“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. that is, that 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 5:18-19
Reconciliation means different things to different people. Ask the woman who discovers her husband has had an affair, or has a secret addiction to pornography. Ask the man who has worked at his job for thirty years and is overlooked for a well deserved promotion. Ask the young woman who finds herself pregnant out of wedlock. How can these things ever be reconciled?
Romans 3:23 tells us; “We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.” Todays’ verses declare all things can become new. How? If we are in Christ, “Old things have passed away.” Here’s the amazing thing found in verse 18. “All things are of God.” Really? All things? This passage goes on to say, “God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ.” Everything that comes to us is allowed by our Sovereign God. Not caused by Him but allowed by Him.
What Satan meant for evil; God means for good. Through our trials and tribulations; God gives us the “ministry of reconciliation.” The very thing you think is going to kill you; is the thing He uses to reconcile you to Himself. Just as God in Christ reconciles the world to Himself, not charging you with your offenses; He does not want you to charge others with their offenses against you. It all belongs to God in Christ Jesus.
Corrie ten Boom, forgave a Nazi soldier for his horrific abuse of herself and her sister. They had been imprisoned during WWII for being of Jewish descent. Until their release; they were in less than sanitary conditions; ill fed, and covered in lice. The lice kept the Nazi soldiers from coming in to repeatedly rape them. Corrie and her sister were able to thank God even for the lice.
After the war was over and the prisoners who survived had been released; this Nazi soldier invited Jesus into his heart. This cold hearted man; who couldn’t understand unconditional forgiveness, wanted what Corrie possessed. She was an ambassador for Christ, as though God were pleading through her.
You see my friend; God wants us first of all ; to be reconciled to Himself and then to implore others on Christ’s behalf. That is true reconciliation. We extend to others the reconciliation that has been extended to us.
Prayer in Motion:
Lord Jesus, as I have been reconciled to You; may I extend reconciliation to those whom You have given me. In Jesus Name. Amen
