The Church as an Embassy of Reconciliation
 
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,* not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

6As we work together with him,* we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
2 Corinthians 5:17-6:1
"New Creation"
universal & eschatological horizon
cosmic redemption - reconciled to God
divine initiative
Christological particularity
God Reconciles World
Forgiveness of trespasses
Entrusting us the message
"Ambassador for Christ"
the life of those “in Christ”joining God’s mission of reconciliation
Gift & Task
Ambassador-ing (it’s a verb in Greek)
exploring the model
positive features
embassy doesn’t adopt lifestyle but models the life & values of its home
embassy has its own traditions & language that structures its life
embassy isn’t cloistered & separate but an embodiment and witness in, to & for the world.
problematic features
an embassy is a structure, NOT a Missionan
embassy has a single ambassador, NOT a collective
church as "ambassabors of reconciliation"
the embassy of reconciliation witnesses to the MYSTERY of God’s reconciliation
AFFIRMATIONS
- the oneness of God with Christ in the work of reconciliation
- God takes initiative and acts freely with love for the world
- God’s participation in the death of Christ (v21)
REJECTIONS
- God directly planned & enacted the cross-event
- Christ’s death was needed to propitiate the wrath of God
- Differentiating the character of the Father & Son

God’s Victorious breaking of the Victim - Violator cycle
the embassy of reconciliation accepts responsibility for the MINISTRY & MESSAGE of reconciliation
- The Gift of the Christ Event: one trusts Christ by hearing Christ himself and not hearing OF Christ
- The Life of Christ’s Church: “the vocation of the community is to become a visible manifestation of God’s reconciling covenant love in the world...to model a new creation in a world hostile to God.” Richard Hays
the embassy of reconciliation confronts God’s own world with its urgent need for reconciliation
- missionary vision for disciples (making his appeal through us)...Embodiment
-reconciled through the cross...One New Humanity (Eph. 2:11-22)
- Pannenberg’s ‘honest institution’
“The Church has a vital critical role to play in society.  The Church must always witness to the limitations of any given society.  The very existence of the Church depends upon its playing this critical role.  When this critical witness is abandoned, the Church becomes superfluous.  In that case, the Church remains only as an institution catering to the religious needs of a fast-diminishing minority that needs that sort of thing.” - Wolfhart Pannenberg
the embassy of reconciliation endeavors to actualize the reality of reconciliation in its own life
- Individual: “reconciled & reconciling”
- Communal: a reconciled church is superior to a unified church
- Global: “new creation” is a matter of perspective NOT an individuals ontology!