“And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
“Reconciled” is one of my favorite words in the New Testament. This article should demonstrate why this is true? Reconciliation is perhaps one of the most important words in the Bible. When we go back to the Garden of Eden, we discover that when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, there was a breach between God and people. Sin is the incurable disease confronted by the human race. It has to be dealt with, and the only way this can happen is for God to intercede for us. The text tells us that God “has reconciled us to Himself.” Reconciliation is not something that we can mathematically deal with in our own power. So we read that God reconciled us to Himself. Think of it! We have been reconciled to the God of the universe, because He wants to “reconcile us to Himself.” How did God reconcile us to Himself? The text tells us that God “reconciled to Himself by Jesus Christ.” It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be reconciled to God. Even the Old Testament system of sacrifices were pointing us toward Jesus Christ. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no person comes to the Father except by me.” There are a lot of people who really have a problem with this declaration by Jesus, because there must be some other way that God will reconcile us to Himself. The only way that this could happen without Christ is for a person to live so perfectly that God would be indebted to them to reconcile them. The New Testament assures us that this is not possible. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Ephesians 2:5-6 tell us: “Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened (enlivened) us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved.) 6. And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Why did God reconcile us to Himself? He reconciled us to Himself so that we could be saved and not be lost in sin here or hereafter. But our text gives another reason for our reconciliation: Here it is: “God has reconciled us to Himself, by Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” We have been reconciled to God in order to help others become reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Every believer in Jesus Christ has been given a “ministry of reconciliation.” We cannot reconcile people ourselves, but we can invite to them to find reconciliation the same way that we did – by faith in Jesus Christ. So let’s get about the business in introducing people to reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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