2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5
Paul an Ambassador of Christ. 2 Cor. 5, 11–21.
The ministry of reconciliation: V.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; v.19. 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.
But the final source of the blessings is the Lord Himself: But all things from God, who has reconciled us to Himself, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
God is the Creator of all the wonderful things which are given to man in his conversion. By a twofold act he brings about the spiritual creation in the heart of man.
In the first place, He reconciled all mankind to Himself through Christ. It was God Himself that planned the salvation, the atonement of mankind through the sacrifice of Christ. All men were, by their own fault, His enemies and wanted nothing of Him. But since His righteousness and holiness would therefore have been obliged to condemn them to everlasting punishment, He found this way by which the enmity might be removed and the friendly relations intended by Him in the beginning be established. This reconciliation was brought about by Christ for all men, by His vicarious work; it is a historical fact.
And now the second act of God’s mercy comes into consideration, namely, that he has given to the apostle and his fellow-workers, to the ministers of the Gospel at all times, the ministry of the reconciliation, He has entrusted to them the office of proclaiming the fact of the reconciliation of all men, the fact that God is actually reconciled to all men through Christ. The business of the Gospel-ministry, then, is only one, namely, to make known the existing reconciliation and thus to urge men to believe in Christ.
The apostle explains this statement, thus giving the content of all Gospel-preaching: That God was reconciling a world to Himself in Christ. He was removing the enmity which had separated man from his Maker.
And the actual, practical manner in which the reconciliation is being brought about is: Not imputing to them their sins. Men are guilty of transgressions before the face of God continually, their trespasses should be recorded on the debit side of the account-book of God. But God does not impute their trespasses to men that accept the reconciliation: He enters them, not under their own names, but under that of Christ, and the atonement being perfect, the debt is wiped away.
Into the hands of the apostles and of all the ministers of the Gospel, therefore, God has placed the Word of Reconciliation; He has entrusted to them the message of reconciliation, the Word by which He wants to recall all men to the right relation to Him.