We as Christians have a major duty to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are His representatives on Earth, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are ambassadors, agents in Christ's service meant to bring reconciliation to God through the Gospel. We are heirs with Christ, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ--if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:16-17). We are heirs of God, His children and so we has a responsibility to uphold his dignity and show people the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Ever so often we soil the dignity of the Divine with our cognitive dissonance. We think we can be saints and sinners at same time, enjoying benefits of former without sacrificing the pleasures of the latter. This is error, for we are called to be ambassadors, and if we are representatives on Christ on Earth do we want to bring glory or shame to His Name? While certainly there is forgiveness and absolution for our sins in Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:22, Ephesians 1:5-8), we must remember that it is "His (Jesus) reputation on the line, not ours." (Pastor Manuel). When the world watches us Christians, they see Christ and His Kingdom, and every action, every choice, and every risk we take will reflect on the Lord Jesus. There are so many people who are experiencing dissolutionment with the Church because of the grievances, scandals, and disconnect from Biblical example in Acts. There are people because of their treatment by priests and pastors, because of nefarious nuns in Catholic Academia and mean monks will not tolerate hearing about Christ because they carry a pollution of His Image in their hearts and minds because of the wrongful and unchristian treatment they received.
There is a heavy burden and responsibility on us as Christians to be reflect Christ and His Kingdom, to represent the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are not alone, left to our own energies, stamina, resolve, and power to achieve this, nay the Lord Jesus lives in us (Ephesians 3:17, Colossians 1:27) and He will lead us and help us best represent His love (1 John 4:8), His Justice (Revelation 21:10), His Closeness (Matthew 28:20), and His Majesty (1 Timothy 6:15). There is a tension in our Lord, on one hand He is our personal Savior and God who wants to be close and intimate with us individually, and on the other is the Sovereign and Glorified God who deserves reverence, respect, and obedience. This is duo-image of God, Lion (King) and Lamb (Sacrifice). The problem is that most institutions represent one apart from the other, churches or leaders of the Lion make God distance, austere, impersonal, and harsh, while those who hold only the banner of Lamb make Him appear less divine, never angry, perpetually peaceful, and devoid of high standards. Jesus Christ is the Lion and Lamb, He is our personal and close Savior Friend, but also He is our Sovereign Father. The best way to understand the balance is if you are son or daughter of the king as St. Paul established, the children of the King are close to Him and have personal relationship and passion, but at same time they remember their father is King, and he deserves reverence, respect and obedience. Sadly in the Charismatic circles many people emphasize the Lamb without the Lion, and so people get obsessed with only feeling Christ's presence and moving in wonders, while those who emphasize the Lion over the Lamb create an imperial Jesus that has no compassion, connection, or closeness to His creation. The Roman Catholic Church is famous for doing the latter, making Jesus into an Emperor and King who needs holy courtiers or saints to go between Him and his followers on Earth, but Scripture disagrees, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5), "Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us," (Romans 8:34), and "For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory" (Colossians 1:27).
We must take it one step further. Our relationship with Christ goes beyond being co-heirs and children, but into marriage. We are married to Jesus Christ, "For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth," (Isaiah 54:5), "For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ," (2 Corinthians 11:2), and, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself." (Revelation 19:7). Even the name of the Revelation, the last book of the Bible is Apocalypse which means "Unveiling" when a bride removes her veil to be marry the Bridegroom, and so it is about Jesus coming to wed Himself to us in the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. So that male readers do not misunderstand, the context of marriage, of us being the Bride of Christ does not equate to sex, but tells us how close we are in relationship suppose to be to our Savior Jesus, and it returns to this idea of representing our spouse, Jesus Christ to others on this Earth. You see, when you love your spouse dearly, you want to honor them and show them respect, but our husband is God and King of Kings, so this means we have Sovereignty is involved.
We must be mindful that we represent our God, Savior, King, Lord, Friend, Father, Husband, and Maker in everything we do. Our responsibility is to be an example of Christ and spread His Gospel (Good News) of Salvation to all Peoples (Matthew 28:19, Matthew 24:14). The Gospel is however hindered we continue to live sinfully (not talking about stumbling). Remember without becoming a nervous wreck or becoming to austere, that you represent the Redeemer and Ruler of the Universe. There should be depth of closeness and dignity, passion and propriety. People spend so much time trying to give a good reputation to their company, business, brand, and even legacy, but what about the Lord? Does He not deserve honor, glory, and dignity to shine in us, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship/And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2). Finally, we are suppose to share Gospel with all people and the promise is the End and Return of Christ, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14); and we are not make disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19). We are charged with this solemn, holy, and glorious duty, to carry the Gospel and share it with all people and to live as sacrifice, as ambassadors representing Christ and reconciling mankind through the Gospel, "For God So loved the world he gave His Only Begotten (Sent from, not made) Son (Jesus Christ), and whosover believes in Him (Jesus *Who died for all peoples sins on the cross and rose from dead*) shall not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16) and "If you confess Jesus is Lord (God, God of Israel, Jehovah) and believe God raised Him from the dead you shall be saved. For it by confessing and believing in your heart that a person is saved." (Romans 10:9-10).
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