As Ambassadors of Christ We Desire to Be Well Pleasing to God by Living to Him

In 2 Cor. 5:9 we see that Paul had an ambition, a strong determination, to gain the honor of being well-pleasing to God. As ambassadors of Christ, we need to seek to be well-pleasing to God by living to Him.

On the one hand, we shouldn’t be ambitious persons, especially ambitious for position or glory. But on the other hand, we need to have a strong ambition and determination to be pleasing to God, even make a vow taking the heavens and the earth as witnesses that we live to Him.

When we see the dying love of Christ, we are being constrained to no longer live to ourselves but to Him who loved us and gave Himself up for us (2 Cor. 5:14-15).

With such a realization and determination, our service to the Lord as His ambassadors will be our living to Him – not merely living for Him or by Him, but to Him.

Lord, cause us to be those who are determined to gain the honor of being well-pleasing to You! Lord, whether at home, at work, at school, on the street, alone or with other people, we want to live a life that is pleasing to You. We want to live to You, being constrained by Your love!

Determined to Gain the Honor of Being Well Pleasing to God

As believers, we have God’s eternal and immortal divine life in us, and we live by this life to be His ambassadors on the earth. As God’s ambassadors, we need to endeavor and strongly determine to please God all the time (2 Cor. 5:9).

Actually, every Christian has to come to a point in his life when he makes a decision, taking the heavens and the earth as his witnesses, that he is absolutely for Christ and he wants to live to Him.

There’s a growing desire in all the seeking lovers of Christ to please Him, consecrate to Him, and to have the ambition to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

We through law have died to the law that we might live to God (Col. 2:19). We are determined, as ambassadors of Christ, to be those pleasing to Him.

Whether we live or we die, whether we are at home or abroad, we want to determine that for the rest of our life, in our contact with people or with the saints, in our personal life and in our church life, we would gain the honor of being well-pleasing to God.

Our great and noble intention is to be zealous with a strong aim, striving earnestly to live a life and have a work that is pleasing to the Lord (Col. 1:10; Heb. 11:5-6).

Lord, as Your ambassadors here on earth we want to consecrate ourselves to You that You may live in us a life that is pleasing to God. Lord, we call heaven and earth to witness that this is our ambition – just to please You. We determine that from now on we would be those seeking the honor of being well-pleasing to God in everything!

Being Constrained by the Love of Christ to Live to Him

What does it mean that “we are constrained by the love of Christ”?

To be constrained here in 2 Cor. 5:14-15 is similar to being carried away by a tide of water – when a tsunami comes, and the tide of water hits the land, everything is carried away.

The love of Christ is as strong as a tide of water that overcomes us, sweeps us away, and carries us along. We must be persons that are carried away by the love of Christ.

He loved us so much that He died for us on the cross, and His dying love is like the rushing of great waters toward us, compelling us to live to God beyond our own control! How much we need to see God’s love and be flooded by it!

We are constrained by God’s love – His love presses us on all sides, holding us to one end, confining us to one object within certain bounds as within some narrow walls – that we may live to Him!

When we allow Christ to constrain us with His love, we will not do or say things because we are constrained by Christ’s love in the carrying out of God’s economy.

We don’t seek to “have a great work”, and to “become someone” or “accomplish something great” – we want to simply live to Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul sought and this is what we also earnestly desire, to live to Him in every aspect of our daily life.

Lord, constrain us with Your love. Show us Your love toward us, Lord, and cause us to be those who judge this – You died for us, therefore we all died, so that we may live to You! Lord, constrain us with Your mighty love to the point that we no longer live to ourselves but to You who love us!

What Does it Mean to Live to Him?

What does it mean to, Live to Him? Does it mean something similar to “living for Him” or “living by Him”?

To illustrate the difference we can look at the marriage life – if the wife lives “for the husband”, she is still apart from him and not one with him, doing things “because the husband wants her to” but not because she agrees with them. But if the wife lives “to the husband”, she will be one with him and do everything to please him, agreeing with him in all things.

We as believers are Christ’s lovers, those constrained by His love to live not only for Christ or by Christ but TO CHRIST. To live to Christ means that we are Christ’s and Christ is ours, and whatever we do, say, think, and are is to the Lord.

We don’t live to ourselves (Rom. 14:7) but to Him. Whether we work, serve, study, stay at home, raise up children, or anything we do – we live to Christ.

We no longer live under our own control, direction, and governing, and we no longer care for our own aims and goals.

The love of Christ constrains us and now we live to the Lord, absolutely under His control, His direction, and His governing, so that everything we do would fulfill the Lord’s purpose and His desire.

In all the aspects of our daily life, we need to seek to please the Lord – who loves us and constrains us with His love – by living to Him.

Lord, we don’t want to merely live for You or by You – we want to live to You! We seek to please You, Lord, in every aspect of our daily life. Your love constrains us, Lord, to give ourselves to You and to live to You. We want our life to be pleasing to You!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Benson’s sharing in the message and portions in Life-study of 2 Corinthians (msgs. 13-14), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Unique Work in the Lord’s Recovery, week 4 (entitled, Ambassadors of Christ with the Ministry of Reconciliation and Co-workers of God with an All-fitting Life).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The love of Christ is now constraining me / That I would love and love Him utterly. / His mighty love has touched me deep within / To consecrate my life and all to Him.
  # Thy mighty love, O God, constraineth me, / As some strong tide it presseth on its way, / Seeking a channel in my self-bound soul, / Yearning to sweep all barriers away.
  # We’ve seen the vision of Christ and the church. / Reckoned the cost; all things are but loss. / Will pay the price — give all of our lives; / We’re burning bridges, left the world behind. / On God’s economy our hearts are set / We’re living a life… / On God’s economy our hearts are set, / We’ll live a life of no regrets.
• Pictures credit: 2 Cor. 5:9 and 2 Cor. 5:14-15.