In Christ we are Reconciled to God
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore 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. 2 Cor. 5:20-21
Reconciliation
When do two people reconcile? What does it mean to reconcile? Reconciliation means, in the most basic sense, to bring two parties together who were at odds, or enemies. We don’t call a husband coming home after a trip “reconciliation” because if a family is simply being reunited then they were only apart, not enemies. Reconciliation has to do with the two parties being at enmity, at odds. Someone offended someone else, and now they cannot have fellowship unless something changes between them.
This conveys something very important about whom we are before God. On our own we have become His enemies. In fact, we are all in a total state of rebellion against God. Looking back at the Fall (Gen. 3) we see what the serpent was offering Adam and Eve was to set themselves up as their own little gods of their own little universes. First, the serpent impugned God’s character, and they believed him. After that the Devil told them that they could be free of Him, become His enemy, and they did, and in Adam and Eve, we all did the same. Even if we were not to have inherited this sin and come out that way (which we do), we find ourselves resisting God’s leadership, control and command of our own volition before long in the world. So often a baby’s first word is “NO!” Most babies spend much of their time rebelling against their parents who are only looking out for their greater good. This is the pattern of the human’s life apart from Christ.
So here we are: God’s enemies. We are God’s enemies based on the family that we were born into (Adam and Eve’s sin is our sin as we were in them when they fell). Then we prove that we belong in that family by acting out in hatred and disobedience to God. What can be done? We think of reconciliation to the problems that we have. If someone steps on your foot by accident you may be able to be reconciled by a casual apology. However, if someone hits you in the face with a bat, causing you to be hospitalized you may demand a bit more. If that person were to call you and say casually, “Oh, yeah, sorry.” And then hang up the phone you may think that they didn’t really mean it and you wouldn’t be reconciled. In more extreme cases a simple apology won’t cut it, no matter how heartfelt it is. At some point one party may desire some sort of payment to be reconciled.
Perhaps you were offended by someone’s statements about your race, gender or economic background. Your fellowship with that person is broken and an apology will do nothing to help, in order for you to be restored you must know that the person has truly repented of that position of prejudice or hatred. Only then can you be reconciled. Thus, we must look at the nature of our problem. Can we be reconciled with a mere “sorry” or is something more required?
In Genesis 2:16-17 the penalty is given: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The words “die” and “death” in scripture mean “separation.” While Adam and Eve did not physically die on that day they did become separated from God, and enemies of Him. Just as physical death (separation of body and soul) is permanent, so is spiritual death (Separation of our spirit from our life source: God). Even our own physical death could not pay the penalty because that would only be justice.
God, however, is faithful. Romans 5:10 reads: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” We had no hope of survival, no way of making things right once again with God. We were permanently and positionally enemies of God by our birth and by our actions. Only the work of Christ could restore us to fellowship with God. Only in Christ can we be reconciled, and we are. Praise the Lord!
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