Reconciled To God

The Reality of Sin The Lord saved me back in 1983. Ever since then, I’ve been sharing the gospel with everyone I could. What I have to tell you will be blunt. Please pay close attention, because it will be the most important information that you’ll ever hear. How we respond to it will determine where we spend eternity.My first point is something that most people don’t want to hear. And that is that every one of us is born into this world spiritually stillborn, dead in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). We were enemies of God (Romans 5:10), were spiritually blind (1 Corinthians 2:14), and by nature, we are all children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). This is our natural state, we’re born this way, and because of this, everyone is already under the condemnation of God.The Consequence of Sin Psalm 51:5 tells us, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” What most people don’t understand is this: our life here is temporary, and when we die, there is only one of two places we can go, Heaven or Hell. In order for us to go to Heaven, we must be holy, without any sin. But no unholy person can ever come into the presence of a Holy God.Habakkuk 1:13, speaking about the Lord, tells us: “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”And so, we need to be holy to go to Heaven, and we’re all unholy, and it’s impossible for man to become holy on his own. No religion, no religious rituals, and no works of righteousness that we have done, can ever make us holy.God’s Plan of Reconciliation It sounds hopeless for us, but there is very good news. And so, my second point is that 2 Corinthians 5:19 tells us: “That God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.”Christ was crucified on Calvary’s cross. He was God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. He condescended to become a man in the person of Jesus the Christ. And He came to offer himself as the supreme sacrifice for the sins of humanity. Through His death, and the shedding of His blood, Jesus Christ satisfied all of the righteous requirements of the law for the penalty of our sins, making it possible for us to be reconciled to God.Christ’s Sacrifice for Us God made reconciliation possible by imputing all of our sins (past, present, and future) to Jesus Christ, and then He imputed the righteousness of Christ to us, making us holy and fit for heaven. This is why our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is absolutely essential for our salvation. It is His imputed righteousness that makes us acceptable to a Holy God.Receiving the GiftMy last point is this, God made reconciliation possible. However, in order to achieve reconciliation, it takes two; it can’t be achieved by one person.There are two parties involved, God and man. Both parties must want the reconciliation. God certainly wants reconciliation; He’s the one who initiated it, and He’s the one that made it possible. But man has to want it too.God gave us a free will to choose, and God will always honor our free will to choose. He’s not going to force anyone to do anything against their will. Even though He knows most people are not willing to admit and forsake their sins, and not willing to humble themselves in repentance before the Lord. They willfully ignore and reject God’s offer to reconcile with Him, causing themselves to be eternally separated from God.That’s not God’s will for us. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”When a person sees and trusts in the value of Christ’s atoning death, believing that he needs to be forgiven of his sins, and he’s willing to change his ways, accepting by faith God’s righteousness for his reconciliation, he becomes reconciled to God. Hostility is removed, friendship and fellowship is restored, just as it was before the fall of man.Restored Through RepentanceAnd so, God graciously did His part, and He is offering you an opportunity to reconcile with Him. Now it’s up to you to do your part by responding, with genuine repentance, to God’s gracious offer of reconciliation. Amen.