Coach’s Challenge – New Identity

   ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.’  (II Corinthians 5:17-20)

The moment we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we begin a new life with a new identity.  This is the amazing miracle of Jesus sacrifice on the cross for us, that we can have our sins forgiven, and our relationship with our Heavenly Father restored.  But unfortunately, many professing Christians want to hang on to their old life.  That is not what Jesus died for, or what He demands of us. Instead, we are told to take this message that a new life is possible, that God reconciled himself to the world through Christ, and that He no longer holds our sins against us, to everyone we encounter.  Because we have experienced the love and forgiveness of Jesus, and have now been filled with the precious Holy Spirit, we have been appointed as Christ’s ambassadors on earth.  When we speak to someone of our new life in Christ, it is as if God is making his appeal to that person through us, his appointed ambassador.  What an awesome privilege to represent Jesus on earth!  So, remember follower of Jesus; you died to the old life, now step out and claim your identity as a bold ambassador for the King.