You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘reconciliation’ tag.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19
I love seeing stories of reconciliation. In particular, children being reconciled with parents who surprise them with a return from deployment. It’s basically the same story over and over, but I never tire of it. The child is busy with friends or class and when dad or mom appear they run into their arms, many times with tears of joy.
One thing I’ve never seen was a child looking at the parent apathetically. I’ve never seen the parent seem aloof. I’ve never seen the child being apprehensive of how peers may react to their tears. The focus of parent and child is on each other. The reaction is one of love, relief, joy, contentment.
Reconciliation is amazing! Sin has separated us from the love God has for us. Like a child without a parent we struggle with feelings of value, identity and security. Then God came to us through Jesus, offering us reconciliation. What joy!
Not only are we blessed with that reconciliation, we have the opportunity to share that joy with others. Reconciliation is an act of love not judgment. Reconciliation focuses on forgiveness and acceptance. If we have truly experienced reconciliation with the Father then we have the opportunity to share that joy with those in need of being reunited with their father…Heavenly Father that is.
Who can you help to be reconciled today. Reconciliation is the result of prayer, relationship and sharing Jesus with others.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NIV)
Reconciled: to restore friendly relations between parties who once were in close relationship.
Once upon a time the world was a beautiful place of trees and flowers and cool, spring waters. There were no weeds. There were no cloudy skies or inclement weather. Everything was perfect. Even love was perfect back then. Man and woman were naked emotionally, physically and spiritually. All was peace and harmony.
Sounds like a fairy tale doesn’t it? But it’s true. We don’t know how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, but we know that the time spent there was truly paradise. Complete freedom. Complete intimacy. Complete peace with each other and the God who created them.
Then a horrible thing happened. Greed and selfishness and doubt entered into the picture and with it a broken relationship with God. For those of us who have gone through broken relationships with former spouses, children, friends or employers we know the feeling. The feeling of loss, of regret, of failure. The ‘If only’s’ ring loudly in our ears.
Have you ever been caught in the middle of an argument between two people you loved dearly? A situation in which you saw both sides of the argument but loved both parties so much you got involved to try to reconcile the two parties? Jesus did. He saw God’s holiness and he saw your failure. He knew there was only one thing he could do to reconcile you to God and that was to die for you. So he did.
As followers of Jesus Christ each of us has been reconciled to God through grace. There was nothing we, in and of ourselves could do to make that reconciliation happen. Now, through Jesus, we can once more be friends with God.
But wait! There’s more! We have the privilege of bringing others to reconciliation with God and, perhaps, even ourselves. Maybe that’s why Jesus said ‘Pray for your enemies’ (Matthew 5:44). I wonder if he had your situation in mind when he said, “If your brother has something against you, go to him/her’ (Matthew 5:23).
The next time you are weighed down with the guilt of your own sin and failure, remember that Jesus died to forgive and remove your sin.
The next time you think “I could never be reconciled to that person after what they did to me.” Remember what Jesus did for you.
Reconciliation isn’t easy, but it’s something we are all called to do in the power and grace of Jesus Christ. Who can you reach out to today? Who do you know that needs the ministry of reconciliation in their lives?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving of yourself so freely so that I can be reconciled to God and have my friendship restored. I pray for those in need of reconciliation, that they may find it. I pray for me, that I may, through the power of your Spirit be a minister of reconciliation to those in need. Amen.
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31)
Throughout the Biblical account of the creation, whenever God finished one aspect of creation he would exclaim, “It is good”. There was, however, one time when he not only said “it is good”, he added it is ‘VERY good’. That time was just after he created mankind. The rolling plains and majestic mountains were good. The sea life and land life was good. But man and woman? They were very good. The crown of God’s creation. His masterpiece
We aren’t told how long it was before we failed God. Was it a day? A week? A month? No one knows. But a time came when man and woman made a choice to disobey God and act on their own wisdom. Wisdom they were deceived into thinking was better and wiser than God’s wisdom.
Up until that time, God came in person to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. They were naked and not ashamed, completely open to God. They were perfectly comfortable with who they were, and God was completely open with them about life and goodness.
When sin entered the world everything changed except for one thing. The once fertile ground now grew thorns. Animals once tame became wild and dangerous. The shameless nakedness of man and woman was now covered physically, emotionally and spiritually. The joy of childbirth would be tarnished with the pain of labor. The only thing that didn’t change that day was God’s love for mankind.
Even though man would hide from him, God still longed for the companionship and open relationship he had with man. That’s why Jesus came. He came for the sole purpose of renewing a relationship that once was open but had now become distant.
Paul writes that Jesus came ‘so that we could be made right with God through Christ’. The word for made right is really the root word of ‘reconciled’. Jesus death and resurrection allows us to be reconciled to God. The word reconcile has its origin in a word that means ‘to make good again.’
Let that sink in. Because of Jesus, the once broken relationship we have with God is made good again! It’s not repaired. It’s not as though God is changing anything about him to stoop to our level. Jesus allows us to have the same relationship with God Adam had in the Garden of Eden. For now that means spiritually through his Spirit, but someday, physically as we spend eternity with him!
PRAYER: Father God. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Adam to be able to walk side by side with you in the garden. I can’t wait to find out what that is like. For now, I praise you and worship you because Jesus allows us to have the relationship restored to its original condition through the cross. Empower me by your Spirit to live in the realization of the fact that you long to have a passionate love relationship with me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 