2 Corinthians 5:20 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.
God has called his people to be ambassadors in this world for him to encourage people to be reconciled to God in relationship and to come into a relationship with God.
Paul in Ephesians 6:20 says I am an ambassador in chains, he was in prison when he wrote this. That in proclaiming the kingdom I may speak boldly so ambassadors are about proclaiming God’s kingdom.
A dictionary definition of an ambassador is a diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as a representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another. Or an authorized messenger or representative or agent an apostolic delegate, a messenger, minister or emissary. And it is important we understand that we are all called to be ambassadors and to outwork that.
Colossians 1:13 says he has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.
Everyone who has come into a relationship with Jesus has been taken out of one kingdom and transferred into another. So we are transferred into the kingdom of God. That means were transferred under the authority of God’s kingdom.
Philippians 3:20 says for our citizenship is in heaven. Now it is really important to get hold of that, because we are ambassadors of heaven on earth. So, our citizenship is not of earth, it is not of America, UK, etc. although technically that might be true in the natural sense, but spiritually we are citizens of heaven. This means were connected to heaven and that our authority comes from heaven. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom but living on earth.
John 15:19 if you were of the world the world would love its own but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world.
Jesus has chosen us as his representatives out of the world, so we are not of this realm. So, we do not have to be tied to the restrictions of this realm. Because the spiritual realm (the realm of the kingdom) the kingdom of heaven is a higher authority than the natural realm. And it has more and greater dimensions of authority and power than the natural realm. This physical realm is held together by the power that comes from that spiritual realm. Because God is Spirit and God is eternal and God is infinite, and yet this is a temporal realm which has a time and a space, which means it has a beginning and it will have and end, it is finite.
Everything that is wrapped up in this time (once we come into eternity) will be left in this time. So, Satan and sin will be left in this time so there will be no remembrance of it in eternity. But we are now of eternity in this natural realm.
John 17:18 and as you sent me (and this is Jesus talking to God) it says as you sent me into the world, so I also have sent them into the world, talking about his disciples, talking about us.
So, Jesus has sent us into the world to be ambassadors, to represent heaven on earth.
John 20:21 says the same. Jesus said to them peace be with you as the father has sent me, I also send you. So, we have been sent on a mission. This makes us ambassadors or citizens of another kingdom (heaven) living on earth. That means we are gateways of heaven on earth bringing heaven to earth. Because heaven is a spiritual realm, and we are spirit and we have the Holy Spirit within us we are connected to that realm of heaven. And we can be a gateway to bring what is in heaven to earth. It talks about laying hands on someone and seeing an instant miracle, this is bringing what is in heaven (no sickness no disease) on to earth through our lives and through the power and authority that can flow through us as ambassadors of that kingdom.
We come to administer that kingdom in this natural realm; we come to bring heaven on earth. Ambassadors are the highest-ranking officials of one kingdom, living in another land. We take our orders and get our authority from heaven. Heaven is higher in dimension and power than earth. We are protected by heavenly protection. Our provision comes from heaven. We live by the laws of heaven, the economy and the political system of heaven. We are not bound other than what it says in the word of God, that we need to honor those who are in authority over us here, until it conflicts with the authority of heaven. If this occurs, then we have a higher authority we must be submissive to. We must bring the will of God into the earth.
It is like the characteristics of an ambassador (say of the UK) in China. We are of heaven on earth and effectively a Uk ambassador in China. The embassy is British soil, protected by British troops, taking orders from white hall and represented British interests and operating under British laws and culture.
They are in constant contact with the home country and do not operate from personal opinions, but orders from HQ. This is what God is calling us to do; this is how we operate here.
Our lives are an embassy. Our lives are foreign soil to this world. Our lives our protected by heaven, and we have authority, but we need to actually receive the orders from heaven and not earth.
Our job, our commission, is more than just representing the interests of heaven. We have a greater task than that. As citizens of heaven we carry heavens authority. Each of us has a sphere of kingdom authority to exercise. So around our lives we have authority to rule over our circumstances and our situations and the place that God has put us in.
In order to do that, we need to present ourselves to God daily as a living sacrifice (that’s our priestly role) so that we can demonstrate God’s power and authority through our kingship, because we have been made kings and priests.
We represent one kingdom, the kingdom of heaven and another kingdom, the kingdom of the earth. Therefore we can live by the laws of heaven which are higher than the laws of earth.
The church is an embassy (territory) on foreign soil, and we are individually the church. The church is not an organization it is people. So, we can operate in kingdom authority, we are protected by heavenly authority and we’re not to be influenced by earthly culture, society, customs. We are to influence and transform them. This is our mission to bring heaven to earth.
We live under kingdom authority therefore we have a new health service. Our health service comes from heaven. We have new economic and financial services. We give tithes and offerings, and we sow into God’s kingdom, and he blesses and honors us and multiplies it back to us so that we have more than enough for all our needs and abundance for every good deed he calls us to do.
We have a new education system. Were not limited to what we understand by our minds. We are connected to the source of all knowledge, the omnipotent, omniscient God in heaven and in us. So we have all the sort of education we need that comes from the source of life.
So, we can receive revelation, prophetic information, we can have a heads up on every situation, because we are connected to a realm which operates above the earth. Because that spiritual realm is not limited by time and space like this natural one.
We are to be a new society; we are to see paradise restored. What Adam and eve lost in the garden, its God’s intention that we bring restoration of that to the earth. So, this means new attitudes, new ideals and new culture, new behaviors, new abilities and new powers. We have abilities which are beyond natural abilities. We have supernatural abilities. So, we can have supernatural abilities to look in the hearts of men and see what’s there.
Supernatural abilities to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to see miracles. To have authority over nature and all the things that Jesus did, those are the abilities and powers he wants us to have, heaven transforming earth.
We have the authority to speak on behalf of God. God was a speaking spirit, he called things that be not as if they were, and he created things. And he has given us the ability to do that on his behalf. We have the power of creativity. We have a supernatural power of heaven at our disposal.
The kingdom, the ambassadorship is of a supernatural realm to operate in this natural realm.
The Romans when they wanted to take over a country, they sent a batch of citizens ahead of them into that country. Often, they didn’t go in there with an army. They sent people ahead of time to infiltrate and to set up administrative centers within those realms so that they could bring that influence into those nations.
Colonization is actually our mission. We are not just here to influence the world we are here to colonize it. We know what a colony is, a colony is where the Pilgrim Fathers went off to America (a new land) the new territories or the new world. And they set up colonies and they occupied territory and they brought the government of Britain to America.
In the natural sense it might not be a good idea, because it often comes with war. But in a spiritual sense our colonization also comes with war (But a spiritual warfare). But we are called to colonize.
The church is a colony of heaven on earth, and so are our lives. Matthew 13:24- Jesus presented another parable to them saying the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
When Jesus was teaching in parables, he taught pictures to help us understand the principles of the kingdom and then he explained that in verse 37. He said the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man and the field is the world and as for the good seed these are the sons of the kingdom.
So, every one of us who has got a personal relationship with Jesus is a son of the kingdom and has been sown into this world to produce the fruit of the kingdom. And to bring God’s rule to earth. This isn’t a political system in the sense of we want to control people into believing (that is not Christendom) where if you don’t turn to Christ, we cut your head off. Which is what they tried to do in the Middle Ages.
We actually bring good news, and we demonstrate good news. We bring as the sons of the kingdom the fruit of that kingdom. So, people will want to be engaged with the God that they see through us.
How are people going to see God unless they see him through his people? God wants people to see him through us. There are also tares, the sons of the evil one who also been deposited in the world.
Mathew 13:31- he presented another parable to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. This is smaller than all the other seeds but when it is full grown it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air can come and nest in its branches. This pictures an illustration that the kingdom started really small with one person and then that one person made disciples and then he sent those disciples out so when Jesus died and went back into heaven there was about 500 disciples who were in the world, 500 of a few hundred million people at the time so a very small seed was sown into the world.
And yet the fulfillment of God’s kingdom is that it will not stay small but will spread. So, from a little place in Israel called Jerusalem, it spread right through the whole world, the message of the good news of Jesus and so the church now occupies most of the world. The word of God is written in most languages. When it started off in the early centuries, it was one to 350 in terms of numbers of people. Today it is 1 to 6 numbers of Christians in the world.
The kingdom is advancing and growing.
Another parable in Matthew 13:33 – the kingdom of heaven is like yeast. When a woman which took and hid in three packs of flour until it was all leavened. So, if you put yeast into some flour, it will spread and cause the whole of the flour to be full of yeast. So that it can rise, that’s the same reality of God sowing us into the world to do that, to infiltrate the whole world with the good news of the gospel of Jesus- love. That’s the message of the kingdom-love. We don’t come with a message of war we come with a message of love, it does cause warfare, because we have to challenge darkness with light.
The reality is it’s a message of love that we bring. We bring a message of good news that Jesus died for everybody so they can receive eternal life. We receive and bring that message and demonstrate that message by how we live. Which is why we have to be good ambassadors of that kingdom. So, we are called to infiltrate and influence the world to restore it to its original condition and ownership.
Romans 8:19- the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Even creation itself is waiting for God’s people to be revealed in the fullness of their sonship. For creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope that creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to the corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. What that is saying is that God’s people when they start to act as real true sons in the fullness of the power the kingdom will even turn creation back to its original purpose. To come into freedom of God’s glory as seen in his children. That’s our mission.
Matthew 5:13 describes what we should be like as ambassadors. You are the salt the earth but if the salt become tasteless how can it be made salty again. So salt is supposed to be salty. Salt was used for fertilizer; salt was used for flavor. Salt was used for disinfectant. Lots of different things they used salt for. It is a very important commodity in the early centuries. If it is no longer salty, it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. If we are not different from the world, we will just be like it. And we cannot be ambassadors if we’re not different. So, we have to be something different. You are the light of the world. The world needs light to deal with darkness. Were called to be that light. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. That is our mission, as an ambassador to glorify God not to glorify ourselves but to glorify God. So that people will acknowledge what we do is coming from God because they see God in us.
This is what it says in the message version. Let me tell you why you are here (now this is why we are here) you are here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here is another way to put it- you are to be light bringing out the God colors of the world. God is not a secret to be kept, were going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light bearers, you don’t think I am going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I am putting you on a light stand. Now that I put you on a hilltop, on a light stand shine. Keep open, be generous with your life by opening up to others, you prompt people to open up to this generous father in heaven. So, we are called to be ambassadors of that kingdom. This is a big challenge but were not doing in our own strength we have the presence of God Almighty and the Holy Spirit in us to enable us to do it. In fact, all that we have to do is to allow them, to be them through us. Stop the blockages that stop them being God through us. Allow them to flow through us.
We are ambassadors of heaven, sons of the kingdom to colonize this world. This was the original intention that God gave Adam and Eve. Genesis 1:28- God blessed them, God said to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over it. Everything that we are called to do now, Adam and Eve were called to do then. To be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth and to subdue it. They were to overcome it, bring it under the rule of God.
God has called us to bring that rule, the rule of love into the world. to make the earth like it is in heaven. To make earth like it is in heaven, we have to know what it is like heaven. That is why we have access to heaven through the presence of God and the kingdom within us, to access those realms of heaven. We can access heaven ourselves. Everything that is done on earth has to be done first in heaven. That is why we have access to bring the rule of God in the heaven. To bind things in the heavens. To loose things in the heaven so that they will be loosed here on earth. We have authority to rule in the justice system of the kingdom. The kingdom of God is founded on two principles- righteousness and justice. So we need the righteousness which is in heaven worked here on earth and the justice of heaven worked here on earth. So, we need to access heaven.
We got lots of teaching which teaches us how to access heaven, how to engage daily in the heavenly realms, to step into that realm because the realm of heaven is a dimension which is right in front of us. It is not somewhere up in the stars. It is here as a spiritual dimension. So, we are connected to that realm in the spirit so we can access that realm and bring that realm from heaven to earth.
Matthew 6:10- we are called to pray- your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is what we pray. The lord’s prayer has been prayed for 2000 years and people have missed what it really meant. We are supposed to bring God’s kingdom from heaven to earth through our lives. This is what it says in the message bible. Reveal who you are, set the world right, do what’s best as above, so below. It is like God’s desire is to set the world right. To put it back to its original purpose.
John 8:37 Jesus talking- I am a king, for this I have been born, for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. So, Jesus is making a real statement here- I’m a king. Now it is not a king in a political sense, he is a king of a spiritual kingdom.
John 17:18 as you sent me into the world, I’ve sent them into the world. So, we are sent into the world as ambassadors carrying, kingly authority.
Revelation 1:6 says he has made us to be a kingdom of priests. We have kingdom authority.
Revelation 5:10 we are to be made a kingdom and priests to reign, where? On the earth not just in the heavens. But to reign in the heavens and bring that reign onto the earth.
Matthew 6:33 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. The only way we can be real ambassadors of God’s kingdom on earth is if we put his kingdom first in our lives, if we surrender doing things our own way and start doing them his way. An ambassador doesn’t do his own opinions, he gets his opinions direct from the source. So, we need to get heavenly truth so we can bring it to earth. This means living for and from that kingdom first above everything else and walking by faith. Because faith is the currency of the kingdom. So, our sphere of authority is within us, because the kingdom is within us. It has to be manifested through us and around us.
We have to bring God’s kingdom rule around our lives so people can see it. Spiritual authority releases natural influence. If you have no spiritual authority, you are not going to have any influence for the kingdom. So, we need to operate in authority and power. Whoever is ruling in the spiritual environment has the influence on the natural environment that’s why we have to do it from heaven first. We each have a sphere of authority over which we are supposed to rule. Every single person has a destiny, has a call of God to fulfill. And within that calling they have authority to bring the rule of heaven. Outside of that calling they have not. So, we have to be careful we stay within the calling and the sphere of kingdom authority that we have been given.
Mark 6:7 Jesus called to him 12 apostles and began to send them out as his ambassadors. Two by two and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits. So, he gave them kingdom authority. So, the spiritual rule of heaven is greater than the spiritual rule of the sons of the evil one. So, we have authority in the spiritual realm. Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come your will be done. We have to outwork that authority.
Matthew 10:1 Jesus summoned his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease, and every kind of sickness. The authority of heaven is to be outworked through disciples on earth. Verse seven as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. How could they say the kingdom of heaven was at hand? Because they were there, and they were the ones who were bringing the kingdom wherever they went. So, wherever we can go we can legitimately say the kingdom of heaven is it hand. It is here. Therefore, the power to heal is here in our lives. The power to set people free is here in our lives, if we are true ambassadors. If we know that authority. It says heal the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers cast out Demons. Freely you have received. Where did they receive from? The heavenly realm. Freely give, where to? The natural realm. That’s what were called to do as ambassadors. This is our mandate that Jesus gave us.
Matthew 28:18 Jesus came up and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. We need to really get hold of this. All authority. Is there any authority that is left outside of all? No, none. So, Jesus has been given the authority through dying on the cross, being resurrected and ascended into the highest heights of heaven, crowned king of kings. He has been given authority. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all I commanded you and low I am with you always even to the end of the age.
Here is the promise, from when Jesus went back into heaven until Jesus is going to come again, he is with us to actually see the nations discipled to Jesus.
This is the mandate for colonization. The mandate to take God, good news in his authority and to transform the world in which we live. You can look around and say we have a big job to do. I agree we have. But the reality is we have the authority to do it. The reason we haven’t done it is because we lived in the dark ages for 1200 years, we had no revelation of our authority.
God is restoring it in these days. It has slowly been restored over the last hundreds of years. There has been a restoration of the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are seeing apostolic and prophetic revelation being released.
He is with us to fulfill that mission. Do you think Jesus is going to tell us to go and do something, and yet it is impossible to do. No. Do you think Jesus is going to come back when we have not done it? No.
We have been called and commissioned to go and take this message out into the world. We are commissioned to influence others making known the kingdom by our kingship. As we live as an ambassador people should see the difference in our lives. Therefore, we must expect salvation of those around us. That they would turn to the light from the darkness of the world. That is what we should expect and be believing for. Then those who are saved become disciples and then they are equipped to go out into their marketplace and do the same thing. Hence expanding the sphere of influence that the kingdom has through the church, right through the world, through our lives. This is how Paul described how he went out- 1 Corinthians 2:1 I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God. He didn’t come, just like everyone else in the world trying to influence people by words. He came with a testimony of God’s power in his life. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstrations of the spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. So, we need to live on the power of God, through the power of God with the power God operating through us. How many people want to do that, who wants to live as ambassador for the kingdom of God.
If you want to live as an ambassador, we are going to swear you in. Let us make these statements together. As you are making them, don’t just say them, actually mean what you’re saying. If you want to be an ambassador of God’s kingdom on earth, then mean what you say. Let’s say these things together.
I choose to accept my commission as an ambassador of heaven on earth. I choose to live according to the principles of heaven. I choose to receive my direction and protection from heaven. I choose to live from the resources of heaven. I choose not to be influenced by ideas, culture and philosophy of earth. I choose to become an agent of the counterculture of heaven. I choose to live a supernatural lifestyle with a higher level of authority. I choose to example of the kingdom attitudes and the character of Jesus. I choose to demonstrate the good news of Jesus in word and deed. I choose to be salt and light in my world. I am a minister of reconciliation to make disciples for the kingdom of God. I am an ambassador of heaven to transform earth. amen. So, let’s go out today carrying that authority and power to actually outwork that in our lives.