...and all this is from God,who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
The original Greek for "reconciliation" is a fascinating word: katallasso. It means to change or exchange -- especially money -- and in the context of relationships it means to change from enmity to friendship. Saint Paul tells us that God was active in Christ, inviting human beings to change their attitude and enter into relationship with God, a relationship made possible by God's love and forgiveness. At the same time, God was entrusting the message of divine friendship to us, asking us to go out into the world as ambassadors of Christ.
Let yourself enter into friendship with God through his son Jesus Christ, and then go out into the world to do the work of inviting people to exchange their old attitudes for a new one -- and enter into relationship with God.
