Victory Can Be Yours!
Article #68 – “God’s
Representative”
We
have pointed to three things we must keep in our hearts and minds in order to
serve the one and only true and living God.
The first was to be convinced of the reality of God and the
second is; you must know that you are God’s representative. We find clearly stated that we are
representatives for Christ, “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.” (2 Cor. 5:20) To be an ambassador is to be a
representative. Therefore, we are
representatives for God and Paul states,
“for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Eph. 6:20)
Paul was used by God as His representative to spread the gospel of Jesus
Christ to the unbelieving world. We
should be representing God to others through our words and our actions. People should be able to see Christ in us and
by our behavior. Elijah had a nature
like yours and mine. All Elijah did was
make himself available for God’s use, God showed him what to do, and he did it.
As
we are trying to live the Christian life style, look around you, look for those
who are constantly doing good deeds.
They have a special look about them in their countenance, in the energy
level, and their demeanor. Many will
look at them and wonder what it is that they have that is so appealing. It comes from loving God and loving one
another. Jesus spoke of this when He
said, “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another. By this
all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34, 35)
An
ambassador for the United States or any other country will be easily recognized
as being a representative of their country because they live and work in
quarters that are marked by the flag of their country or by vehicles that are
marked or labels at the work place or meeting places. As we are representatives of Jesus Christ, we
will probably not be identified by such clear markings but we should be known
as His representatives by our lifestyle.
We are to be examples for others to see.
The Apostle Paul was possibly the
world’s greatest evangelist and he said to the believers in Philippi, “Brethren, join in following my example,
and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” (Phil.
3:17)
As
representatives of Jesus Christ, we must do as Paul instructed Titus, “in all things show yourself to be an
example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech
which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having
nothing bad to say about us.” (Tit. 3:7, 8) Wouldn’t it be a great thing
for us to be able to say to those around us to follow our example? I am quite sure that we can say that of some
things in our lives but, as Paul has written, “in all things”, is what we, as
representatives of God, should be trying to obtain.
You,
too, can have victory in Jesus! More to
follow.
Lowell Parrish
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