must have sounded like?

Now to understand John’s message, we first need to understand some terms that John used. First, when John uses the word repent, this word repent literally means to feel remorse that results in a change of one’s mind and heart. To repent means more than simply feeling sorry for something you did; to repent means that you feel sorry for what you did and the sorrow that you feel drives you to change something in your life. To repent is to change the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God back to God.

John explained that the reason we need to repent was because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John here was proclaiming that repentance was a requirement for experiencing a relationship with God in the kingdom of Heaven. A natural question that arises here is “what is the kingdom of heaven” and why is it at hand? When John referred to the kingdom of heaven, he was referring to the royal reign of God. In addition, the phrase “at hand” literally means to draw near in a temporal sense.

If John the baptizer was communicating this message in the language that we use in our culture today, his message would sound something like this “Repent, recognize and feel remorse for how you are living life. Change your attitude and your mind when it comes to the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God and turn back to God, because God is coming soon. The kingdom of God is approaching and will be here soon”.

Matthew then backed up John the baptizer’s claim that the kingdom of heaven was coming soon, by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of Isaiah. Some 600 prior to this event from history, in Isaiah 40:3, the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed God’s promise to the Jewish people that He would send a rescuer, a redeemer, a Messiah, who would deliver the Jewish people from oppression and establish them to a place of prominence in the world.

Matthew then explained that as people heard the message of John the baptizer, they responded by being baptized in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. But why were the people responding this way? 

To understand why they were responding this way, we first need to understand what baptism is. Baptism is a public proclamation and a public identification with an inward reality that has occurred in our lives. All Jerusalem was going out to him and were being baptized as a public proclamation that they were identifying and aligning themselves with his message. 

The people of Jerusalem recognized their need to repent from their selfishness and rebellion and change the trajectory of their lives that had been moving away from God back toward God. These people recognized their need to be right with God before the Messiah, the promised one of God appeared to usher in the kingdom of Heaven that they were waiting for.

And as Matthew continued to give us a from row seat to the event from history, we see Matthew introduce us to another group who also came out to see John the baptizer. Tomorrow, we will meet them together…

The mission of an ambassador of Jesus is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus...

This week we have been asking the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” To answer that question, we are going to look at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 28:16-17, we looked on as the disciples wrestled with the doubts that flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was “What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this “How are you going to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here on earth, how is your presence going to be present in our lives?” The disciples doubted how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on earth while Jesus was in Heaven.

We looked on as Jesus approached the disciples and explained that “all authority has been to Me in heaven and on earth”. In other words, Jesus declared to His disciples, and to His followers throughout history, that He is large and in charge of everything. God the Father has formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and control over all of creation. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He was Lord and Leader and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise control over the universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission.

And we looked on in Matthew 28:18-20 as Jesus gave His followers a mission; and that mission is to make disciples of all nations. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers of Jesus, as we are living our day to day lives in the areas of influence that we have been given by Jesus.

We discovered that we are to make disciples by going to those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school, at work, or in our relationships; in whatever area of influence we have; we are commanded to live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and inviting those who are far from God to become followers of Jesus.

We discovered that we are to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. A major part of discipleship is to be used by God to bring those who are far from God to a place where they place their confident trust in God’s transformational activity through Jesus and publicly identify themselves as partner in the community of faith that is investing their time, talent, and treasure in the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus.

You see, evangelism is not a separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step of identification with Jesus as His follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.

We discovered that we are to make disciples by “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist in obedience. In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time.

And as followers of Jesus and as a church, we are called to create environments where people are able to understand and embrace the message and teachings of Jesus in a way that results in their spiritual growth and spiritual good. That is why, as we talked about two weeks ago, we have three strategic goals for everyone who attends City Bible Church. And the reason why we have these three strategic goals is because we believe that these three goals accomplish Jesus command to make disciples in a way that fulfills the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus as ambassadors of Jesus.  

First, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their time, in addition to consistently attending a Sunday worship gathering, as part of a community group. Second, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their talents serving God by serving others on a ministry team. Third, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their treasure as an act of worship through weekly and proportional giving.

As a church, we believe that the Jesus teaches us that making disciples that are growing and maturing in their relationship with Him requires that we invest our time in a community group, our talents in a ministry, and our treasure through giving. And so often, most sermons on this event from history end tend to end here. But that is not where this event from history ends. Jesus still has more to say. And in what Jesus says next, we see Jesus make an amazing statement that helps answer the question as to whether or not God’s presence is present. So let’s look at this statement together, which is at the end of Matthew 28:20b:

and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Jesus grabbed the attention of His disciples with what is translated in our Bibles today as lo. This would be like me standing and saying “Yo, listen up!” You see, Jesus wanted to have the disciples undivided attention because He was about to introduce something new; something previously unheard of; something that would have been viewed by the disciples as unusual.

And what was so new and unusual was this: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. Jesus here is promising His disciples, and followers of Jesus throughout history that He is fully present.  Just because God may seem silent, that does not mean that God is not present. Just because we cannot see God, that does not mean that God is not present.

You see, God’s presence is evident when followers of Jesus are engaged in community with one another and on mission with one another. When followers of Jesus gather together in community to worship, we experience God’s presence in powerful ways. When followers of Jesus gather together in community groups, we experience God’s presence in a powerful way as we support and encourage one another.  When followers of Jesus invest their talents serving God by serving others, we are used by God to reveal His presence to others. When followers of Jesus invest their treasure, we are used by God to reveal His presence to others as we create environments where people can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience community.

We are never any closer to God’s presence here on earth than when followers of Jesus are engaged in God’s kingdom mission in community with one another, because God has divinely designed the church to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His presence to one another and the world. And it is here, in this event from history, that we see Jesus reveal for us the timeless answer to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” And that timeless answer is this: The mission of an ambassador of Jesus is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus.

Just as it was for early followers of Jesus; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, the mission of an ambassador is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus. And once again, as followers of Jesus, we are confronted with the reality that Jesus never asks us to do something that He has not already done.

As followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus as we invite others to explore faith and experience genuine and authentic community. As followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus when we invite others to invest their time in a community group as we invest our time in a community group.  As followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus when we invite others to invest their talent on a ministry team as we invest our talent on a ministry team. And as followers of Jesus who are ambassadors of Jesus, we are used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus when we invite others to invest their treasure in an open handed and generous way as we invest our treasure in an open handed and generous way.

So here is a question to consider. As a follower of Jesus, are you engaging in the mission that you have been given by Jesus as His ambassador? Are you speaking and acting on Jesus behalf in such a way that you can be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus?

 Because as we have discovered the mission of an ambassador is to be used by Jesus to make other followers of Jesus...

What does it really mean to "make disciples?"

This week we are asking and answering the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” from an event from history that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. Yesterday we looked on as Matthew brought us into this event from history by providing for us the context in which this event from history took place.

After being raised from the dead, Jesus provided instructions for the disciples to travel to Galilee to meet up with Him there. The disciples, following Jesus instructions, traveled to Galilee, where they met up with Jesus. Matthew tells us that when they saw Jesus, they worshipped Him, but some were doubtful.  

The disciples doubt flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was “What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this “How are you going to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here on earth, how is your presence going to be present in our lives?” The disciples doubted how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on earth while Jesus was in Heaven.

In the midst of this scene of the worship of Jesus as “God in a bod” and the doubt that the disciples were feeling as to what they were to do with their future and with whether or not Jesus presence would be present, Matthew tells us that Jesus took the initiative. Jesus did not wait for the disciples. Instead, Jesus approached the disciples and explained that “all authority has been to Me in heaven and on earth”.

In other words, Jesus declared to His disciples, and to His followers throughout history, that He is large and in charge of everything. God the Father has formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and control over all of creation. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He was Lord and Leader and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise control over the universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission.

And because of the universal authority that Jesus possess; because Jesus is large and in charge of all of creation; Jesus has the right to give His followers Divine direction when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” And as Jesus continued to take the initiative with the disciples, He proceeded to give His disciples and followers of Jesus throughout history a divine directive that answered that very question. So let's look at that directive together in Matthew 28:19-20a:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;

Now whether you regularly attend church or whether this is your first Sunday in church; whether or not you regularly read the Bible, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with what Jesus says here. You are probably familiar with Jesus words here because this is one of the two sayings of Jesus that are described with the adjective great. This statement is often referred to as the “Great Commission”.

Jesus here is giving His followers a mission; and that mission is to make disciples of all nations. The phrase “go and make disciples of all nations” in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally reads “as you are going, make disciples of all nations”. Jesus is not commanding His followers throughout history to go. Jesus is commanding His followers throughout history to make disciples as they go.

In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers of Jesus, as we are living our day to day lives in the areas of influence that we have been given by Jesus. Now a natural question that arises here is “well how are we supposed to make disciples? And how do we know that we are actually being successful in making disciples?”

First, we are to make disciples by going to those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school, at work, or in our relationships; in whatever area of influence we have; we are commanded to live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and inviting those who are far from God to become followers of Jesus. We do not need to go to a foreign country to be a missionary. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be missionaries wherever we are. And in our day to day lives, God has already positioned us in areas of influence where we can be a missionary to those who are far from God.

Second, Jesus explained that His followers throughout history are to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now a natural question that could arise here is “What does baptism have to do with making disciples?” You see, when we see baptisms occurring in the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that baptism is an outward act that serves to publicly identify one as being a follower of Jesus.  A person who is being baptized is publicly proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who desires to be a part of a community of believers who will encourage me and hold me accountable”.

So a major part of discipleship is to be used by God to bring those who are far from God to a place where they place their confident trust in God’s transformational activity through Jesus and publicly identify themselves as partner in the community of faith that is investing their time, talent, and treasure in the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus.

You see, evangelism is not a separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step of identification with Jesus as His follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.

Third, Jesus explained that His followers throughout history are to make disciples by “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist in obedience. In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time. While there may be occasions where a follower of Jesus acts out of selfishness and rebellion to commit sin, a follower of Jesus, over time, will live a life that is becoming more like Jesus in their character and conduct.

And as followers of Jesus and as a church, we are called to create environments where people are able to understand and embrace the message and teachings of Jesus in a way that results in their spiritual growth and spiritual good. That is why we are such huge proponents of community groups here at City Bible Church. That is why we create environments such as Kids Konnection, AWANA as part of Element children’s ministry, along with Fusion student ministries. We desire to create environments where followers of Jesus can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience and become a part of a genuine and authentic community of followers of Jesus.

That is why, as we talked about two weeks ago, we have three strategic goals for everyone who attends City Bible Church. And the reason why we have these three strategic goals is because we believe that these three goals accomplish Jesus command to make disciples in a way that fulfills the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus as ambassadors of Jesus.  As a church, we do not ask for more than these three and we do not ask for less than these three, because we believe that these are the three things that Jesus asks us to invest in as a part of His great commission and His Great Commandment to love Him with our total being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

First, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their time, in addition to consistently attending a Sunday worship gathering, as part of a community group. Community groups meet throughout the week throughout the community and are smaller environments that are designed to foster supportive and encouraging relationships that help you take that next step when it comes to a relationship with Jesus.

This strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because the circles of community groups create transformational environments where people can develop loving and supportive relationships that challenge us to take that next step when it comes to our relationship with Jesus.

Second, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their talents serving God by serving others on a ministry team. Regardless of your age or stage of life, and regardless of the gifts, talents, and abilities you have been given by God, there are opportunities to reveal and reflect Jesus by serving in a ministry.

This strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because we believe, and we have repeatedly seen, that transformational spiritual growth occurs when we are leveraging the spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given us in a selfless way that serves others.

Third, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing their treasure as an act of worship through weekly and proportional giving. This strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because we believe, and we have repeatedly seen, that transformational spiritual growth occurs when followers of Jesus display an open-handed generous attitude toward the treasure that they have here on earth. As followers of Jesus, when we are generous, we reflect the generosity of God, who demonstrated His generosity by giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away.

And the investment of your treasure enables us as a church to create environments where people can explore faith, grow in their faith, and experience authentic community in a way that fulfills Jesus command to make disciples.  As a church, we believe that the Jesus teaches us that making disciples that are growing and maturing in their relationship with Him requires that we invest our time in a community group, our talents in a ministry, and our treasure through giving.

And so often, most sermons on this event from history end tend to end here. But that is not where this event from history ends. Jesus still has more to say. And in what Jesus says next, we see Jesus make an amazing statement that helps answer the question as to whether or not God’s presence is present.

Friday we will discover what Jesus says next…

“What is the mission of an ambassador?”

At the church where I serve, we are coming to the conclusion of a short sermon series entitled Ambassador. During this series we are asking and answering the questions “what is the position of an ambassador?” and “What is the mission of an ambassador?”

Last week, we launched into this series by answering the first question that we looked at in this series, which is “What is the position of an ambassador?” We then looked at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 2 Corinthians, where we discovered the timeless answer in that followers of Jesus are ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf.

We talked about the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we have been rescued from something and we have been rescued for something. We have been rescued from a position of hostility against God to a position of being and ambassador for God. And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to live our lives as an ambassador of Jesus that places Jesus as large and in charge of our lives and that shares that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those around us who are far from Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to  embrace the position we have been given by Jesus to be an ambassador for Jesus that proclaims that God’s transformational activity through Jesus provides all humanity the opportunity to exchange hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God. And as followers of Jesus, we are to recognize that we have been positioned to speak and act on Jesus behalf so that all humanity would have an opportunity to exchange hostility with God for forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

This week I would like for us to answer the second question that we are going to ask during this series, which is “What is the mission of an ambassador?” To answer that question, we are going to look at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew.

Now the gospel of Matthew is one of four different accounts of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible. The gospel of Matthew was written to Jewish people to explain and to show that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised would come to rescue and restore the Jewish nation as His chosen people. And it is in a section of the gospel of Matthew that we see Matthew record an event that occurred in history that provides us the timeless answer to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?”  So let’s discover this answer together, beginning in Matthew 28:16-17:

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

Matthew brings us into this event from history by providing for us the context in which this event from history takes place. After being raised from the dead, Jesus provided instructions for the disciples to travel to Galilee to meet up with Him there. The disciples, following Jesus instructions, traveled to Galilee, where they met up with Jesus. Matthew tells us that when they saw Jesus, they worshipped Him, but some were doubtful.  

Now a natural question that arises here is “what are they doubtful about”? Were they doubtful that it was really Jesus? I don’t believe so, because Matthew tells us that they all worshipped Him. They would not have worshipped Jesus if they were uncertain as to whether or not it was actually Jesus that they were seeing. So, why are they doubtful?

To understand why they were doubtful, we need to look back at the final conversation that Jesus had with the disciples before He was arrested. In that conversation, which is recorded for us in another account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of  John, Jesus explained that He was leaving to go back to God the Father, and that they were not going to be able to come with Him. And while Jesus also stated that they would not see Him during the time that He was arrested, crucified and buried; and while Jesus had promised that they would see Him again after He was raised from the dead, the disciples knew that Jesus was going to be leaving to go back to Heaven.

Now imagine yourself as one of the disciples. You have left everything to follow Jesus; you have followed Jesus for 3 ½ years, during which time you have become very close to Jesus. You watched Jesus get arrested. You heard about Jesus crucifixion and death. And now you have seen Jesus resurrected from the dead. And yet you know that Jesus had every intention of going back to God the Father in Heaven. How would you be feeling? Would there be doubt? Would you have doubts?

Sure you would have doubts. You left everything to follow Jesus because you believed that He was the Messiah, who you thought was going to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. And now He is leaving to go back to Heaven and leaving you behind.  

You see, I believe that the disciples doubt flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was “What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this “How are you going to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here on earth, how is your presence going to be present in our lives?” The disciples doubted how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on earth while Jesus was in Heaven.

And it is in this context that we enter into this event from history. And in this event from history Jesus makes a statement that is one of the most famous statements that is recorded for us in the entire Bible. And it is in this statement that Jesus provides the answer to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” So let’s look at this famous statement together, beginning in Matthew 28:18:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

In the midst of this scene of the worship of Jesus as “God in a bod” and the doubt that the disciples were feeling as to what they were to do with their future and with whether or not Jesus presence would be present, Matthew tells us that Jesus took the initiative. Jesus did not wait for the disciples.

Instead, Jesus approached the disciples and explained that “all authority has been to Me in heaven and on earth”. In other words, Jesus declared to His disciples, and to His followers throughout history, that He is large and in charge of everything. God the Father has formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and control over all of creation.

Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He was Lord and Leader and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise control over the universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission. And because of the universal authority that Jesus possess; because Jesus is large and in charge of all of creation; Jesus has the right to give His followers Divine direction when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” And as Jesus continued to take the initiative with the disciples, He proceeded to give His disciples and followers of Jesus throughout history a divine directive that answered that very question.

Tomorrow, we will look at that directive together…

Followers of Jesus are ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf...

This week we have been looking at the question “what is the position of an ambassador?” by looking at a section of a letter that was written by a man we know today as the Apostle Paul that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 2 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul revealed that it was the love of Jesus drove him to tell others about Jesus. The love of Jesus compelled and motivated Paul and other early followers of Jesus to share God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel throughout the known world. Paul then explained and unpacked the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the members of the church at Corinth.

Paul’s point to the members of the church at Corinth, and to followers of Jesus throughout history, is that just as Jesus placed humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in our place, as followers of Jesus we are to place Jesus before ourselves and live our lives in way that reveals and reflects Jesus and that is engaged in the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus. As followers of Jesus, the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to live our lives in a way that places Jesus as large and in charge of our lives and that shares that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those around us who are far from God.

Paul and other early followers of Jesus relationship with Jesus and one another was not simply an earthly relationship that would be confined to their time together here on earth. And as a result, Paul and other early followers of Jesus did not view their relationship with Jesus and one another from a human point of view that was focused on externals. You see, even though Paul and other early followers of Jesus came to a knowledge of Jesus while Jesus was here on earth, Jesus death and resurrection forever changed how they came to view and relate to Jesus. We see Paul reveal this reality for us beginning in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19:

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now what is so interesting here is that when Paul uses the word reconciled here, this word, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means to exchange hostility for a friendly relationship. So if Paul was writing this letter in the language that we use in our culture today, these verses might sound something like this:

“This new life that we have with God is all a result of what God has done for us. Because when we were hostile to God and at odds with God, God chose to exchange that hostility for a friendly relationship through Jesus death on the cross, in our place, for our selfishness and rebellion. As a result of all that Jesus had done to selflessly place humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in our place, we have been given the opportunity to be the vehicle that he uses to reestablish a broken relationship between those around us who are far from God and God. We have been given the opportunity to proclaim that God’s transformational activity through Jesus that provides all humanity the opportunity to exchange hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God. By believing, trusting, and following Jesus, God no longer counts our rebellion against us because Jesus has already paid the penalty that was counted against us. And if that was not enough, God has also entrusted us with the responsibility to proclaim to the world that God desires to exchange hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God through what He has done for us through Jesus.”

Paul then hammered home how the love of Jesus compelled and motivated Paul and other early followers of Jesus to engage in the kingdom mission that they had been given by Jesus. And in hammering home his point, we see Paul point to the idea of being an ambassador in such a way that answers the question “What is the position of an ambassador?” So let’s discover that answer in verse 20-21:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Here we see Paul paint a powerful word picture for the members of the church at Corinth when it came to the kingdom mission that they had been given and were now passing on to followers of Jesus throughout history: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us.” Now in the first century, just as it is today, an ambassador is a representative of someone who speaks or acts on that their behalf.

So with this statement, Paul is revealing for followers of Jesus throughout history the reality that they have been given the position of ambassador for Jesus by Jesus. Paul is revealing the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we have been positioned by Jesus in such a way so as to live our lives in a way that speaks and acts on Jesus behalf.

Paul then proclaimed to the members of the church at Corinth, and humanity throughout history, the message that he was to deliver from Jesus as an ambassador that was representing Jesus. Paul, acting on Jesus behalf, appealed and begged that those who would read this letter would exchange their hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God. Paul then provided the reason why humanity throughout history could have the opportunity to exchange their hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

In other words, God gave Jesus, who was without sin, the kingdom mission to enter into humanity so the He could live the life we were created to live but refused to live, and then willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, by dying on the cross, in our place, for our selfishness and rebellion, so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life and enter into a right relationship with Him. You see Paul, along with other early followers of Jesus, recognized that they had been positioned to speak and act on Jesus behalf so that all humanity would have an opportunity to exchange hostility with God for forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

And it is here that we discover the timeless answer to the question “What is the position of an ambassador?” And that timeless answer is this: Followers of Jesus are ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf. Just was it was for the Apostle Paul and early followers of Jesus; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history; followers of Jesus are ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf.

The timeless reality is that, as followers of Jesus, we have been rescued from something and we have been rescued for something. We have been rescued from a position of hostility against God to a position of being and ambassador for God. As followers of Jesus, the selfless love of Jesus should compel and motivate us to live our lives as an ambassador of Jesus that places Jesus as large and in charge of our lives and that shares that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with those around us who are far from Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, we have been given the opportunity to be an ambassador for Jesus that proclaims that God’s transformational activity through Jesus provides all humanity the opportunity to exchange hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God. And as followers of Jesus, we are to recognize that we have been positioned to speak and act on Jesus behalf so that all humanity would have an opportunity to exchange hostility with God for forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

Again, if you do not buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing, your are off the hook when it comes to what we are talking about. You do not have to do a single thing that Paul is saying here. But this is why followers of Jesus seem to be so committed and so persistent when it comes to inviting you to church. This is why followers of Jesus seem to be so committed and persistent about inviting you to their community group or to an event involving other followers of Jesus.

The reason why followers of Jesus seem to be so committed and so persistent in their invitation to you is because they have been give the responsibility to be an ambassador that speaks and acts on Jesus behalf. However, if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus; if you consider yourself a Christian, this is not a suggestion. This is a position that we have been given.

So with that in mind, here is a question to consider: If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, do you realize that that you have been given the position of being an ambassador for Him? And how are you responding to the position that you have been given as an ambassador for Jesus? Do you speak and act in a way that represents Jesus well?

Because, the timeless reality is that followers of Jesus are ambassadors of Jesus who are to represent Jesus as we speak and act on His behalf…