II Corinthians 5:17-19a "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: (it’s the new birth) old things are passed away; (the old lifestyle, the old habits, the old desires, the nature of the fallen first Adam) behold, all things are become new. (and here comes our word in verse 18.) And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself (How?) by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19. to wit, (that is to say) that God, (the Triune, Creator God) was in Christ,…" Now let’s back that up with another Scripture, Colossians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. Now remember why we’re going to Colossians, we have been reconciled by the God Who was in Christ.
Colossians 2:8-9 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men (the Jewish religion and other idolic types), after the rudiments of the world(world based religions), and not after Christ. (now here it comes in verse) 9. For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead (how?) bodily." Do you see how plain that is? Now fit the two together. In Christ sits the whole Godhead bodily according to Colossians, but now coming back to II Corinthians chapter 5, and it’s in the reverse word form, but it’s the same meaning.
II Corinthians 5:19 "To wit, that God was in Christ, (how much of God? All of Him! The whole Triune God, the Father the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all embodied in God the Son, and as such then) reconciling (or bring that estranged mass of humanity) the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us (we think here Paul not only speaks to himself, but all that believe in their position IN Christ) the word of reconciliation." Now verse 20, and to us this is a far more sensible commission than anything in the Four Gospels. This is something that we can set our teeth into without question.
II Corinthians 5:20a "Now then (we as a believer have the message of reconciliation) we are ambassadors for Christ,…" Now again we need some definition don’t we? What’s an ambassador? And ambassador is someone living in a foreign country, but he’s a representative of his home country, we all know that. Well what are we according to this, well we’re ambassadors, as that’s so true, so where is our home? In heaven! Our citizenship Paul tells us, is in heaven, and we’re strangers, we’re in foreign territory, so what are we then? We’re ambassadors? We’re not in our home territory, we’re in a strange, dark and hostile country, so we’re ambassadors for Christ. Continuing on with verse 20.
II Corinthians 5:20b "…through God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead,…" So we pray in Christ’s place, since He’s ascended to glory, and since He’s now imputed this responsibility, He’s given us the Scriptures, the power of the Holy Spirit, that every one of us can be an ambassador. That doesn’t mean we’re all preachers, or teachers or missionaries, but rather we’re playing the role of an ambassador to reflect Christ. To act as an aid or helper in revealing the Truth in the power or authority which we receive by the Holy Spirit. So everywhere we go we should be reflecting the Lord Jesus with our language, with our appetite, with our lifestyle, because the world can tell. Hey don’t tell us they can’t tell. Where ever we would work people would ask us, “what is so different about you?”, and we know that the guys would come up and say, "What have you got?" And we're not a goody, goody gum drop or anything like that, but people just knew that we were different.
II Corinthians 5:20c "… be reconciled to God." Don’t go through life estranged, don’t go out into eternity estranged, but be reconciled to God, and be brought back into that right relationship with Jesus the Christ, the God of glory. Now Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2:16. Where once again we have this word reconciliation.
Ephesians 2:14 "For he (Christ) is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" Now here Paul is speaking as a Hebrew, and that God has taken away that partition in the temple area as it was mostly made known between the Hebrew and Gentile. That partition is no longer there. It was rent or torn from top to bottom by God while Jesus was on the cross and just after He said, "It is Finished", all His assigned works were done. He had finished or satisfied all the legal requirements of the Law and the Prophets. Oh! the Hebrews sowed the thing back up and rehung it but that has not changed what God in Christ has accomplished for all.
Ephesians 2:15-18 "Having abolished in his flesh (that is through the work of the cross) the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained in ordinances; (that’s all been abolished as they were hostile toward God) for to make in himself of twain (the two, Hebrew and Gentile) one new man, (that’s the uniqueness of the Body of Christ, the secret held by God) so making peace; 16. and that he might reconcile both (not just Gentile or just the Hebrew, but both) unto God in one body (there’s not a separate Body of believers for the Hebrews and a separate Body for Gentiles, as we all come in on the same level playing field, and we become one in the Body of Christ with Christ again as at the first) by the cross, (and through the work of the cross, what has He done? The very thing that He had set His mind to doing) having slain the enmity thereby: 17. and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, (Gentiles) and to them that were nigh(the Hebrews). 18. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." Now, we’ve got one more in Colossians chapter 1.
We're not the kind that keep constantly pushing at people. No way, we're not that way, but we maintain that we can reflect the Lord Jesus with just simply our everyday behavior, our language, and the things that we talk about, the things that we think about, and every believer can be that kind of an ambassador. Now completing the verse.
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