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I. The necessity of being reconciled to God.
II. The accomplishment of being reconciled to God.
III. The results of being reconciled to God.
Let us now look at the matter of being reconciled to God. According to the original Greek language, to be reconciled to God means that we have a complete change before God. Since we had problems with God, we need to have a thorough change before God. This complete change before God is our reconciliation to God.
The Bible does not tell us that God is reconciled to us but that we are reconciled to Him. Since God never had problems with us, He does not need to be reconciled to us. We were the ones who had problems with Him and who need to be reconciled to Him. In order for us to be reconciled to Him, He did something particular for us in His salvation.
1. “You, though once alienated and enemies in your mind because of your evil works, He now has reconciled” (Col. 1:21-22 see also Rom. 5:10).
Because of the fall, man is not only far from God but also alienated from Him. He is even an enemy to God in his mind because of his wicked works. Therefore, man not only needs to repent, turn to God, and be forgiven by God, but he also needs to be reconciled to Him.
2. “Enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be. And...cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8).
Since man is at enmity against God, he is not subject to the law of God; he cannot be subject to the law even if he so desires. When man rebelled against God, he inherited a rebellious nature that keeps him from being subject to the law of God. Man cannot please God. Man is sinful and needs forgiveness. He also cannot be subject to God in order to abide peacefully with God. Consequently, he needs to be reconciled to God.
3. “They did not approve of holding God in their full knowledge” (Rom. 1:28).
Man is alienated from God to such an extent that he does not approve of holding God in his knowledge. It is not that man cannot know God; rather, he does not approve of knowing Him. Since man deliberately refuses knowledge of God, sets Him aside, and rejects Him, man needs to be reconciled to Him.
4. “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18).
Since man is at enmity against God in his heart and is unwilling to subject himself to God or approve of knowing God, there is no fear of God before his eyes.
5. “Hateful to God” (Rom. 1:30).
Man not only has no fear of God, but he is even hateful toward Him.
6. “A blasphemer” (1 Tim. 1:13).
Man not only hates God but he goes a further step to blaspheme God. Hate is an inward feeling, whereas blasphemy involves outward words and actions. Man hates God in his thoughts inwardly and blasphemes God in his words and actions outwardly. He is at enmity with God in his heart, does not approve of Him or agree with Him, and even detests God. He has no fear of God before his eyes, then he hates God in his heart, and ultimately, he blasphemes God. Man truly needs to be reconciled to God.
7. “The fool has said in his heart, / There is no God” (Psa. 14:1).
Man has problems with God to such an extent that he says that there is no God. How much he has forsaken God! How blasphemous!
8. “The wicked man...his thoughts are this: There is no God!” (Psa. 10:4).
Since man says that there is no God, he thinks and schemes as if there is no God, and he is audacious in his desires, committing all manner of acts to oppose, despise, and deny God.
9. “There is none who seeks out God” (Rom. 3:11).
Since man thinks there is no God, he does not seek God; he remains a godless person, spending his life in a godless existence with a godless living.
10. “Sons of disobedience...Children of wrath” (Eph. 2:2-3).
Because of the above conditions, man is a son of disobedience before God, rebelling against God and resisting God. He is a child of wrath in God’s eyes. The relationship between God and man has fallen to such a state. How man needs to be reconciled to God! How he needs a thorough change before God!
1. “He now has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death” (Col. 1:22).
Although man has problems with God and needs to be reconciled to Him, man has given no thought to this matter nor could he devise a way to be reconciled. But God, who has never had a problem with man and does not need to be reconciled to man, wants man to be reconciled to Him. He made a way of restoration so that we might be reconciled to Him because He loves us.
In order for us to be reconciled to Him, God accomplished a way of restoration through the Lord’s redemption. God reconciled us to Himself through the Lord’s death in the flesh. Just as the forgiveness of our sins is based upon the Lord’s redemption, so also is our reconciliation to God. Without the Lord’s redemption there would be no way for us to be reconciled to God. If the Lord did not accomplish propitiation for our sins, God could not reconcile us to Himself; even if we were to turn to Him, He could not accept us. However, the Lord’s redemption solved every problem and removed every barrier between us and God so that we might return and be reconciled to Him and He might receive us gladly.
2. “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).
Through the Lord’s shedding of His blood on the cross, God made propitiation for our sins, solved all the problems between us and Him, made peace, and reconciled us to Himself.
Through the Lord Jesus and His redemption, God reconciled not only man but all things to Himself. This can be compared to a divorced wife who is also reconciled to her children when she is reconciled to her husband, their father. Man represents the whole creation, and all creation hangs on him. God reconciled man and creation, both of which were at odds with Him, to Himself through the cross of the Lord Jesus.
3. “Might reconcile both...to God through the cross” (Eph. 2:16).
The cross of the Lord Jesus is like a bridge spanning the gulf between God and man so that man may communicate with God and return to God’s presence. God reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to Himself through the cross of the Lord Jesus.
4. “God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).
Even though man hates and rejects God, God still loves and longs for him. Although man refuses God, God still wants him. Therefore, God came to reconcile man to Himself. He sent Christ to accomplish this through the shedding of His blood and His redemption on the cross. Christ accomplished all that was necessary to reconcile man to God. God, therefore, reconciles man to Himself in Christ. It is in Christ that God reconciles man back to Himself.
5. “The ministry of reconciliation”; “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:18, 20).
To reconcile man to Himself, God not only accomplished all the requirements of reconciliation through the Lord Jesus but He also ministers reconciliation through the Holy Spirit; that is, He moves His ministers by the Holy Spirit to beseech man to be reconciled to Him, and simultaneously, He does the same thing in man. He earnestly longs for man to be reconciled to Him, and He even causes the Holy Spirit through His ministers to beseech man on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to Him. What love! What earnestness! Because many ministers have been moved by God’s earnest love and thus express it, they eagerly exhort people to repent and turn to God, pleading with them to receive God’s grace. God not only wants and even waits for man to be reconciled to Him, but He also sends others to admonish and plead with man to be reconciled to Him. This is like a husband who longs for the return of his wife who has problems with him and sends people to ask her to come back. If man is not reconciled to God, the problem is not with God but with man. Any problem with reconciliation is related to man’s unwillingness to receive God’s love, to hear God’s plea, to answer God’s beseeching, and to be reconciled to God.
6. “We, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10).
God did not come to reconcile us to Himself at the time of our repentance and seeking; rather, He came when we were His enemies. While we were still His enemies, He came to reconcile us through the death of His Son. Because of the Lord’s death, God will reconcile to Himself anyone who is an enemy and who has problems with Him as long as he is willing to be reconciled.
7. “Having been justified out of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
We have peace toward God because we have been justified by faith. Being reconciled to God is also a result of faith. The Lord Jesus accomplished all that is necessary for us to be reconciled to God; however, we still must believe, confess, and receive by faith what He accomplished. Once we believe, God reconciles us to Himself through the Lord Jesus and His accomplishments. Upon believing, we receive God’s forgiveness and justification, and then we are reconciled to Him. Although there is a sequence to God’s reconciliation, forgiveness, and justification, we receive these items simultaneously when we believe.
When we are reconciled to God, we have peace toward Him. Originally, we had problems with God and did not have peace. After believing in the Lord, the problems between us and God do not exist, and we are reconciled to Him; therefore, we have peace toward God. This was accomplished by God in Christ for us, and it is obtained by us through faith.
1. “Boasting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Rom. 5:11).
There are at least three results to being reconciled to God. First, we can boast in God. Originally, God was man’s joy, but once we developed a problem with God and lost God, we were godless and without any peace and joy. Consequently, we sought after recreation, entertainment, and even sin to find enjoyment. Now that we are reconciled to God, we have obtained God and possess God, who is our joy and boast. We feel sweet whenever we think of Him; we feel happy whenever He is mentioned.
Formerly, we took pleasure in drinking, smoking, gambling, movies, or dances, but now that we have been reconciled to God, we boast and joy in God and with God. We love to pray and draw near to God; whenever God is mentioned, our hearts beat with longing.
2. “Love God”; “The love of Christ constrains us...that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 5:14-15 see also 1 John 4:19).
The second result of being reconciled to God is love for God. Those who have been reconciled to God love Him, and those who have peace toward God love Him. We boast in God as our enjoyment, and we express our love toward Him.
Once we consider how God loved us, how He came and reconciled us to Himself, how He sent the Lord Jesus to accomplish all that was necessary for this reconciliation, how the Lord Jesus died, bled, and was resurrected for us, our heart of love is stirred up toward Him. We desire to show Him our love by laying down everything to please Him and to live for Him all our lives.
3. “Serve...God” (1 Thes. 1:9, see also v. 10).
The third result of being reconciled to God is service to God. Those who are reconciled to God love Him, and those who are reconciled long to serve Him. Loving God is a demonstration of our heart toward God, and serving God is our practical action before Him. The very love through which God reconciled us to Himself constrains us in our heart to serve Him until the Lord returns.
