July
7, 2003
GOD
RECONCILES US TO HIMSELF
"God
was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word
of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19, NKJV).
God is
the reconciler, He does the reconciling. He made the first
move to bridge the gulf that sin created. The Bible tells
the story of Adam and Eve and describes the beginning of this
separation. God created the first human beings and gave them
everything they needed for happiness, a beautiful garden home,
companionship and provisions for all their physical needs.
But in
a stupid and perverse act, Adam and Eve used their freedom
to perform an act that God had warned them against. They choose
to believe and act on the words of a deceiver rather than
to believe and remain loyal to God. As a result, they lost
their special connection with their Creator and became subject
to the deceiver. Most important, their mistake separated them
form personal companionship with their Creator.
However,
God did not leave them helpless and abandoned. He gave them
a promise. He asked Eve, "What
is this you have done?" She responded, "The
serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the Lord said to
the serpent (Satan), "I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and
her Seed (the promised Messiah). He
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel"
(Genesis 3:13-15). Through the promised "Seed" of
the woman, Adam and Eve could be reconciled to their Creator.
From the beginning, God provided the means for reconciliation.
He made the first move to bridge the gulf that sin created.
From
the beginning God took measures to remove the cause of the
separation. Through the cross, God removes our sins and restores
us to fellowship with Him. "For He (God) made Him (Jesus)
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). God
has provided the means whereby our sins may be removed from
us and our fellowship with Him restored when we accept God's
provision for us.
God's
reconciliation is comprehensive. There is no one that God
does not want to forgive and welcome home. No matter what
a person has done or how far he or she has strayed, He continues
patiently "to seek and to save
that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
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