Dear Reader,
Please allow me to make an addition to a thought from my last post about Christians being Ambassadors for Christ. Ambassadors represent the country of their citizenship within a foreign country. Dr. Edwin Reischauer was an ambassador from the United States, but he was not a citizen of Japan. He served under the laws of the United States while obeying the laws of Japan.
To make an analogy, Christians are ambassadors for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20) while living on earth, subject to the civil laws of the government, on earth – “submit to governing authorities; pay your taxes; give everyone what you owe him; if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor” (Romans 13) – but living under the spiritual laws of the kingdom of Heaven. Christ said “A new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34).
As Christians, our calling is to be Kingdom Ambassadors to this world though not citizens of this world. “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through; My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” (Jim Reeves)