2 Corinthians 5:20 – “We
are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We
implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
uper FOR cristou CHRIST oun THEREFORE presbeuomen WE
ARE AMBASSADORS, wV tou AS IT
WERE qeou GOD parakalountoV
EXHORTING di
BY hmwn US, deomeqa WE BESEECH uper FOR cristou CHRIST, katallaghte
tw BE
RECONCILED qew TO GOD.
Used also in Ephesians 6:20 – “19 Pray also for me, that
whenever I open my mouth, words
may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the
gospel, 20
for which
I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare
it fearlessly, as I should.”
20
uper FOR ou WHICH presbeuw I
AM AN AMBASSADOR en
IN alusei A CHAIN, ina THAT en IN
autw IT parrhsiaswmai
I
MAY BE BOLD wV
AS dei
IT BEHOOVES me
ME lalhsai
TO SPEAK.
The imperial secretary in
“pepisteumai” means “to be entrusted with something; to trust, trust to or in, put faith in, rely on, believe in”
The imperial secretary meant he was entrusted with a designated matter.
Paul used the same technical term in:
“On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.”
alla
BUT tounantion ON THE
CONTRARY, idonteV HAVING SEEN oti THAT pepisteumai I HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH to THE euaggelion
GLAD TIDINGS thV OF THE akrobustiaV UNCIRCUMCISION, kaqwV ACCORDING AS petroV PETER
[THAT] thV
OF THE
peritomhV CIRCUMCISION
“If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not
voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.”
ei
gar FOR IF ekwn WILLINGLY
touto THIS prassw I DO, misqon A REWARD ecw
I HAVE; ei de BUT IF akwn UNWILLINGLY oikonomian AN ADMINISTRATION pepisteumai I
AM ENTRUSTED WITH.
“that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”
kata ACCORDING
TO to THE euaggelion GLAD TIDINGS thV
OF THE doxhV GLORY tou OF
THE makariou BLESSED qeou GOD, o WHICH episteuqhn WAS
ENTRUSTED WITH
egw I.
The correspondence of the imperial secretary was designated by the technical expression “Hiera Grammata” or “sacred writings”
“and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
kai AND oti THAT apo FROM brefouV A BABE ta THE iera SACRED grammata LETTERS oidaV
THOU HAST KNOWN, ta WHICH
[ARE] dunamena ABLE se THEE sofisai TO MAKE WISE eiV TO swthrian SALVATION, dia
THROUGH pistewV
FAITH thV
WHICH [IS] en IN cristw
CHRIST ihsou JESUS.
1) Ambassadors do not appoint themselves. They are appointed by the imperial court. Jesus Christ appoints his own ambassadors.
2) Ambassadors must be personally accepted and welcomed in both countries (this is called a persona grata which means “acceptable person”) to fulfill their mission and to serve their purpose. (1 Peter 2:12, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”)
3) Ambassadors bring an authoritative message and request (not demand) that it be accepted.
4) An ambassador does not support himself. God supplies all our needs. (Ephesians 1:3; Philippians 4:19)
5) An ambassador is not a citizen of the country where he is sent. We are citizens of heaven )Philippians 3:20_
6) An ambassador has instruction in written form. We have the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16)
7) An ambassador cannot take insults personally; he is accepted or rejected not on his own merit but because of who he represents (John15:19-21)
8) An ambassador does not enter a country to profit himself (2 Corinthians 5:15)
9) An ambassador is a personal representative of someone else; everything he does and says reflects on the one who sent him. (John 13:35; 17:18-23; 20:21)
10) An ambassador’s perspective is service; his prospect is reward. (Matthew 5:12; 2 John 8; Revelation 22:12)
11) An ambassador is recalled when war is declared (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
12) An ambassador for the Lord (creator, judge, savior and king) is the most exalted positions available to mankind.
The world often makes ambassadors of Christ feel embarrassed or ashamed.
The absolute opposite is true.
The people of the world should be grateful and honored that the king of all the universe has sent into their lives one of His chosen and empowered spokespersons to speak directly to them for God himself.
2 Corinthians 5:20, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
Robertson Writes: “Be ye reconciled to God (\katallagˆte t“i the“i\). Second aorist passive imperative of \katallass“\ and used with the dative case. ‘Get reconciled to God,’ and do it now. This is the ambassador's message as he bears it to men from God.”
A wicked
messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.
I have
heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying,
Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
The vision of Obadiah. This is
what the Lord Yahweh says about
Koine
– The Language of the Roman Empire #2
(Based
on a sermon by David Antion --- 3/25/2000
Words
can cause conflict. In the koine Greek the word “king” was applied to
Roman emperors. They often took the title “king of kings” for they were
rulers over all other rulers in the known world. To claim to be a king
put one in conflict with Caesar! “…whoever makes himself a king speaks against
Caesar!”, cried the Jews before Pilate (John 19:12). Later they
said, “We have no king but Caesar” (v. 14-15). Pilate, looking at Jesus
scourged, bleeding and weakened did not take the claim of king seriously for he
wanted to release Him. Later Paul wrote, “…to the only King…”(1Timothy 1:17;
6:15).
Emperors
were often referred to as “saviors” and at least eight of them took the title,
“savior of the world.” It was no wonder. Rome brought peace,
restored order to lawless areas of the empire and brought in a system of
justice so the Roman citizens had the rights of due process of law. Pax
Romana was hailed as
But
another “savior of the world” (John 4:42; Titus 1:3-4; Jude 24) came to save
people from their sins. Most preferred the savior from
The
emperor held the title, "Pontifex Maximus” – Latin translation of
“archiereus” which is “high priest.” It was assimilated into the Roman system
from the conquest of Banylon. In the cult of
In
the cult of Caesar there was the title “friend of the emperor.” It was
the Greek word, “philos.” On the night of His betrayal Jesus called his
disciples “friends” (John 15:14-15). The Jews knew what this
mean when the told Pilate that if you release this man “you are no friend to
Caesar” (19:12).
Written
documents from the emperor were called in Koine Greek, “hiera grammata” –
sacred writings. Imagine Paul in prison in
Any
news about Caesars was called “euaggelion” or “good news”, or glad
tidings. Paul wrote to the people in Rome, “I am eager to preach the
“euaggelion” to you in
Rome
had its good news about the emperor, the apostles had the good news about our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.