Not Home: On Assignment

Here's another snippet from my essay research. (see previous post)

Although most of my study time centres on the Bible, I do keep a watch on domestic and international politics.
One of my interests is following how ambassadors represent their country's interests while they are abroad.
I appreciate they have to be careful/diplomatic in the way they speak, but they are never distracted from promoting their home country's policies, programs and interests - they are appointed to be faithful emissaries.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have a similar role.
But let's clarify the setting before we discuss that role.

Even though we are currently living here on earth, this earth is not our home - our citizenship is elsewhere.

For our citizenship is in the heavens, from where we also await a Savior—the Lord Jesus Christ—
[Phillipians 3 : 20  LSV]

Those in the Body of Christ are with Christ where He is in heaven.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
[Ephesians 2 : 6  NIV]

Spiritually, our citizenship is with Christ in the heavens.
We are not earthly beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience.

So what are we doing down here? What is our role?
We have been chosen as Christ's ambassadors, representing the kingdom (government) of our home country (the heavens) on the earth.

We are therefore ambassadors for Messiah, as though God were making His appeal through us.
[2 Corinthians 5 : 20  TLV]

And what appeal is that?
Now that God has reconciled the world to himself through Christ, and is no longer counting people's sins against them, He is appealing for everyone to be reconciled to Him.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
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.
[2 Corinthians 5 : 18 - 20  NIV]

So we are not at home: we're on assignment, making God's appeal for personal reconciliation to God on His behalf.
And when our assignment is completed we will "return" home.

Blessings, Barry

Who or What is the Real Church - Part 3

Thirdly, the Church is the Community of Faith
We have discussed so far that the Church is the Body of Christ, the community of those who have been called or chosen by God for a particular role in God's plan for His creation.
(Let's not forget, with all this talk about the Body of Christ being specifically chosen, that God has also chosen all mankind to be saved at the end of the ages before "we step into eternity" together.  See the previous "God's Biblical Plan" posted in January 2019)

To perform their task or chosen role, members of the Body of Christ will require faith.
Why?
Because the gospel is pretty hard to get your head around without it.

Imagine trying to understand the gospel - the God of creation sending his Son to earth in a human body, His virgin birth, His death for our sins, His resurrection, His promised return, God being reconciled to us even as sinners, God's promise to reconcile all of us to Him eventually, etc.
It's way beyond what we would call rational. (See the previous "Is God Rational?" posted in August 2013)

We could not accept such a fantastic story without God's intervention in some way.
The gospel needs to be revealed to us - and then believed by us.

My understanding is this: If, before the foundation of the earth, God has chosen those who are to be members of the Body of Christ, then those chosen must hear the gospel (have the gospel revealed to them) and be given the faith to embrace it at some point in their life's journey on planet earth - the chosen need to be given the faith to act upon the gospel God has arranged for them to hear.
(Conversely, those who do not hear the gospel, or who hear the gospel but are not given the faith to believe it, have not been chosen to be members of the Body of Christ. Their salvation, their reconciliation to God, must wait until an event beyond their time in their earth-suits.)

Jesus (the Head) and we (the Body) have been given the faith to fulfil the roles God has given us. Both are referenced in this one verse from Hebrews.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne. [Hebrews 12 : 2 GNB]

Jesus required faith to complete His challenging mission. (See the previous "The Faithfulness of Jesus" posted in May 2017)
and
The Body requires faith to embrace the message and embark on its mission (which we will discuss in the final post of this mini-series).

The Gentiles listened with delight and extolled the Lord's Message; and all who were pre-destined to the Life of the Ages believed.
[Acts 13 ; 48 Weymouth]
So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.
[Romans 10 : 17 GNB]

Confirmed by Paul's personal experience ...

Though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and had been insolent in outrage. Yet mercy was shown me, because I had acted ignorantly, not having as yet believed; and the grace of our Lord came to me in overflowing fulness, conferring faith on me and the love which is in Christ Jesus.
[1 Timothy 1 : 13 - 14 Weymouth]

Yes, we are blessed by our early calling but we are not to boast about our being chosen or our being given faith.

And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you.
[Romans 12 : 3 GNB]
What is so special about you? What do you have that you were not given? And if it was given to you, how can you brag?
[1 Corinthians 4 : 7 CEV]

Correct. The Body of Christ is not special - just chosen earlier than the rest of mankind and equipped for a specific task.

Blessings, Barry
(Part 4 coming in the next post)