Christians are ambassadors…

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:10–21)

Two judgements; the Great White Throne where the unsaved are judged: “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15) and the Bema judgement where Christians are rewarded, yet suffer loss for things done that have no eternal value…

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:10–15)

This is called the Bema judgement, a NT term to describe human judges. This passage tells of the rewards and the verses above it describes how to build a life that does not suffer a great deal of loss. Basically it says to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh. 

The work I do in my own strength and apart from God's direction and will is useless. As God does, I am to disregard anything done in the flesh. That old life stuff has no value. I have a new life and living it as He directs is the way to be righteous here and rewarded later.

Oh Jesus, this is a perspective that is so easily forgotten, the victim of distraction. I need to think more about the eternal value of my affections and activities and allow those thoughts to govern the more important task of being an ambassador for You. One online definition says: “An ambassador is the highest-ranking diplomatic official who represents their home government while living and working in a foreign country.” 
More details both convict me and instruct me in confession and change. For instance: Christians live in this world, but our true citizenship and ultimate allegiance belong to heaven and to You. My core duty is to urge people to be reconciled to God through trusting You, and not share personal opinions but faithfully deliver the exact words and official position of You, my King. Because You are physically absent from earth, my lifestyle, character, and actions must reflect You to those around me. Enable me to be an obedient and effective ambassador.     

Two kinds of judgment

 

On a quiz show this week, one contestant was a very nice person, but he flunked most of the questions. Rating for personality = high. Rating for performance = not so hot.

Do most Christians realize that God has a rating system? One is about salvation. I have a photo of Jesus hugging a person. The caption says “Jesus does not come to us with a score card but with the gospel.” The judgment that we do not face is called the “White Throne” judgment. It is about repentance and salvation, about believing the gospel and giving my life to Christ.

. . . . The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. . . .(2 Peter 3:8–15)

Because salvation is a done-deal through the gift of faith and believing the gospel, I can say:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set me free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in me. . . . (Romans 8:1–8, personalized)

However, there is a judgment coming for what I have done in my Christian life. The Greek word is Bema. It does not judge who I am, but what I’ve done and determines gain or loss of heavenly rewards:

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:10–15)

Because I trust Christ Jesus, I do not fear this judgment. He saved me to do the works He prepared for me to do (Ephesians 2:10) and those rewards will be mine, not because I fret about what I should do, but because He set me up for what He wanted done before He saved me.

PRAY: No pressure. My score was marked before I was born. Jesus, You take care of all things, including what I do in the power of Your Spirit and the rewards You will give me for doing what You enable me to do. There is no boasting because You have thought of everything and done it all. My life is totally in Your hands.

Standing Firm on my Foundation

 

Many years ago I lived on a farm. We bought a house from a moving company and had a neighbor measure it for the foundation. The concrete was poured and when the house came, large and hanging sadly over the sides of the moving truck, we wondered if it would fit. However, our neighbor did well; the house perfectly fit its foundation, right to the very inch.

FOUNDATION is another one of those English words with a few different meanings. It can be the load-bearing part of a building, the cream used as a base for facial cosmetics, or an underlying basis or principle, a starting point or reason for establishing or doing something. In the Bible, this speaks of what God the Founder does in building His forever family.

Of course this word is also used to describe the basis of physical structures, yet that is a good image for describing this work of God. His kingdom has a strong foundation, which is why Jesus could say, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

When applied to God, the psalmist declares, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psalm 89:14 and 97:2) He rules because He is righteous and just, morally right, always doing what is well-founded and fair. While scoffers ridicule and think they can do as they please, the God who created this universe also established how it works. He inspired the user’s manual and its principles so we could build stable lives on those principles. I’ve realized the folly of trying to lay a different foundation because that pits me against the One who laid the foundation of the everything. He also said in Isaiah 28:16–18:

“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.”

The NT reveals that God’s foundation is not stone and cement but His strong and eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:4 says we were chosen in Him “before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love” — in other words, our lives should perfectly fit on the foundation that was prepared for us.

This foundation includes biblical teaching as Ephesians 2:19–22 says:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

This teaching includes “a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” yet tells us to go on to maturity, building a holy life on that most holy foundation, Jesus Christ. One day, our works will be examined at the Bema (judgment seat of Christ) and the basis for their worth will be decided by the foundation upon which they were done:

1 Corinthians 3:10–15. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

GAZE AT HIS GLORY. Each week, I’ve a ‘focus’ on my calendar. This week it says I’m to be decisive, not double-minded, having the ability to finalize all decisions based on the will and ways of God. (James 1:5) His will and ways are the foundation for Christian living. I’ve been a Christian more than fifty years yet this still requires focus and relying on Him in thoughts and with prayer. My mind can so easily stray all over the place instead of fitting solidly on my Foundation. I’m so glad He is my Savior — I could never do it myself!