God the Reconciler

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:18

God is our reconciler. We, who were enemies of God (Col 1:21), are now called God’s children through Jesus’ death and resurrection (1 John 3:1). If that alone does not amaze us maybe we do not understand the full weight of our sin problem. Without God we are helpless hopeless beggars. Yet God, while we were still enemies, sent His Son to reconcile us to Him (Romans 5:8). God paid the price and did the reconciling even though we owed the debt.

Here is the thing. Since God reconciled us to Himself, He wants us to be in the business of reconciliation.

“that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’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. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”   2 Corinthians 5:19-21

In order to be in the business of reconciling others to God, we must also be in the business of reconciling our broken relationships. Yesterday I wrote about loving difficult people check that post out here. The day before  yesterday I wrote about our mixed messages as a church. Check that post out here.

The bottom line is that we need to allow God to use us as reconcilers – those who love people, who live at peace as far as it depends on them (Romans 12:18), and who help encourage others to make their relationships work. We need to help build bridges not tear them down. As we work to live in harmony with others and encourage others to live in harmony as well, we show them in a tangible way who God is. He is a reconciler. He is not a divider.

What are some ways you can help encourage reconciliation? Join in…

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