Out of all the ages in God’s spiritual timetable, out of all the millennia that have come and gone since Adam was created, you and I have the great privilege of living in the Grace Administration. It’s only in this Grace Administration that men and women have been given the responsibility and honor of reconciling man back to God. As born-again believers and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we have the ministry of reconciliation!
What is the ministry of reconciliation? Let’s go to God’s Word to find the answer.
II Corinthians 5:18:
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
“Ministry” means a service, or any ministerial office with reference to the labor pertaining to it. In other words, it is a responsibility. “Reconciliation” means a reconnection, a bringing back together that which has been separated. In the Gospel period, Jesus Christ, the perfect man, had the ministry of reconciling others to God. Jesus Christ is not on earth anymore, but it is abundantly clear that many people still need to be reconnected with God. God always meets the needs of mankind. So, whose hands does God put this ministry, this responsibility, into? Ours, as soon as we become born again by believing Romans 10:9! We are the ones God sends to teach people about Jesus Christ, the way to the Father.
Just as God provided Jesus Christ with His Word, with power, and with authority so he could fulfill the responsibility God called him to, God has provided us with all that we need to carry out our ministry of reconciliation. We can have great confidence, knowing we have been enabled by the same God and Father that enabled Jesus Christ.
II Corinthians 5:19,20:
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
We have the Word of reconciliation—the truth we give to people so that they can be brought back together with God. That Word of reconciliation was authored by the same God that authored the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus read and used to reconcile men to God. When we speak, we want to speak God’s Word. God certainly knows what to say to bring others back to Him.
In addition to being given the Word of reconciliation, we have been given the high spiritual rank of ambassadors—ambassadors for Christ! As ambassadors for Christ, we have the power and authority to stand in his stead on earth. After all, we have Christ in us (Colossians 1:27)! This truth is what personally helped me to live with power and see myself the way God sees me.
There was a time that I didn’t think I could do anything right. I thought all people saw when they looked at me was a young, rough-edged kid. Then I took time to churn these verses in my head. For the first time, I realized that God chose me to stand in the stead of the perfect man. This astounded me and still does today. This realization resulted in me speaking God’s Word without fear, without shame, and with all confidence. If the Word says God sees me this way, it must be true. It is true for all God’s children.
Since we are ambassadors now, God needs us to rise up and speak His Word now. Someone once asked me, “If you knew Jesus Christ would return to gather the born-again ones at five o’clock today, what would you be doing?” This question got my attention. I responded, “I would be out speaking God’s Word!” The point he was making was that if we knew that Jesus Christ would return very soon to gather us together, we would make the most of the limited time we had because only those reconciled to God would be coming with us. Well, no one knows when Christ will return (Mark 13:32-37). It could be at any point in time. When Christ does return to gather us together, the ministry of reconciliation will no longer be ours to carry out. Jesus Christ knew that his time on earth was limited, and so is ours. We can decide to make the most of every opportunity to lead those we meet back to God through Jesus Christ.
Out of all the ages in God’s spiritual timetable, it’s only in this Grace Administration that Christians have been given the responsibility and honor of reconciling men, women, and young people back to God. As ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we have the ministry of reconciliation; and if we don’t carry it out, who will? God needs us to accept this high honor and responsibility of bringing others back to Him. We have the perfect Word to do it and the perfect way—Jesus Christ—to get them there. Let’s claim our power, our authority, and our right to reconcile others back to God as ambassadors for Christ now, because we have the ministry of reconciliation.