Reconciled! | Northlands Church

Reconciled!

June 24, 2015 | LauraBoal

Reconciled!

by: LauraBoal

Jesus made the way for us to be completely at peace with God. We've been reconciled!

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God [literally, reconciled] by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life!... We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. Romans 5:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:20,The Message [brackets added]

We were at war with God.

Now that’s a really bad thing. If you have to go to war, you want to have some kind of tactical advantage—more soldiers, better technology, something to make things go your way. But honestly, how do you sneak up on Someone who sees everything, knows everything, has unlimited resources, made you and even made the battlefield you’re standing on?

We didn’t get into this desperate situation because God was bad or unfair. Actually, the real war was the devil’s rebellion against his Creator. Ever since he (the devil) misled our ancestor Adam, he’s been hurting us, deceiving us, spreading misinformation about God, then running sorties against us and saying, God did that (which is a lie). He’s done all that so we would join him in his rebellion against the One who is all powerful, good, wise and kind. Maybe he thought he’d figured out how to hurt God and destroy humanity in the process.

That’s when God did something so outrageous, so inconceivable, that he literally ambushed the devil. When Jesus came to earth and died on the cross, he paid the price for every sin we would ever commit, past, present, and future. Because of him, we were reconciled to God. Check that out, it’s quite clear in the Greek: We. Were. Reconciled. It’s not waiting to happen someday, it has already happened. And we didn’t do it ourselves. It’s been done for us! Literally, “reconciled” means that two parties were at odds—or at war—but now, all the differences between them have been resolved and their relationship has been restored.

God already knows worse things about you than you could ever admit to yourself. He also knows the “you” that He created you to be, and He loves you absolutely. Because of what Jesus did, from God’s perspective there is nothing standing between us and him. God is not at war with you. Instead, He has made a way for us to be at peace. We’ve been reconciled!

You may still have some unanswered questions, some old habits and thought patterns to let go, and even some old misinformation to “unlearn” about Him. But His invitation stands: He’s loving you right now, and inviting you to come to the party at His place.

(See also: Ephesians 2:3, Eph. 4:17-18, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21)

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for making a way for us to be at peace. I receive Your forgiveness and Your grace—not only for forever, but for right now! Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to come to the party at Your place!

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