Paul sums up much of Gospel message and our purpose as Christians in II Corinthians 5: 18 – 21. Here he lies out the fundamental truth of God’s message.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Now, there is a lot to unpack here; and we will be doing so in section for the next several weeks. Themes link reconciliation, ambassadorship, the role of Jesus in our reconciliation, sin, and being righteous.
For today’s thoughts I want us to consider the broad idea presented here on reconciliation. Reconciliation as defined by Webster’s dictionary means to re-establish or restore normal relations. So, in our verses are there two sides of this reconciliation are clearly laid out. God vs. man. Paul indicates that the relationship prior to God’s intervention through Jesus was marred by our sin. Isaiah also shows us that it is our own sin that has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Both the Old and New Testament are replete with statements reminding us that is in fact OUR sin that broke the relationship with God. Paul also tells us in Romans 3:23 that we’ve all done it – “for all of sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
So, our relationship God needs restoring because we broke the connection through our own sin – our selfish desires to put ourselves ahead of God and others. And, since we are the ones who broke the relationship, it seems natural that we should be the ones to fix it, yes? But we cannot undo what we’ve done unless we are willing to die. Paul tells us “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Instead of requiring us all to die a physical death for our sin, God decided to take matters and provide a way of escape. In other words, He decided He would create the route of reconciliation because it is impossible for us to do it ourselves. How did God provide reconciliation then? Through Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 5:6-8, “For when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the godly…but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, instead of imputing or crediting us with our trespasses, God decided to create a path to reconciliation back to Him through Jesus Christ. He was so committed to that reconciliation that offered his only Son – Jesus to die for us instead. “For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). This is the essence of the ministry of reconciliation. Our relationship with God was broken by our own sin. Death was the required payment for that sin. But God, because He loves us and did not want us to have to pay that price, He sent Jesus to reconcile us back to Him.
We cannot reconcile ourselves back to God solely by our own power or by our good merit or good works or even processions of faith. Without Christ’s death, there is not path to reconciliation with God. As we move through this week, let’s be thankful that God loved us enough to create a path of reconciliation back to Him through Jesus Christ and that Jesus “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).”
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