AMBASSADORS OF RECONCILIATION

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. —2 Corinthians 5:20

As we have seen, the big story of the Bible is God’s plan to restore and redeem the relationship between Himself and humanity. It is the story of a grand project of reconciliation. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This was about our forgiveness and healing, something that each and every one of us needs. The more we recognize our need and accept the reconciliation God offers us, the more we discover that we are participants in God’s greatest project. “And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

We become ambassadors of God’s reconciliation, sharing the story and message of Jesus and inviting others into this same story.

The hope and healing we find in Jesus are precious, but they are never only about us or for us. Whenever we accept these into our lives and allow them to change our story, we become an operational part of God’s project of reconciliation.

We are Christ’s ambassadors, and through our lives, witness, and influence, we share His invitation and healing with those around us and with the wider world.

Through His people, God’s appeal can reach other people who might not otherwise be able to hear His voice. As a former enemy of Christ and persecutor of His followers, Paul knew the power of forgiveness and reconciliation in his own life.

And this was the core of the message he had to share with anyone who would listen across as much of the world—and as much of history since—as his voice and his letters could reach: “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).