03/03/2008

2 Corinthians 5:18 - 21 (HCSB)

¹⁸Now everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  ¹⁹that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.  ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” 

²¹He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

What does it mean to “reconcile” something?  When I think about the word, I think about bank accounts.  That is, comparing my checking account with my bank statement to make sure they match and if there are any differences, correcting those differences so that they come together. 

Being reconciled to God can be thought of in the same way.  We were originally with God.  Remember the Garden of Eden.  God created Adam and Eve in the garden to be with Him there.  They were with God and there was nothing separating them until they sinned.  For this reason, they were separated from God and had to follow a strict set of laws regarding sacrifice until the time that God would send one to settle the accounts once and for all.

Over the ages, our sins have compounded.  We are creatures of sin and are incapable of righteousness on our own.  In other words, there is nothing we can do to even the accounts between us and God.  Only God could even those accounts.  And the way He did so was to send Jesus Christ, one who never sinned because he was completely God and completely human at the same time.  He took on our sins and died as the total and final sacrifice for us thereby forever balancing the accounts for us. Jesus corrected our failings so that we can approach God directly.

When God looks at us, he sees us through the blood of Christ (as it were) and thus sees all accounts balanced.  We once again are reconciled to God. 

Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com 
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.

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