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)

The Joy Of Reconciliation

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they brought about the fall of man, which was almost irreconcilable. Satan succeeded in driving a wedge between God and man because the evil one knew the righteousness of God would not permit the Holy God to dwell with rebellion. At the moment of the greatest tragedy of human history, a promise was made to restore the covenant between God and man. It would take many generations of human failure before the promise is fulfilled. From the day Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, the darkness of sin covered the world. Sin inundated the world. There were only eight righteous souls who were saved from the flood. The Law of Moses was given to the Hebrews as a covenant to preserve the Seed of promise.

Through the Law, God provided the means to bring atonement to His people, Israel. The Gentiles were a law to themselves and failed to honor God. Moses gave the Law to the Hebrews, who struggled to remain faithful to the word. From the crossing of the Red Sea, the rebellion at Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea, and forty years of wandering, the people of God rebelled, murmured, and complained. During the period of the conquest and judges, sin left the nation in a cycle of faithfulness, rebellion, punishment, and deliverance. Israel would have three kings to unite the people before the nation entered its downfall and captivity. When Jesus came, the world was dominated by the iron might of the Romans and the hypocrisy of the Jews.

God’s people could not see God’s Son. Jesus came into the world to unite Jew and Gentile with God’s grace. The Jews brought Jesus to the Romans demanding His death, and the Romans obliged. Jesus died. What happened on the first day of the week was the fulfillment of God’s long-standing promise to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Satan bruised the heel of Jesus by the cross, but Jesus bruised the head of Satan in the resurrection. What the Gentiles could not do as a law to themselves, and what the Jews, who were keepers of the Law, could not do, Jesus accomplished in reconciling all men to the favor of God. The resurrection of Jesus was God bringing man back into His fellowship.

Humanity has been restored to God’s divine favor through the resurrection of Jesus. God reconciled His creation to Himself through Jesus Christ. The ministry of reconciliation was established on the day of Pentecost when the apostles of Jesus taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to a perverse and crooked generation. Three thousand souls were reconciled to God when they were baptized for the remission of sins. Peter told the crowd to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. God would not impute sin against those who obeyed the gospel. The Lord God would remove sin as far as the east is from the west. Reconciliation would be repeated time and again as the first disciples were added to the church daily.

The greatest desire of God is to reconcile all men to Himself. He is not willing that any should perish. His plea is for men to repent, but the decision rests upon the heart of man. The ministry of reconciliation is made known to the whole world, but few will accept its blessing. Most people reject the word of reconciliation for human wisdom and false religion. It is tragic and sad that everything man needs to draw close to God has been given through Jesus Christ, and the world continues to reject and crucify the King of kings as a fraud. The greatest joy in life is to know that one is reconciled, brought back, and drawn near to the presence of God. Reconciliation is given through Jesus Christ, but it is a choice. Forgiveness can only be merited if the heart is willing to follow the word of reconciliation.