God additionally displays his mercy and love by sending out ambassadors to sinful mankind. In ancient times ambassadors were sent out primarily in times of hostility (compare Lu 19:14), not peace, their mission frequently being to see if war could be averted or to arrange terms for peace where a state of war prevailed. (Isa 33:7; Lu 14:31, 32; see AMBASSADOR.) God sends his Christian ambassadors to men to enable them to learn his terms for reconciliation and to avail themselves of such. As the apostle writes: “We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’” (2Co 5:20) Such entreaty does not signify any weakening of God’s position nor of his opposition to wrongdoing; it is, instead, a merciful urging to the offenders to seek peace and escape the inevitable consequence of God’s righteous anger toward all who persist in going contrary to his holy will, destruction being the certain end of such. (Compare Eze 33:11.)

In what sense has God ‘reconciled a world to himself’?

The apostle Paul speaks of God “by means of Christ reconciling a world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses.” (2Co 5:19) This should not be misread as meaning that all persons are automatically reconciled to God by Jesus’ sacrifice, inasmuch as the apostle immediately goes on to describe the ambassadorial work of entreating men to “become reconciled to God.” (2Co 5:20) In reality, the means was provided whereby all those of the world of mankind willing to respond could gain reconciliation.