(Message given at Faith Church on April 1, 2007, 1:30pm)
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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:10-11 (ESV)
Today, we focus on who are we reconciled to.
Reconciliation is about resolving conflict between two people and bringing them back into harmony with one another. Another way of saying it would be to restore peace by removing the conflict.
With God and us, there is sin and wrath that is against us. However, what we have been looking at in the last several weeks is that through Jesus’ substitutionary atonement, and our faith in Jesus, our sins are not counted against us anymore.
In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them … 2 Corinthians 5:19 (ESV)
There is now for the believer, reconciliation. We are going to look at this doctrine of reconciliation little bit more closely and then consider some applications of this doctrine to our lives.
Let’s look at it by first saying, We were reconciled to God …
1. While we were enemies. (Vs. 10a) Paul says the same thing in couple of different ways.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 (ESV)
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (ESV)
There was enmity with God. Overcoming enmity is to take away the cause of the quarrel. Something has to change. God Does not change in nature but does change in that He needs to stop being against me (His enemy). Having an enemy is one thing but being an enemy of God.
No NT passage talks about reconciling God to man.
It is never said that God is reconciled. God is propitiated, the sinner reconciled.” – C.I. Scofield
We were reconciled to God while we were enemies …
2. By the death of his Son. (Vs. 10b)
Notice with me that God took the initiative.
This is totally the opposite of what would seem right and normal. If I caused the rupture by wrongdoing, it would incumbent on me to reconcile. But the gospel says something very different.
Our sin caused a rupture in the relationship with God and so we need to be reconciled with God but He did something about it. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself … 2 Corinthians 5:18a (ESV)
We were reconciled to God while we were enemies by the death of His Son …
3. To rejoice in God. (Vs. 11)
All that we have talked about before must imply reconciliation or they are not good news. Are you in love with God or are you in love with God’s gifts.
When I say that God Is the Gospel I mean that the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. The saving love of God is God’s commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying, namely himself. Since we are sinners and have no right and no desire to be enthralled with God, therefore God’s love enacted a plan of redemption to provide that right and that desire. The supreme demonstration of God’s love was the sending of his Son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of his presence forever. …
If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? Dr. John Piper
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 1 Peter 3:18 (ESV)
We were reconciled to God while we were enemies by the death of His Son to rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Therefore three things.
a) Be reconciled to God.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20b (ESV)
b) Be reconciled to one another.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:14-18 (ESV)
“Conflict always provides an opportunity to glorify God, that is, to bring him praise and honor by showing who he is, what he is like, and what he is doing. The best way to glorify God in the midst of conflict is to depend on and draw attention to his grace, that is, the undeserved love, mercy, forgiveness, strength, and wisdom he gives to us through Jesus Christ.” – Ken Sande (The Peacemaker)
Be reconciled to one another by...
i) Trusting God’s wisdom.
ii) Obeying God’s commands.
iii) Imitating God’s character.
iv) Acknowledging God’s grace.
c) Be a minister of reconciliation.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (ESV)
If you are reconciled, it is not that you might be a minister of reconciliation but it is that you are. You have been given this incredible calling in life. How is this lived out?
In your family, at you work / school, in the church, and with other people God brings to you, we are called to participate in God making His appeal through us.
Through God’s grace, may we resolve to live that way.
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