The little girl slipped into the living room and asked meekly “Daddy?. . . . Umm, never mind. . . “ bowed her head and walked out of the room. She came back, moments later, and tried again: “Daddy? Can we, can we. . .never mind”. For the third time, she tried again, as meekly as she had the first, eyes wide and pleading: “Daddy? Can we have. . . Can we have some. . . . . . . .popcorn?” Before he even finished saying “Of course, sweetie.” she turned on her heel and yelled robustly to the back bedroom “He said YES!” The big-eyed 3-yr-old had been selected as the neighborhood ambassador on a mission for popcorn, and she performed her duties masterfully.

An ambassador speaks on behalf of someone else. “Christ’s ambassadors”, don’t speak for or about themselves; they speak about Jesus. The words that Christ’s ambassadors say are not their own, but what God wanted them to say, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The writers of the Bible wrote the words that God wanted us to have.

God has already done all the work that needs to be done, through Jesus. In this sense, we are already “reconciled to God”. But the words that his ambassadors are telling us here mean that even though Jesus died for all people, only those that believe this message in their hearts will receive the benefits that come from it. These benefits include true peace that comes from the forgiveness of sin and, when we die, eternal peace in heaven.

Sometimes we talk about the work that God did through Jesus as “The Great Exchange”. The last verse shows that exchange well: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us”. Jesus had no sin. He never had wrong thought, never a wrong action, never once waivered from God’s Word or God’s commands.

We, however, are the complete opposite of perfect. Our thoughts are impure, we hurt other people, we fail to live as God wants us to live, and we sometimes forget to trust God and the promises in his Word. But God allowed Jesus to “exchange” his perfection for our imperfections. Jesus took all of our sins upon himself and gave us the salvation that he earned. God gave us the “credit” of righteousness that Jesus earned for us. Jesus became sin for us. Jesus died, that we might live. How thankful we are for this gift of salvation!

May we continue to live as his ambassadors until our work here is done and God calls us home.