Reconciliation

Some of our greatest joys as well as some of our greatest struggles in life from our relationships with others. A happy marriage is a priceless treasure. Harmony in the home is golden. Quality friendships sharpen our lives. But when a marriage hits hard times, relational problems become all-consuming. When our kids get into serious trouble or grow rebellious in their attitudes, harmony in the home becomes a distant memory. When friendships falter, loneliness and isolation prevail. Healthy relationships bring us immeasurable joy, but broken relationships can scar us for life.

God wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to be your friend, your Father, your husband. The Bible uses these and other relational terms to describe God’s connection with His people. When we’re right with God, that spiritual relationship is unparalleled. Unfortunately, our sins have ruined our relationship with God. Instead of being His friend, we’re His enemy. We’re like rebellious children, or an unfaithful wife. Even if we wanted to return to God, we’ve built an immovable wall between Him and us. We need help.

When relationships fail, we try to restore them through a process called ‘reconciliation’. A husband and wife who’ve mistreated each other need to be reconciled, brought back into an accepting and loving relationship. In the same way, we need to be reconciled to God. We need to be restored to a harmonious, loving relationship with Him. In 2 Corinthians 5.20, Paul wrote, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf. Be reconciled to God.” Our relationship with God was ruined by sin. We actually act as enemies of God when we sin against Him. But God doesn’t want us to be His enemy. He wants us to be His friend. So He urges us to be reconciled to Him.

But how can we be reconciled to God? As with other aspects of our salvation, we can’t earn reconciliation. We can’t force our way into God’s favour by trying to do lots of good things.  No, we need to depend totally on God’s grace which He offers us through Jesus Christ. It’s only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross that we can be reconciled to God. Romans 5.10 tells us, “For if, when 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!” Reconciliation with God is possible only through faith in Jesus Christ. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? Why not ask Him into your heart today?

Once we’ve been reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we’ll find it much easier to be reconciled to other people. Broken relationships are hard to mend, but with Jesus Christ all things are possible.