To be reconciled. 2 Cor. 5.18-20

To be reconciled. God reconciled himself to us through Christ.

We are to be about the business of reconciliation.

"Amy Biehl died a violent death in 1993. She was a 26-year-old Fulbright scholar who had gone to South Africa to help register black voters for their first free election. But even though she was seeking to help the people of South Africa, as she was driving one day, she was dragged out of her car, stabbed and beaten to death by a mob which was committed to violence in order to
overthrow the apartheid government. Soon afterward, Amy’s parents, Linda
and Peter Biehl, quit their jobs and moved from their Orange County,
California, home to South Africa — not to seek revenge, but to start a
foundation in Amy’s name. Today, two of her killers work for the
foundation. They call Mrs. Biehl, “Makhulu,” or grandmother, because of
the way she treats them. She says, “Forgiving is looking
at ourselves and saying, ‘I don’t want to go through life feeling
hateful and revengeful, because that’s not going to do me any good.’ We
took Amy’s lead. We did what we felt she would want.”1

That is the picture of reconciliation. It not only forgives, it reaches out to restore. It pays back good for evil. It follows the heart and
character of God, for the Bible says “ . . . God reconciled us to
himself through Christ and gave us the ministry 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.” 2 Corinthians 5.18-20

Reconciliation was God’s idea. God’s love is like a bridge that makes reconciliation possible. If you take away the bridge, the separation remains. Without the love of God, man shall not be reconciled unto God. Reconciliation is both an accomplished fact and an ongoing process in our lives. Notice with me that it was God who initiated restoration of relationship; God took the first step in reconciliation—in making things right between him
and us. (That is the simplest of definitions for reconciliation: making things right between one and another)

We do not reach up to God, rather he reaches out to us. This separates Christianity from every other religion—that God loved us first, and went looking for us. “Though it is man that sins, it is God who pursues him and seeks his redemption . . .” And what’s more, “Christianity is centered around a creator who loves his creation so much that he is willing to offer himself as the ultimate sacrifice.”2 If
Christianity is simply to be ranked among other great religions, then
what other ‘great’ religion has it’s higher being dying for his
followers—giving his all so that they might live?!

And what’s more—God offers us a reconciled life, then wants to make his home with us, drying our tears, and redeeming our pasts: “Let me show you where I live among my people. My name is ‘God-with-you.’ I will wipe away all the tears from your eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.” Rev. 21.2-5

God reconciled himself to us through Christ.

We are to be about the business of reconciliation.

"This is the deepest meaning of history: a constant invitation calling us to turn our hearts to God and so discover the full meaning of our lives.”3

Oh yes, our lives have meaning when we are made right with God and we begin to live in the fullness of that relationship, and could there by
any greater joy than helping another find that same fullness of
relationship? I think not.

Christine