Bulletin Articles
Reconciled
When we are outside of Christ, we can be described in various ways, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:;36), lost (Luke 19:10), or without God (Eph 2:13). Descriptors like these help us see our condition apart from Jesus. By understanding where we are without Him is vital to seeing why Jesus came to die in the first place. To be without God is to be out of His fellowship, separated from Him, and devoid of the eternal blessings He offers and desires for us. In other words, we are unreconciled.
What does it mean to be unreconciled? Romans 5:6-11 describes the idea. Paul refers to the unreconciled as weak (sick), ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God. He says this in the context of showing the work Jesus came to accomplish:
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 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.”
Paul says that Jesus came to reconcile sick, ungodly, sinful enemies with God. To be unreconciled means that there is a divide between two parties. They are not at peace because something has come between them. In this case, our sins have made this separation from God (cf. Isa 59:2). Sin is not just a mistake. It is an unjust offense against God and all that He is (His glory, Rom 3:23). By our actions in which we attempt to dethrone God and set ourselves up in His place, we make ourselves His enemies. By our continued friendship with the world, we are at enmity with our Creator (James 4:4). Our only hope lies in being reconciled to Him. We need to be at peace with God, but how?
Back in Romans 5, Paul had already set this context for seeing reconciliation with God as that of having peace. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom 5:1-2). This rests on the previous point Paul made about Abraham being justified by faith rather than the Law (since the promise was made prior to the Law). That faith was counted as righteousness, but it was meant to be an example of how other believers would be justified: “It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:24-2-5). That is, because of what Jesus did, we have peace with God. We are reconciled to God.
The mission of Christ and His people is reconciliation. We face a world that is unreconciled, as we have all been, and we are striving to be peacemakers, to bring peace through Jesus by showing the world how He can reconcile us to God. God made the first move by grace. He put the pieces in place and made the offer available to all. While we remain unreconciled, we are still His enemies. Yet it need not remain that way.
Paul’s commitment to plead with others to be reconciled to God is evident in his work. He focused on what cannot be seen, knowing this is eternal and most important (2 Cor 4:16-18). In all things, he wrote, “we make it our aim” to please God (2 Cor 5:9). Why? Because we must all appear before the Lord in judgment (v. 10). This ought to spark a sense of fear. Paul then writes, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (v. 11). What was he trying to persuade others about? He was passionate about seeing people (especially Jesus) not according to the flesh, and because of what Jesus did all of us should now be living for Him who died for us. This love displayed by Jesus ought to constrain us to live for Him, realizing that in Christ all things are made new.
“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 Cor 5:18-20).
The message we have for others is this: be reconciled to God! You can have peace with God because Jesus died for you. We earnestly appeal to all.
