John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
No one loves you more than God. There is no one righteous, no one. Salvation is the unmerited and undeserved gift of God offered to all of mankind. No greater gift exists. We are His ambassadors to spread the message of peace and of reconciliation to the world. Carla
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 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.
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. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Reconciled refers to the end of hostility between God and people. Christ’s death provided the means of reconciliation. His suffering made peace between God and humanity possible (Isaiah 53:5 ; 2 Corinthians 1:3).
Paul presented Christ’s sacrifice as the basis of reconciliation and the source of his apostolic vocation (verses 14–18). He wants the Corinthians to understand the centrality of Christ in his ministry in contrast to other teachers, who boast about themselves.
The Hebrew word used here, kosmos, for the world refers to people estranged from God and under the influence of sin and the devil (4:4). God does not use people’s sins as a reason to withhold salvation or reconciliation.
We are ambassadors meaning representatives of Christ. Paul and his companions not only spoke on behalf of Christ, but their lives—namely, their endurance of suffering—represented Christ’s life and character. As Christ’s representatives, they were charged with presenting the message of God’s plan of reconciliation to the world.
To be sin describes how God regarded Christ as sin for the sake of undeserving sinners (Galatians 3:13). More specifically, Paul may be presenting Christ as a substitute for sinful humanity or he could be referring to Christ’s identification with sin through His union with sinful humanity. Another possibility is that Paul is interpreting Christ’s sacrifice in light of Old Testament sacrificial concepts (Leviticus 4:24; 5:12; Isaiah 53:10).
Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God demonstrated His righteousness (dikaiosynē) by judging sin yet showing mercy to sinners. Here Paul refers to the idea of Christians becoming the righteousness of God. He may mean that believers, as a result of God’s justification, receive a right standing before God while Christ takes on their sins (Romans 5:8). Alternatively, Paul could be describing God’s righteous character, which believers receive and should live out in their lives. Faithlife Study Bible
Paul is presenting the results of Christ’s death for the believer and the believer’s death with Him (verse 14). Because believers are united with Jesus both in His death and resurrection, they participate in the new creation. That is, they receive the benefits of being restored by Christ to what God had originally created them to be (Genesis 1:26; 1 Corinthians 15:45–49). A believer’s life should change, because he or she is being transformed into the likeness of Christ (3:18). Instead of living for oneself, a believer lives for Christ (verse 15). Instead of evaluating others with the values of the world, a believer looks at this world through the eyes of faith (verse 16).
Because of Christ’s propitiation, His satisfaction of God’s righteous demands, God is now able to turn toward us. God has made us new creatures in Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, a word meaning “a change of relation from enmity to peace.” We who have been reconciled to God have the privilege of telling others that they can be reconciled to Him as well.
God could change His relationship toward us because our sins have been imputed (reckoned) to Christ, instead of to us. In other words, God placed our sins on Christ, who knew no sin. His death was in our place and for our sins. If we believe in Jesus, God counts Jesus’ righteousness as our righteousness (verse 21).
The word of reconciliation that has been entrusted to us is to tell all people that God wants to restore them to a relationship with Himself (Romans 5:8). This is the Good News that everyone needs to hear.
Ambassadors are more than messengers. They are representatives of the sovereign who sent them. In the Roman Empire, there were two kinds of provinces, the senatorial and the imperial. The senatorial provinces were generally peaceful and friendly to Rome. They had submitted to Roman rule and were under the control of the Senate. The imperial provinces, however, had been acquired later, and were not as peaceful. These provinces were under the authority of the emperor himself. Syria, including Judea, was such an imperial province. To these provinces, the emperor sent ambassadors to govern and maintain peace. Christians have been called by their King to serve as ambassadors in a world that is in rebellion against Him. However, God has given His representatives a message of peace and of reconciliation.
Jesus never did anything wrong. Yet He died for our sins, so that we could be declared righteous, that is to say, justified (verse 19). The NKJV Study Bible
Romans 5:10–11 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 6:3–10 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life…
Ephesians 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Isaiah 65:17
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
God will not let you go. The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you! He tattooed your name on the palm of his hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave his mind, escape his sight, or flee his thoughts.
You need not win his love; you already have it. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise him; he sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before his eyes and been calculated in his decision. He knows you better than you know you and has reached this verdict: he loves you still. No discovery will disillusion him. No rebellion will dissuade him. He loves you with an everlasting love. God’s love—never failing, never ending. Max Lucado
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