APOSTLE EDWARD SSEWANYANA: AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

God is surely in our midst. There is no mistaking the awesome presence of God that is invading our land and sweeping through the schools, churches and fellowships. There is no way this presence is merely going to be contained in a small church auditorium. God is a God who cannot be contained in your small church container. King Solomon made it very clear in his dedication prayer of the temple in 1 Kings 8:27, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” If you think God can be contained in a small four walled structure, you are mistaken. God desires to break out of those four walls and break into the marketplace, the street, the bars and the heathen’s homes. It is about time for the church to wipe the cloudy windows of tradition with the water of the Word and see the ripe harvest of souls waiting for reapers. “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together” (John 4:35-36). Who is discipling you, is it the World or The Word? The world would prefer you to take out a number of hours per day to watch unprofitable movies and listen to demonic songs, whereas Jesus requires you to take a few hours preaching the gospel to the lost in your neighborhood. I believe the devil has brought the church into a comatose state where the work of the gospel is more of a dream than a reality. I may not be able to grab you by the lapels and shake you out of spiritual slumber but I can surely write a few weighty words to rouse up the sleeping giant in you.

Many people think that God cannot use them for anything. That is one of the greatest lies of the devil. It is like having a car and locking it up in the garage everyday until it rusts. There is great potential in you as a believer in Jesus since you have the greater One inside you. Apostle Paul makes it very clear in 2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this TREASURE in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”. There is a treasure God has placed in you that can benefit the whole world and make you a blessing to others. There is a power at work in you that is greater than any other power you have ever heard or seen in the world. It is a power greater than an atomic bomb or dynamite explosive. It is the power of the Holy Ghost, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you mortal body. Look at what Paul says to believers of all ages, “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places … But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (give life) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Eph 1:19, 20, Rom 8:11). God has promised to quicken or give life to your mortal body by the Holy Spirit. When you think of yourself as a dwarf or a grasshopper you will surely turn out to become one (Num 13:33). When you begin to overestimate you enemies and underestimate your capacity you are on the road of spiritual failure. Start seeing yourself the way God sees you, not the way man does. Human beings never lack words to speak and not all these words will be wholesome. If you base your life on what men say about you there is a great door opened to Satan to manipulate your life to his tune. Man’s words will always fail and fall to the ground but God’s word never fails, “yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom 3:4). God’s word is an everlasting rock upon which you can establish your dwelling. Even when the winds blow and the floods come, they will not overflow or destroy your house (Matt 7:24-27).

Last week we were looking at the fall of man and how man lost his initial position of dominion and rulership of this world. God actually refers to man as Elohim or gods in Psalms 82:6, “I have said, YE ARE GODS; and all of you are children of the most High,” this word Elohim is plural and is used most especially throughout the first chapters of the book of Genesis to describe God. This implies that God relinquished control of the earth to man. The moment God uttered the words of Genesis 1:26, Satan became the happiest creature in the universe. He now knew that if he could deceive man and entice him to disobey God and eat the fruit, the whole world would be his to command and rule. As we progress through the coming weeks of the Bible Study we shall see from the scriptures how our initial position of dominion over the earth in Adam has been restored through Jesus Christ. When God came down to earth in human form as Jesus Christ He showed us what it means to live out the Christian life and establish the Kingdom or rule of God on the earth. When Jesus ascended into heaven the bible tells us that He, “was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19). The reason why Jesus sat down in heaven after accomplishing His three years of earthly ministry is because he left another body to continue what he had begun. This body is what Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, and members in particular (individually).” The body that Jesus left on the earth after His ascension is you and me, the church on earth. Jesus is not going to come back physically and start preaching to your neighbour and disciple the nations. He is waiting for you to do it. I believe a converstion went on in heaven when Jesus had ascended there. Micheal must have asked Him, “How are you planning to continue the work of preaching the gospel and discipling the nations of the earth now that you are here in heaven”. Jesus must have said, “I have left that work in the hands of the men I spent my life training and also through those who will hear and believe through their ministry. I believe they shall accomplish the work of establishing my kingdom on the earth till the time I come to take them home.” With a quizzical look, Micheal must have said, “But what if they fail to accomplish this task and become absorbed in the worldly affairs of their common life, do you have an alternative plan?” Jesus must have turned to Micheal and lovingly yet confidently told him, “I trust them so much that I believe they will accomplish my will, I do not have any other alternative!” Heaven is counting on you! Jesus does not have “plan B” of sending some angels to do the Kingdom business on your behalf. He expects you to boldly step out and act in His full authority as His heavenly representative on the earth, “Now then WE ARE AMBASSADORS for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20). The angels are not His ambassadors but you are. Jesus has placed so much confidence in you that He has named you as His ambassador to this suffering planet. Notice that even when God wanted to ignite a Holy Ghost revival in the house of Cornelius, He did not use an angel to preach to the people. Rather He used an angel to tell Cornelius to call Apostle Simon Peter to declare the words of salvation to his house. “He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius... And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter… he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do” (Acts 10:3,5,6). As you continue reading this same chapter you will see the Lord pouring out His Spirit upon the Gentiles even before Peter had finished his sermon. Isn’t it interesting that the angel himself never preached the gospel to Cornelius. The angels of God are merely our servants (Heb 1:14). You and your servant can never be given the same assignment.

God chose to delegate His greatest assignment in all eternity to His sons and daughters and not to their servants. You are a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ and all of heaven is expecting you to take your rightful place and reign on this earth. Jesus is referred to as the King of Kings (Rev 17:14); this means that there are some sub-regents under Him. We are His body on the earth and we are meant to reign on this earth. You are a King (brothers and sisters inclusive) and are meant to reign and exercise Christ’s full power on the earth through the anointing that was upon Jesus. “And (Jesus) hast made us unto our God KINGS and priests: and we shall REIGN ON THE EARTH” (Rev 5:10). Take up your scepter and exercise the power of God as you heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leppers, cast out devils and preach the gospel (Matt 10:8). Heaven’s hope is in you, take up your sword mighty warrior!