“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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.“
2 Corinthians 5:20–21
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October 23, 2025
An ambassador is someone who, on behalf of another, is sent to a foreign land to deliver a message. Paul identifies himself and the other apostles as ambassadors because they were commissioned to proclaim the good news of reconciliation. Moreover, Paul and the apostles were spiritual foreigners in the world—their true citizenship was in heaven, and their allegiance belonged to God. Thus, they preached to both Jews and Gentiles: “Be reconciled to God.”
Likewise, as members of the body of Christ, we too are spiritual foreigners, sent as ambassadors to proclaim the message of reconciliation. Commenting on verse 20, Dane Ortlund writes, “(God) is urging us to enter into his gentle embrace and endless love. His hands are not on his hips, exasperated; his hands are wide open, beseeching.”
But how does God reconcile us to Himself? Paul teaches us in one of the most well-known verses in Scripture—one worth committing to memory: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus took our sin, and in return, we receive His righteousness. If you are in Christ, you are a friend of the King of the universe.
This is the wonderful truth we are privileged to live in—and the wonderful news we are privileged to share.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What does it mean to be an ambassador of God?
- What is the message that you are charged to deliver as an ambassador of God?
- How did God make it possible for people to be reconciled to him?
Church Reading Plan: 2 Kings 4; 1 Timothy 1