Ministry of Reconciliation

A couple weeks ago as I was reading through Romans, the concept of reconciliation had been on my heart (now I'm beginning to understand why), so I spent my extawG reading about it. So what exactly is reconciliation?

Reconciliation: "to make oneself or another no longer opposed; to become friendly with someone after estrangement or to re-establish friendly relations between; to settle a quarrel or difference; to make two apparently conflicting things compatible or consistent with each other; to bring together again."

I kept seeing it come up in the Scripture God was bringing me to, especially as we studied Genesis 1-3 as a staff team, I saw our desperate need to be reconciled to God. So let's go back to the beginning. These first three chapters of Genesis paint the picture of who God is, his desire for relationship with us, man's freedom to choose, Satan's craftiness, man's disobedience, and the entrance of sin and separation from God.

It wasn't meant to be this way! God created all that is good, and he created man for a relationship with Himself. In his love, he created man with the freedom to choose, for what kind of love forces or controls? He gave us the ability to choose to love him in return. But when man chose not to listen to God, to disobey his command, he chose not to love God:"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." John 14:21

With this choice, our relationship with God forever changed. Sin entered and separated us from an intimate relationship with our Creator. Instead of becoming like God (Satan's lie- Genesis 3:5), we became unlike him: sinful and unholy. There was a sudden and obvious difference, thus creating a need for reconciliation.

It is there in the Garden this drama begins to unfold. All along God knew this would happen if he created man with the freedom to choose. But because he is loving, he did. And because of this great love, he made a way to restore our relationship to reconcile us to him. We had no power to make right this union, so he took it upon himself to do it- that's how much he desires us! Again, this thought hits me: Perhaps God created us just so he could save us! So how was this done? How was reconciliation between God and man made possible? We were in opposition with God; his enemies. We needed a neutral party, a mediator to help us make right this special relationship. Enter Christ:

"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time."
~I Timothy 2:3-6

So we now have a third party, neutral, both God and man, to bring reconciliation. And I find myself still in Romans 5, where Paul writes about this. We see in I Timothy 2:3 that God desires all men to be saved; and it is through Christ this is made possible.

"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
~Romans 5:9-11

So what does this say? We were God's enemies, in opposition with him because of our sin, but there has been reconciliation through Christ's sacrifice: his death. What's more than this, not only is our relationship with God set right again, we are saved because he lives to intercede for us!

"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
~Hebrews 7:25

We can now rejoice because we have been forgiven, justified, saved and reconciled! Praise the Lord! On top of that, it doesn't end here- the drama continues! Once we ourselves have been reconciled to God, we are called to join with him in helping others find reconciliation through Jesus as well. Paul writes of this Ministry of Reconciliation in II Corinthians 5. He begins:

"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men."
~II Corinthians 5:11

We have our testimony, which is powerful ("They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" Revelation 12:11), to help convince others of their need for reconciliation, and the Mediator who makes it possible. Christ's love compels us (II Corinthians 5:14) to share. God chooses men to join with him in this ministry. Wow. What a ministry! This awaits on campus! Oh how I love these freshmen girls! This ministry is a gift. Paul writes,

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."
~II Corinthians 5:18-20

So God has given this ministry to us! He calls us to join with him to tell others that he has done all that is necessary to reconcile the whole world, all men, to himself- through Christ. Our sins are not held against us; they are forgiven. We are messengers, Christ's ambassadors, his representatives. God is making his appeal through us, as if to say, "Look what I've done! Look how I have changed this life, how I have set our relationship right. I can do that with you too, if you'd let me." It is our ministry to share this, but it is God's to change hearts.

Paul concludes this thought:

"As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation"

~II Corinthians 6:1-2

I love that God considers me his fellow worker. What he has been at work doing since before the creation of the world, man, even time, he invites me, all of us, to join in to help others accept this reconciliation, this favor, this salvation. Because it is now! Today is the day of salvation! Be reconciled to God.

Reconciliation doesn't end here either. I've also begun to see that this is God's desire for all relationships! He intends all relationships to be made right. Relationships only bring glory to him when there is peace, when they have been reconciled. That I am still processing. Stay tuned.