18And all of this [that is, our new life in Christ] is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (NLT)
What a power-packed passage! God the Father was in Christ (“I and the Father are one,” Jesus said in John 10:30). In that union, He was reconciling the world to Himself – making it possible for my sins and your sins to no longer be counted against us. All the wrong I have done is forgiven. There once was a separation between me and God – separation of my own making. It is now gone. The curtain that separated us has been torn in two, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). I didn’t remove the separation, God did. He reconciled us; He took the initiative and brought about reconciliation.
“For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” Hallelujah. Pause to meditate on that sentence, replacing the word “world” with your name. Consider the immensity of what God has done. Think about the separation that has been done away with. You and I now have direct access to the holy, all-powerful God – and not just access, but the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with Him. God! My everything! Always beside me, always ready to lead and guide and comfort and teach and heal me. Always ready to rejoice over me and rejoice with me. Always wanting that reconciliation and not the separation.
God, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting our sins against us. “And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” God wants us to declare the message of reconciliation – through our words and deeds. Christ reconciled us to God through His words and deeds. Having been reconciled, God has given us the awesome privilege of declaring the message of reconciliation. “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us.” I am not speaking for myself when I share Christ with someone I meet. “We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’”
What an awesome responsibility. We are Christ’s ambassadors. We are “official envoys.” We are “diplomatic agents of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment.” That’s Merriam-Webster’s definition of who I am. What does this say about me?
I am…
- Official – that is, I am not operating on my own authority
- A diplomatic agent of the highest rank
- Accredited (by God) to a foreign government (this world) – not only am I not operating on my own authority, I have specifically been given credentials by God to represent Him to a foreign government
- A resident of this world – a temporary resident (hallelujah!)
- A representative of my King
- Given a special assignment
Which parts of the definition surprise you? Which excite you? Working through, pausing to consider, what it means to be an ambassador helps me properly define who I am and what I am to be doing. It gives me the opportunity to pause and consider my calling in a way that doesn’t happen when I simply read the passage of Scripture.
Paul continued with his description of what it means to be an ambassador in the next chapter of Ephesians (which wasn’t a separate chapter when he wrote it, simply a continuation of his letter). He begins by calling us “partners” with God. Our ambassadorship makes us partners – again, a reference to the intimate relationship God wants to have with us. We not only have administrative access, but partnership access. Let’s read more of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
1As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 2For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
3We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.
8We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us.
2 Corinthians 6:1-8a (NLT)
Paul begins by begging the Ephesians to fully embrace their calling of ambassadorship. “We beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it,” he pleads. If you were given a million dollars, would you simply ignore it? If you made the greatest discovery of your generation, would you then ignore it? In both cases, would nothing about your life change? Would you not tell anyone or bless anyone with your blessing? Paul says, “Today is the day to embrace what God has done for you – to live it and to speak about it to others.”
As ambassadors of Christ, our message is that of reconciliation. Our lifestyle must not hinder the message. “In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God.” Does your lifestyle open doors for the Gospel? “We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.” In a depraved world, those qualities will draw people to Christ. They might also get us beaten, put in prison, facing angry mobs, working ourselves to exhaustion, enduring sleepless nights and lacking food. In other words, they may lead to our persecution. Our response to that persecution will reveal the Kingdom we represent.
Mr. Ambassador, Madam Ambassador, what message from your King are you bringing us today?
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