AMBASSADORS OF RECONCILIATION

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 31, 2021 under 2021 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; January 31, 2021 from 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Theme: We are ambassadors who declare the good news of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we come to a passage that tells us about a great work of God. The declaration of this great work is the declaration of the best news that the world could ever hear. It’s news that is, in fact, so astonishing and wonderful that we would almost dare not believe it unless it had been told us with the authority of God Himself.

And what’s more, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; the honor of declaring this great work to the world has been given to you and me.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, the apostle Paul wrote;

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

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This passage is about two very important themes. The first of those themes is ‘reconciliation’. The word ‘reconciliation’—in one form or another—shows up five times in this short, four-verse passage. It describes to us the wonderful news that God has reconciled this sinful and fallen world to Himself through Jesus Christ. That’s the great work that God has done that needs to be proclaimed.

But the other important theme in this passage is what God has made you and me to be in relationship to that great work. He has made us, who He has reconciled to Himself by faith, to then become His ‘ambassadors’ who declare the good news of reconciliation to the rest of the world. Paul makes reference to our privileged task five times in this passage; saying that we have been given “the ministry of reconciliation”; or that He has committed to us “the word of reconciliation”; or that we are “ambassadors of Christ”; or that God ‘pleads’ to the world “through us”; or that we are to “implore” people “on Christ’s behalf” to “be reconciled to God”.

Verse 18, then, shows us (1) what great thing it is that God has done (that is, reconcile the world to Himself), verse 19 shows us (2) what the terms are upon which He did it (that is, through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross), and verses 20-21 shows us (3) what the task is that He has given us as a result (that is, to appeal to people—on Jesus’ behalf—to be reconciled to God).

Have you ever longed for a sense of purpose in this world? I’m sure you have. Well; this passage shows you—if you have trusted Jesus and are now redeemed by God’s grace—that you have great purpose! In fact, there couldn’t be a greater and more honorable task in this world than that of declaring the good news that sinners—who had been enemies to God—are now reconciled to Him and are invited to come to Him. You are saved because someone else fulfilled that task toward you; and now that task is yours to fulfill toward others. It’s a task that will result in eternal praise to God.

So then; as this passage shows us, we are ambassadors who declare the good news of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ.

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Now; before we consider this passage in more detail, let’s take a few moments to understand better the two themes that are taken up in it: that is God’s work of ‘reconciliation’ and our work of proclaiming it as His ‘ambassadors’.

First, let’s understand the concept of ‘reconciliation’.

Sometimes, when we say that we are ‘reconciled’ to a thing or an event, we mean that we have accepted it or have come to an internal sense of peace about it; as if we have ‘reconciled ourselves’ to a trial or a circumstance in life. We might say that that’s reconciliation in an ‘emotional’ sense. At other times, when we say that two things are reconciled by us, we mean that we have brought two things together that seem logically contradictory to each other; as when we try to ‘reconcile’ our bank statement to our checkbook register. We might call that reconciliation in an ‘objective’ sense. But the highest and most important meaning of reconciliation is that of bringing about a state of peace between two enemies. It happens when whatever it may have been that caused the enmity between two parties is removed, and all the barriers taken out of the way; so that the two former enemies can now freely come together as friends. They’ve become ‘reconciled’ to one another. We might refer to that as reconciliation in a ‘relational’ sense.

Reconciliation to God, in that relational sense, is something that we find all the way through the Bible. It’s what the ‘good news’ of the Gospel is all about. The Bible teaches us that this relational reconciliation between God and humankind truly needed to happen because of our first parents, Adam and Eve. They sinned in the Garden of Eden; and as a result of their disobedience, a breaking of the relationship with God their Creator occurred. And now, as the offspring of Adam and Eve, we are all born with, and all experience, that broken relationship with God—both because of Adam and Eve’s sin, and as a result of our own sins. As it says in Isaiah 59:1-2;

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:1-2).

So; that’s the condition of every human being who is born into this world. Our sins have relationally separated us from God. Reconciliation between fallen human beings and a holy God cannot occur until the barrier of sin that stands in the way is completely removed. And the good news is that God—in love—has taken the initiative to remove that barrier; so that all who want to be reconciled to Him, and to enjoy a fulfilling relationship with Him, may now do so.

There was nothing that we ourselves could ever do to bring about that reconciliation. People have tried to do so through their own works. That’s mostly what religious ritualism is about. But none of those things that we do in our own power could bring about reconciliation. We ourselves are the problem. It was we who, because of our sin, needed to be reconciled to a holy God—not a holy God who needed to be reconciled to us. And so; there’s nothing that we could do, by our own sinful hands, that could ever remove the barrier that stands in the way.

Instead, it was God who did what needed to be done in order to reconcile us to Himself. In love, He sent His own Son Jesus—who had no sin of His own—to bear the guilt of our sins on the cross, and to pay the atoning price for sin on our behalf, and thus to remove the barrier that stood between Himself and fallen humanity. The apostle Paul put it this way in Romans 5:6-11;

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Romans 5:6-11).

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So; that’s the first thing we need to understand—the concept of ‘reconciliation’. God has done all that was needed—through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross—to completely remove the barrier and make it possible for sinners like us to be reconciled to Him.

But in order for people to receive God’s gracious gift, and to be reconciled to Him, they have to hear about what He has done, and must be urged to place their personal faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for them. And that leads us to the second great theme in this passage that we need to understand—our ‘ambassadorship’ to this world on Jesus’ behalf. As ambassadors of Christ in this world, it is our task to declare the good news that God has made reconciliation possible through Jesus’ cross; and make the appeal to the people of this world: “Be reconciled to God!”

Almost every kingdom or empire or government on earth has ambassadors. They represent the interest of their leaders to other nations, and seek to broker peace on behalf of their homeland. There are, of course, certain conditions that have to be in place:

• First, an ambassador does not appoint himself or herself to an ambassadorship, but must be authoritatively commissioned to that role.
• Second, because they represent their king or their president or their government, they need to behave and conduct themselves in a way as to appropriately represent the authority who sent them.
• Third, an ambassador cannot be an ambassador from afar; but needs to go to where other people and other nations are in order to interact with them.
• Fourth, though an ambassador needs to interact with other people groups, he or she needs to be careful to live distinctively as a representative of their own homeland—otherwise, they cannot truly function as an ‘ambassador’. They’re in another land—but they remain citizens of their own homeland.
• Fifth, an ambassador needs to be skillful in dealing with other people—to watch for and carefully study the customs and cultural particularities of others, and to watch for opportunities to best fulfill their duty. In other words, they have to be good ‘diplomats’.
• And sixth, an ambassador is sent to deliver a message. He or she needs to make sure that that message is understood by themselves, and that it is them faithfully and clearly delivered to those to whom the message is being sent.

Now; depending on what nation or king it is that sends them, it is a great honor to be an ambassador. And here, in this morning’s passage, we are called ‘ambassadors for Christ’. There couldn’t be a more honorable thing to be than that. We’re not taken out of this world immediately after we believe on Jesus; but are left in this world as His ambassadors in order to minister to people the gospel message that saved us. We’re appointed by Him to represent His interests in this world and to bear His authority. We’re to conduct ourselves in such a way as to represent Him well—being in the world, but keeping ourselves distinct in the world. We’re to live skillfully and diplomatically—looking for the opportunities to declare our King. And we bear the message to this world that He entrusted to us to deliver—“Believe on Jesus, and thus be reconciled to God”; and so we need to understand and declare that message faithfully and clearly.

Paul saw himself as an ambassador for Christ. He wrote to the Ephesian believers once—while he was in prison for the gospel; and he asked for prayer

… that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:19-20).

There really isn’t a greater message in the world than the good news that God has sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sin; and that ‘reconciliation with God’ can now happen. And there really isn’t a greater honor than to be ‘ambassadors for Christ’ who are sent out into the world to authoritatively give the invitation: “Be reconciled to God” … even if it’s done in chains.

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‘Reconciliation’ and ‘ambassadorship’. Those are the two great themes that we need to understand in order to fully grasp what we’re told in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21—and to be able to live according to what it tells us.

So now; let’s look a bit closer at this passage. First, we see that it tells us about …

1. THE GRACIOUS WORK THAT GOD DID.

In verse 18, Paul writes, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation …”

Why does he begin by saying that “all things are of God”? It’s because the whole program of our salvation is God’s gracious initiative. In the previous verse—verse 17—Paul wrote; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” No one can make themselves new. Only God can do that. And so, the whole work of the salvation of fallen humanity is God’s doing. Indeed, all things are of Him—even and including the making of the fallen sinner into a new creature by faith in Jesus.

And so, it’s God who has done this great work of reconciling us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And what’s more, as a part of that work, He has given to us—to those He has reconciled to Himself—the “ministry” of that reconciliation. It’s not that we bring that reconciliation about for anyone. That’s something that has already been done by God. Rather, it’s that we are given the privilege of working in this world to minister that reconciliation to others.

We minister it by proclaiming the good news of what Jesus Christ has done. As Paul put it in Colossians 1:19-23;

For it pleased the Father that in Him [that is, in Christ] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister (Colossians 1:18-23).

So; this is the great work that God has done. And notice verse 19; where we’re told …

2. THE TERMS UPON WHICH HE DID IT.

Paul goes on to explain; “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Theologians and Bible scholars have differed quite a bit on what exactly Paul meant by saying that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself …” The controversy hinges on what the word “was” belongs to. If it belongs to the phrase “in Christ”, then Paul would be telling us that God the Father ‘was abiding in Christ’ as He was reconciling the world to Himself. And of course, that would be true. Jesus did nothing apart from His Father. In the mystery of the Trinity, the Father was in His Son; and the Son was in His Father. Jesus declared, “I and My Father are one“ (John 10:30). And so; in Jesus’ work of atoning for our sin, the Father was very much present and involved. But if the word “was” belongs to the word “reconciling”, then Paul would be saying that God ‘was reconciling the world to Himself’ in and through Jesus’ life, and death, and resurrection. And that is certainly true as well.

Either way, though, one thing is absolutely clear. It was God Himself who was reconciling the world to Himself; and that work of reconciliation was centered upon Jesus Christ. He alone is the one that God has set before the world to be the Savior of all; and it’s Him that we need to declare to the world. As Paul put it in 1 Timothy 2:5;

“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Then, notice that, in reconciling the world to Himself through Christ, He was “not imputing their trespasses to them”. To say that He was “not imputing” their sins them, or was not “counting” their sins against them, was another way of saying that God had forgiven them.

How did this happen? Looking ahead, we’re told plainly how He did it in verse 21. It’s one of the greatest summations of the gospel—in the fewest words—that you can find in Scripture. Paul wrote;

For He [that is, God the Father] made Him [that is, Jesus His Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (v. 21).

Jesus Christ—the Son of God in human flesh—had no sin of His own. He ‘knew’ no sin, and thus bore no guilt for sin of His own. And so, He was able to take the guilt of our sin upon Himself and pay the penalty for our sin on our behalf upon the cross. He was our sinless substitute; and “became” sin—in a representative sense—for us. And what’s more; because the guilt of our sin had been paid for by Him, God was able to credit His sinless righteousness—in a representative sense—to us. That doesn’t mean that we now no longer sin. We often fail. But what it means is that when God looks upon us—having reconciled us to Himself—He now only sees the righteousness of Jesus that has been credited to us. We, by faith, become the righteousness of God in Jesus.

And finally, notice that God “has committed to us the word of reconciliation”. As it is in the original language, He has literally “placed it in” us. And so; that leads us to …

3. THE TASK HE’S GIVEN US AS A RESULT.

As Paul puts it in verse 20; “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” We even declare how it is that He did this for us—so that people can plainly understand and can look in faith to Jesus: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (v. 21).

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we have experienced ‘reconciliation with God’. We are no longer His enemies. He has taken the barrier away through Christ. He now welcomes us as not only ‘forgiven’, but positively ‘righteous’ in His sight. And now, it’s our honorable task to declare that reconciliation to others. We invite them—as though God Himself were pleading through us—to be reconciled to Himself. God has chosen to use the recipients of His grace to invite others to enter into it.

Our commission into this ambassadorship comes from the highest possible authority. Jesus Himself—after He had completely atoned for our sins, and just before He ascended to the Father—said;

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

So then; do we our ambassadorship seriously? Do we understand who we represent in this world? Do we realize the greatness of the message we bear? Do we fulfill the duties of our ambassadorship faithfully? Do we make sure that we don’t allow ourselves to get side-tracked from our message by getting wrapped up in political and social arguments that have nothing to do with the kingdom of Jesus? Do we make sure that we live separately from the sins of this world while living alongside the people of this world? Do we make sure that we point to our King, and invite people to embrace the sacrifice He has already made for them?

Think of what a blessed message it is that we bring. As Jesus’ representatives, we don’t tell the people of this world, “God is your enemy. Work hard; and maybe—just maybe—you can reconcile yourself to Him.” Instead, we tell them, “It’s true that your sins have separated you from God. It was those sins that made it necessary for Jesus to die on the cross. But in love, God the Father gave Him as the atonement for your sins. God has done everything that is necessary to reconcile you to Himself. Place your trust in what Jesus has done, leave your sins behind, and come freely into a satisfying relationship with the God who loves you. Be reconciled to God!”

Praise God for His work of reconciling us to Himself. And now, let’s do our work of declaring it to others.

EA