As ambassadors for Christ, we have been entrusted with the ministry and message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). This calling flows directly from the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus before His ascension:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
Our marching orders are clear - to go and make disciples by proclaiming the good news of salvation through Christ. The apostle Paul exemplified this ambassadorial role, viewing himself as a minister of the new covenant bearing the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 3:6, 5:18). Let us examine what this ministry entails according to 2 Corinthians 5.
The Message of Reconciliation
"In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19).
The Gospel's core is the reconciliation between God and man made possible through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. As Paul explains, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sinless Son of God took upon Himself the penalty for our sins, satisfying God's wrath and justice, so that we who place our faith in Him might be forgiven and brought into right relationship with God.
This message addresses the fundamental problem facing all humanity - our state of alienation and hostility towards God due to sin (Colossians 1:21). Paul vividly describes our condition before coming to Christ: "You were dead in your trespasses and sins... following the prince of the power of the air... carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:1-3). Because of our rebellion against God, we were spiritually dead, enslaved to the devil and fleshly desires, and objects of divine condemnation.
But God, being rich in mercy and love, made a way for us to be reconciled through the death of His Son (Ephesians 2:4-5). As our substitute, Christ bore our sins and the resulting curse on the cross (Galatians 3:13). By faith in His finished work, we are forgiven, redeemed, and restored to fellowship with God (Colossians 1:21-22). What was formerly a hopeless situation has been gloriously reversed - we who were once alienated from God and hostile in mind towards Him have now been "reconciled in his body of flesh by his death" (Colossians 1:21-22).
This is the incomparable good news entrusted to us as Christ's ambassadors. As those who have experienced this reconciliation firsthand, we are called and equipped to proclaim it to the unsaved world still at enmity with God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
The Urgency of the Message
"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)
Given the grave spiritual condition of the unredeemed and the extraordinary provision of salvation in Christ, the church has been given an urgent commission. With apostolic zeal, we are to implore, beseech, and appeal to those who remain unreconciled to God to be saved. As ambassadors, we represent Christ Himself, and through us, God makes His appeal to a fallen world.
This is no mere philosophical discussion or academic exercise but a passionate plea motivated by the reality of divine judgment. Those who reject the offer of reconciliation in Christ remain under condemnation, with the terrifying prospect of eternal separation from God awaiting (John 3:18, 2 Thessalonians 1:9). The apostles never softened or minimized this sobering truth but boldly declared it as the impetus for repentance (Acts 17:30-31, Romans 2:5, 2 Peter 3:9). Love for lost souls compelled them to evangelize with urgency.
Paul embodied this mindset of holy urgency, determined to persuade people because of the fear of the Lord he was under (2 Corinthians 5:11). He considered himself a "divine envoy...in deadly peril," recognizing his personal accountability before God to fulfill his ambassadorial charge (Ephesians 6:20). With tears and anguish over the lostness of his kinsmen, he longed to see them reconciled to God through Christ (Romans 9:1-3, 10:1). This burden for the salvation of souls motivated his tireless evangelistic efforts and sufferings for the Gospel's sake (Colossians 1:24-29).
This same mentality of urgency and zeal for evangelism must grip the modern church. We cannot be indifferent or casual, minimizing the gravity of eternal judgment. With broken hearts over the unredeemed's condemned state and impending doom, we must plead with them fervently to receive the message of reconciliation and be saved (Jude 1:22-23). If we genuinely comprehend the glories of salvation and the horrors awaiting the unsaved, we will labor relentlessly and sacrificially to see people reconciled to God.
A Ministry of Reconciliation
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
Those who have been reconciled to God through Christ have been given a profound privilege - to serve as ministers of that same reconciliation to others. Just as we have moved from death to life, from darkness to light, from condemnation to righteousness through the Gospel, we are called to be catalysts for that spiritual transition in others.
This reality should shape our mindset, motives, and methods in evangelism. We are not promoting a man-made philosophy or marketing a product but participating in the very work of God to reconcile sinners to Himself. To take this lightly or make it a secondary focus of the church would be to diminish the supreme calling we have received. The Father sent Jesus Himself on this preeminent mission "to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10). As His ambassadors, we have the immense honor of joining Him in that saving work.
This high calling demands thorough preparation and equipping on our part. To be effective ministers of reconciliation, we must steep ourselves in studying God's Word, growing in our understanding of the Gospel's provision and mankind's predicament apart from it. We should familiarize ourselves with the various objections the unbelieving world raises against the Gospel and be prepared to provide reasonable and compelling answers (1 Peter 3:15). Time in prayer is critical to have our hearts gripped by God's passion for the lost and to depend on His wisdom and power in our evangelistic efforts.
Consistent cultivation of our calling as ministers of reconciliation is also vital. We should intentionally build relationships with unbelievers, earning a fair hearing for the Gospel through our integrity, kindness, and good deeds (1 Peter 2:12). In our interactions, we ought to be constantly alert to opportunities to steer conversations toward spiritual matters and to proclaim the message of reconciliation with Christ. Whether through personal conversations, public preaching, tract distribution, or other outreaches, we must be faithful ambassadors delivering the appeal as we have received it.
Ultimately, we recognize that only God can open blind eyes and remove the veil over hardened hearts (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6). Our role is to be faithful ministers, sowing and watering the seed of the Gospel wherever we go and trusting God to give the increase according to His sovereign timing (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). But we dare not shrink back from this charge, for the consequences are too grave - defaulting on our ambassadorial duty consigns lost souls to perish in their unreconciled state. Let us renew our commitment to being ambassadors for Christ and ministers of this glorious reconciliation.
Becoming a New Creation in Christ
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
At the heart of the ministry of reconciliation is the proclamation that anyone in Christ is now a new creation - their old sinful nature has passed away. They have taken on a new spiritual identity and reality in Him. This radical inward transformation is the essence of true conversion and life in Christ.
The New Testament describes this new creation experience in various ways. We are "born again" through the living and abiding word of God (1 Peter 1:23). The Holy Spirit causes us to be "regenerated" from spiritual death to newness of life (Titus 3:5). Our minds are "renewed" to have the mind of Christ (Ephesians 4:23, 1 Corinthians 2:16). We become "new self" created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (Ephesians 4:24). In short, conversion involves a complete spiritual overhaul - our core desires, thoughts, behaviors and identities are radically transformed by God's power.
This inward renewal through the Gospel is beautifully portrayed in Ezekiel 36:25-27: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean...And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you...And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." What was formerly dead in sin is now washed, recreated, and indwelt by God's Spirit to walk in obedience. The hopeless sinner becomes a new creation in Christ with a godly heart and righteous desires.
Paul vividly testifies to experiencing this metamorphosis himself. Though formerly a violent enemy of the church, ravaging it and hostile to Christ, the grace of God overwhelmed him (1 Timothy 1:13, Acts 9:1-2). On the Damascus road, he encountered the risen Savior he had been persecuting, and through that divine intervention, was born again to new life in Christ (Acts 9:3-6, Galatians 1:15-16). Saul passed away, and in his place was a new creation named Paul, called an apostle to proclaim the Gospel he had once tried to destroy (Acts 9:15).
Like Paul, every true believer has undergone this spiritual rebirth and transformation upon placing faith in Christ. We can testify to God's radical changes in our hearts, minds, and lifestyles as we have been recreated into new people in Him. As we tell our stories and share our testimonies, we are, in effect, proclaiming the new creation realities that are at the heart of the Gospel of reconciliation.
The depth and permanence of this new creation in Christ is astounding. Regardless of our former ways and identities in sin, for all who are in Christ, "The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We need not remain hostage to our fallen nature and past failures. In Christ, we are no longer defined by sin, guilt, and shame; we have become entirely new creations with hopeful futures in Him. This is the glorious promise of the Gospel that we proclaim.
A Reconciled Life
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them..." (2 Corinthians 5:18-19a)
As ambassadors entrusted with this ministry of reconciliation, it is critical that we live daily in light of the reconciled status we have received through Christ. Our message and lives must consistently bear witness to the power of the Gospel to transform lives and heal our broken relationship with God.
Far too often, Christians fail to grasp the fullness of reconciliation we have been granted. We assent mentally to being forgiven but still walk in guilt, shame, and bondage to sin. We know we have been freed from sin's penalty but functionally remain enslaved to its power in our thought lives and behaviors. In essence, we remain alienated from God in our experience even though we have been reconciled to Him judicially through Christ's atoning work.
But this disjunction between our objective, reconciled position in Christ and our subjective experience greatly hinders our ambassadorial effectiveness. It robs us of the joy, freedom, and confident expectations that come from living fully in light of our new identity. It undercuts our witness to the Gospel's comprehensive salvation, which heals us spiritually and relationally, not just legally. And it needs to model the reality of being the new creation we are called to proclaim.
If we are to be faithful ambassadors, we must intentionally live out and practice the reconciliation we have received in Christ - appropriating our new identity and the power to walk in it daily. Positionally, we must rest in our status as the very righteousness of God in Christ, totally forgiven and accepted in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Experientially, we must reckon the old, sinful nature crucified with Christ and actively put on our new self created for righteous living (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:24).
This fullness of reconciliation starts by believing and resting in the accomplished work of the cross. When Jesus declared, "It is finished" before dying, He had secured total victory - sin was atoned for, Satan defeated, and the way to restored fellowship was secured (John 19:30). We dishonor this triumphant work when we continue to wallow in guilt, shame, and bondage as if we remain unreconciled. As recipients of this great salvation, we must put our faith in what Christ has definitively achieved, considering ourselves "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11).
From affirming our reconciled status in Christ, we can progressively experience freedom from sin's power by yielding to the indwelling Spirit. Just as we were formerly enslaved to our sinful nature, so now by the Spirit, we can put sin to death and walk in righteous obedience (Romans 8:13). Rather than perpetually struggling through self-effort, we access grace to live the reconciled life by resting in Christ's finished work and continuously relying on the Spirit's power (Galatians 5:16).
As we discipline ourselves to live out of this reconciled identity in increasing measure, it will transform our relationships -first and foremost with God Himself. We will enjoy deeper intimacy and communion with our Heavenly Father from whom we were formerly estranged. Our fellowship will be marked by confidence to draw near, transparency, and vulnerability from having nothing to hide as forgiven children (Ephesians 3:12, Hebrews 4:16). While reverencing God's holiness, we can also experience His restorative love, freeing us from shame, fear, and defensiveness toward Him.
Authentic Living as reconciled new creations in other relationships will remove relational barriers and draw others toward the Reconciler. Our speech and conduct will reflect the purity, honesty, grace, and love befitting those who have been reconciled (Ephesians 4:25-32). We will be marked by compassion, kindness, humility, and patience, bearing with others as Christ bore with us and eagerly extending forgiveness (Colossians 3:12-13). The watching world will take notice of these transformed lives lived out of the reality of reconciliation we proclaim.
Furthermore, living authentically as reconciled ones frees us to pursue kingdom ambitions without reserves or inhibitions. No longer bound by petty pursuits, selfish ambition, or fragmented loyalties, we can pour out our lives with singular devotion in service of the Gospel we have been entrusted with. We become fully available as yielded ambassadors to go wherever and do whatever is needed to advance this ministry of reconciliation.
Ultimately, living out our reconciled identity bears powerful witness to the truth we have received as ambassadors. It gives weight and credibility to our message as people observe transformed lives that make the Gospel plausible and attractive. When our proclamation and practice harmonize, we become faithful and effective Christ representatives. May we avail ourselves of the fullness of reconciliation purchased for us on the cross so that we can faithfully discharge our ambassadorial duties with integrity.
Our Compelling Motivation
"The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died..." (2 Corinthians 5:14)
Behind all our efforts as ministers of reconciliation, burn the fervent, driving motivation of the love of Christ that controls us. This blazing reality of God's redeeming love, demonstrated at the cross, compels us onward as His ambassadors. All we do flows from hearts gripped by the overwhelming truth that "one has died for all."
Christ's love for us is staggering to comprehend, reaching down into our state of rebellion, spiritual death, and hostility while we were still sinners, ungodly enemies of God (Romans 5:6-10). Though we were the offending parties who had violated our relationship with our Creator through high-handed sin, God took the initiative to make peace. He did so not merely by declaring amnesty but by taking our just penalty upon Himself in the person of His Son.
The depths of Christ's love are beautifully expressed in His willingness to be treated as sin incarnates on our behalf: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sinless, perfect Son of God was made to be sin itself - the bearer and embodiment of all our vile thoughts, deeds and evil motives which separate us from God. On the cross, as the collective sin of humanity was laid on Him, He endured the infinite wrath and judgment of the Father that we deserved.
This unfathomable self-sacrifice is the blazing apex of God's love, which should control and compel us as ambassadors. The sovereign Lord of glory would take on human form, bear our sin and shame in His body on the tree, and be forsaken by the Father while paying sin's wage - all to reconcile repentant rebels to Himself! Paul expounds on this unfathomable love: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). The eternal Son impoverished Himself of all His heavenly glory, enduring the utter lack of separation from God to impart to us the spiritual riches of His righteousness.
This overwhelming reality and "the love of Christ" displayed at such immeasurable cost must "control us" as His ambassadors. We are held captive by this love, our minds and hearts gripped and governed by the truth of what our Savior has done. This powerful constraint keeps us anchored to our supreme duty of imploring people to be reconciled to God through the Gospel. How could we neglect or abandon this calling when we comprehend the unfathomable love that secured it?
This motivation fueled the apostle Paul's tireless labors and suffering for Christ's cause. Despite being reviled, persecuted, beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of reconciliation, he remained driven by this love that controlled him (2 Corinthians 5:13-14). So consumed was he by the Lord's love that he considered himself behaving perfectly sanely, living fully for Christ who died for him (2 Corinthians 5:13-15). All self-preserving interests faded, given Christ's self-sacrifice on his behalf and his duty to persuade others of this truth.
Ultimately, this recognition of the universal problem of spiritual death that love sought to remedy kept Paul going (2 Corinthians 5:14). Because the one Man, Jesus, died for all, in God's reckoning, all people died in Him as their substitute. The wages of death were fully paid, the power of sin over humanity was broken, and reconciliation with God was secured - if people only received it by faith. Paul could never stop imploring people to respond because he saw that the Son of God already died for them.
This same lodestar of Christ's love for us must be our constant motivation and driving force as ambassadors. Any affront we endure, any trial or hardship suffered, pales compared to what our Lord embraced on our behalf. Suppose He was willing to be bankrupted of all dignity, subjected to horrific abuse, and plunged into the font of the Father's infinite wrath on our behalf. How can we withhold any sacrifice or labor from His service? When we are tempted to lose heart, enthusiasm, or courage in our ambassadorial work, we need only return to fix our gaze on the indescribable sufferings He embraced for our sake.
Beyond keeping us faithfully devoted to the ministry of reconciliation, Christ's love for us also provides the heart and method for carrying it out. We are to imitate the incarnate love of God by sacrificing ourselves for others, even as Christ did for us (1 John 3:16). With tender compassion and care, we are to bear with people patiently, speaking the truth in love and putting their spiritual interests ahead of our own (Ephesians 4:15, Philippians 2:3-4). Every human being, no matter how marred by sin or hostile toward God, is infinitely precious in God's sight - otherwise, Christ would not have died for them. Treating all with the same merciful patience God showed us, we make the appeal to be reconciled in the very manner Christ did.
What powerful motivation fuels our sacred duty as ambassadors! May the vision of Christ's love for us proclaimed on the cross fill our mind's horizon and control our movements. Like Paul, let us be governed by this supreme reality, perpetually standing in awe of God's love incarnate. As we proclaim the ministry of reconciliation, may the fragrance of gratitude and zeal over our pardon ever mark our attitude and inspire all we do. We are infinitely debtors to this love, willingly bringing our all as living sacrifices in response and pleading with others to receive the peace secured at such cost. Only one life will be too small a return!
The Panoramic Vision of Reconciliation
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh...So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NRSV)
Paul provides a critical perspective through which we must view the ministry of reconciliation—refusing to regard anyone merely from a human, worldly point of view but seeing all people through the lens of what God has accomplished in Christ. For all in Christ, the panoramic reality is one of the re-created people and a re-created cosmos in which all the old has passed away, and the new has come.
From a fleshly point of view, we see only the temporal externals and surface-level circumstances that blind us to deeper spiritual truths. We categorize people into demographics, judge worth based on appearance or status, and process them through the distorted lenses of prejudice and partiality (James 2:1-4). We filter the world through political ideologies, prioritize material comfort, and measure significance by worldly wealth, power, and popularity metrics. All of this conformity to fleshly patterns nearsightedly misses the eternal purposes of God and the radical re-creationary work He is accomplishing in Christ.
But with the eyes of our heart enlightened by the Spirit, we start to perceive the panoramic vision of all things being reconciled and restored under Christ's supreme reign (Ephesians 1:18, Colossians 1:20). We see first and foremost people's profound need for reconciliation with their Creator, the brokenness and alienation of lives marred by sin's scourge. This perspective of their true lostness removes any fleshly sense of superiority as we recognize our shared depravity apart from Christ.
Beyond that, we begin to see every person as an eternal being created in God's image, infinitely precious to Him, and a potentially renewed object of His grace. In the same way, God did not see us according to our fleshly condition but gave His Son to redeem us; we look past the temporal externals to regard every person as a soul beloved by God and worth the price Christ paid. We see them no longer in terms of race, socioeconomic status, or any other human distinction but first and foremost as fellow image bearers (Colossians 3:11).
With spiritual vision, we also see glimpses of God's restorative work already beginning in those born again as new creations. Our regard is not based on what we see outwardly but on the profound internal realities transpiring through the Spirit's transforming power. In brothers and sisters in whom Christ dwells, we recognize children of God being renewed in His image. And even in unbelievers, we perceive potentiality - these are people for whom Christ died, as ones predestined to become His radiant bride and co-heirs of the cosmos He has reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:19, Romans 8:17).
Perhaps most incredibly, this panoramic vision enables us to perceive the new creation being birthed through the cosmic redemptive work of Christ. All things are being reconciled, recreated, and restored under His headship as the firstborn of the new creation (Colossians 1:15-20, Revelation 21:5). The material universe itself is being brought back into harmonious order after being marred and disordered through sin's intrusion. The Spirit of God is progressively renewing all of creation to exhibit unhindered the resplendent glory and life it was initially intended to display (Romans 8:19-22). As ambassadors with this panoramic spiritual vision, we perceive the cosmic scope of Christ's reconciling work restoring harmony between all things in heaven and on earth (Colossians 1:20).
This grand perspective keeps our ministry grounded in the big-picture realities of what God is accomplishing in Christ. We do not become consumed with passing fads or embroiled in fruitless cultural skirmishes. Our focus remains fixed on the eternal purposes - to see lives, communities, nations, and ultimately all of creation reconciled to their Creator and function according to His original harmonious intent. We invite people into that magnificent renewal project as new creations in Christ.
Keeping this panoramic vision also prevents us from becoming myopic or fragmented in our understanding of reconciliation. We recognize that the Gospel does not just reconcile individuals to God but begins to heal all fractures and divisions caused by sin's alienating effects. Genuine conversion to Christ inevitably leads to reconciliation between all groups divided and set against one another through ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural barriers.
The ministry of reconciliation is about demolishing the dichotomizing dividing walls of hostility that have splintered the human race through pride, fear, and mutual animosity and distrust (Ephesians 2:14). In the church, we see the partial but glorious fulfillment of this already occurring as Jew and Gentile, slave and free, men and women from all backgrounds are being made one new humanity in Christ (Galatians 3:28). Despite vast historical alienation, we are being reconciled across human-constructed hostilities through the cross and formed into one reconciled community (Ephesians 2:16).
But this is merely a foretaste of the ultimate reconciliation still to come when all things are gathered together under Christ's headship (Ephesians 1:10). The complete reconciliation will involve harmony between all created beings and even reconciliation between the physical and spiritual realms as heaven and earth are re-united under Christ's rule (Ephesians 1:10, Colossians 1:20). No square inch of creation will remain tainted, discordant or unreconciled, as the panoramic scope of Christ's work progressively restores all things to right relationship.
This is the grand, cosmic vision of reconciliation we uphold and into which we invite people as ambassadors. Our labors are unto nothing less than the full re-integration of both spiritual and material realms into the perfected shalom community originally designed by the Creator. In this light, even our most minor evangelistic efforts to reconcile alienated souls to God through the Gospel take on supreme significance. We become catalysts participating in God's great cosmic reconciliation and renewal until sin's diminishing effects are finally and permanently undone.
What staggering purposes we have been entrusted with! Our minds and methods as ambassadors must be continually expanded and realigned to these panoramic dimensions of the Gospel. We cannot afford to be constricted by small perspectives, petty concerns, or fragmented strategies. We must allow the Spirit to elevate our vision to these glorious, cosmic realities of reconciliation and the new creation being birthed through our labors. May this grand vision of what God is accomplishing in Christ continually fill our hearts and empower us as His duly appointed ambassadors.
In Closing
We have been granted the supreme honor and privilege of serving as ambassadors for Christ in His ministry of reconciliation. Through us, God's appeal goes forth into the spiritually darkened world, imploring people to be reconciled to Him through the Gospel. Just as we were objects of divine mercy, receiving spiritual rebirth and the righteousness of God through faith in Christ, we now act as heralds of this same message of peace.
Though formerly estranged from our Creator and living in hostility toward Him like all people, we have been reconciled through Christ's atoning death. We can testify as new creations in whom the old has passed away, and the new has come through spiritual regeneration. With transformed minds and identities, our lives now witness the radical renewal secured through the cross.
This glorious transformation compels us forward as ministers of reconciliation, our hearts gripped by the love of Christ, who controlled His sacrifice on our behalf. Seeing with panoramic spiritual vision people's profound need and the cosmic restoration being accomplished in Christ, we are propelled outward by love to share this good news. Our service as ambassadors is unto nothing less than seeing all fractured realms and alienated lives brought back into harmonious relationships with their Maker through the cross.
As we faithfully discharge this ambassadorial commission, we impact eternity for others and walk more fully in the transformational realities of the reconciliation we have received. We increasingly experience the freedom, wholeness, and intimacy with God secured for us and manifest the Christlike character of those who have been reconciled. May we ever excel in this ministry of reconciliation, pleading with people to receive the eternal peace purchased through Jesus' blood at infinite cost. There is no higher nor more compelling duty than being ambassadors for the Christ through whom God reconciled the world to Himself.
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