What does it mean to be reconciled? Think about the various uses of the word “reconcile” in our world today. One dictionary defines the word this way:
rec·on·cile (rĕk′ən-sīl′)
v.tr.
v.intr.
– source: thefreedictionary.com
When things are messed up, reconciliation needs to take place. This is true of finances, relationships with people, and most of all our relationship with God. Deep down inside, we long for peace with God, a right relationship with our Creator, the one who sent His Son to be our Reconciler.
The good news is that Jesus’ death provided the way for you to reconciled to God!
Don’t miss that amazing truth. Here’s how the Bible describes it:
Colossians 1:21-23
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him — 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
what we were
The reasons we needed to be reconciled to God are described in verse 21, and if we are honest with ourselves, we know these to be true. According to the Bible, we were alienated, hostile, and evil. Take a look at verse 21 again. It says that for all of us, there was a time in our life that we were alienated from God, hostile in our minds toward Him, and full of evil actions.
You may not think you were a very bad person, but if you begin to think that way, you are missing the fact that even one error makes you imperfect, and we are talking about your relationship with a perfect, holy God. God, who is the great Reconciler, is always working toward reconciling with people, and God is perfect in every way. We are not perfect. We are human. We mess up. We are sinners by nature and by choice.
Our relationship with God was broken because of sin. Our sin caused us to be alienated from God, hostile in our minds, and full of evil actions. This is the bad news. But to understand the good news that we spoke of earlier, we have to understand the bad news first. Not only are we the ones who have messed up the relationship between us and God, but we are also impossible to repair it; we can’t bring reconciliation on our own.
The good news is that Jesus’ death provided the way for you to reconciled to God!
what He did
In just a few words, the Bible speaks volumes: “But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death” (v22). The good news is that Jesus through His physical death on the cross paid the price of reconciliation. While He was on the earth, He was tempted to sin but He resisted every time. He lived a perfect life. He never spoke an unkind word. He helped everyone, exactly the way God would have Him to serve them.
He was betrayed, thrown into a dungeon, lied about, spit upon, brought before rulers, mocked, flogged with ropes laced with rocks & bones & glass, and led to a hill to be crucified. He was beaten so badly and He bled so severely that He was barely recognizable as a human. He carried His cross to a hill and was crucified between two thieves.
He did this for you, and for me. He did this to reconcile us to God. He absorbed the wrath of our sin-debt, and made a way for us to be at peace with God, a way for us to be reconciled to God.
The good news is that Jesus’ death provided the way for you to reconciled to God!
who we are now
When you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are reconciled to God. This means that you are at peace with Him, in harmony with the God of the universe. Our sin had made us His enemy, but through the blood of Christ we are now His friends, eternally reconciled to Him. And the Bible uses words like holy, blameless and faultless (v22) to describe us. Wow!
The evidence of this reconciled relationship is an ongoing walk with Him, a steadfast relationship over time (v23). A person who is truly reconciled to God will not be content to live any other way. They have the hope of Christ in them (v23). Paul the apostle is one example (v23).
a prayer: “Thank you, Jesus, for the great work of reconciliation you have done for me. I was messed up. Thank you for dying for me on the cross, and for changing my life forever. Help me to live in gratitude for all you have done for me, and help me live committed to sharing the good news with others that they can be reconciled to you too. Help me also to work toward reconciliation in my relationships with all people. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.”