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One who has been appointed by God to be a deputy authority must be a proper representative of God—12:3-8; 16:1-5, 28; 2 Cor. 5:20:
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In Exodus and in Numbers 12 and 16, Moses represented God in a proper way.
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We need to learn a serious lesson from the one time that Moses failed to represent God—20:2-13:
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In striking the rock twice and in calling the people rebels, Moses did not sanctify God in the sight of the people of Israel—vv. 10-12:
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To sanctify God is to make Him holy, that is, separate from all the false gods; to fail to sanctify God is to make Him common—v. 12.
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In being angry with the people and in wrongly striking the rock twice, Moses failed to sanctify God—vv. 10-11.
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In being angry when God was not angry, Moses failed to represent God rightly in His holy nature, and in striking the rock twice, he did not keep God's word in His economy—vv. 10-12.
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Moses offended both God's holy nature and His divine economy; he condemned the people as rebels, but he was the one who rebelled against God's word—vv. 10, 24; 27:12-14.
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In all that we say and do concerning God's people, our attitude must be according to God's holy nature, and our actions must be according to His divine economy.
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The apostle Paul was an ambassador of Christ, representing God—2 Cor. 5:20:
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A new covenant minister is one who has been authorized with the heavenly authority to represent the highest authority—3:6; 5:20.
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Paul exercised his apostolic authority not for ruling over the believers but for building them up—10:8; 13:10; 1:24.
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Paul exercised the authority inherent in his apostleship by teaching, by engaging in spiritual warfare, by moving within the measure of God's rule, and by his jealousy for Christ over the believers—1 Cor. 4:17; 2 Cor. 10:3-4, 13; 11:2.
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A person who represents God rightly must submit to authority (Matt. 8:8-9), realize that in himself he has no authority (28:18; 2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10), and be a person in resurrection, living in the resurrection life of Christ (1:9; 4:14; Num. 17:1-10).
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 5:20 On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats you through us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God.10:13 But we will not boast beyond our measure but according to the measure of the rule which the God of measure has apportioned to us, to reach even as far as you.
The apostle Paul was an ambassador of Christ. An ambassador is one who represents the highest authority….The highest authority in this universe is God, and God has given all authority in heaven and on earth to Christ (Matt. 28:18). God has appointed Christ to be the King of kings and the Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14). Today Jesus is the Christ, the Lord of all, the highest authority. For this highest authority there is the need of some ambassadors on this earth who are qualified to represent Him. The Lord's ministry is not a matter of merely being a preacher or a teacher but of being one who is authorized with the heavenly authority, representing the highest authority in the whole universe. First, we need to be captured by Christ, and eventually, we need to become a representative of Christ on this earth to deal with the earthly nations as an ambassador. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 2,”An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” p. 171)
Today's Reading
Second Corinthians 10:8 indicates that in the past Paul did say something to the Corinthians concerning his apostolic authority. Apostolic authority is not for ruling over the believers, as in the natural sense, but for building them up.[In verse 13], the apostle is bold, but he is not bold without limit. This shows that he is under the restriction of the Lord. His boasting is according to the measure of the rule which the God of measure, the ruling God, has apportioned to him. Paul's ministry to the Gentile world, including Corinth, was according to the measure of God (Eph. 3:1-2, 8; Gal. 2:8). Hence, his boast is also within this limit, not without measure.
We should not think that Paul was so spiritual that he was altogether different from us. Even he had to learn to take the Lord's restriction. For example, Paul wanted to go to Rome, but he did not expect to go there in bonds. Furthermore, he told the believers at Rome that he expected to go to Spain by way of them (Rom. 15:24). Paul never went to Spain, and he arrived in Rome in bonds. Those bonds were the Lord's measure, His limitation…. God led him there as a prisoner….God is sovereign, and whatever happened to Paul was under God's sovereignty. This means that Paul's bonds and imprisonment were God's sovereign restriction. Paul was willing to be subject to God's measuring. He neither transgressed this restriction nor rebelled against it.
In the church service we need to realize that God has only measured out so much to us, and we should not overstretch ourselves. We need to know our limitation, our jurisdiction, and not go beyond it into others' territory. Like Paul, we should move and act according to our rule, that is, according to how much God has measured to us.
Paul knew from the Macedonian call he received that Corinth was under his rule, his measure. We know from Acts 16 that Paul became clear that God had called him to Europe. He came to Achaia with the gospel of Christ according to God's ruling. Both Macedonia and Achaia were under Paul's rule. Thus, the Judaizers should not have come into this territory to cause trouble. This was the feeling deep within Paul as he was writing these verses.
In this section of 2 Corinthians Paul is vindicating his apostolic authority. This authority is related to jurisdiction. If Paul did not have any jurisdiction, what would be his authority? In his vindication of his apostolic authority, Paul conducted himself so as not to overstep the boundary of his measure. He is a good example of a person fully under God's restriction. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 445-447, 451-453)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 50-57; CWWL, 1967, vol. 2,”An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” ch. 6