Next in the list of “Who I am In Christ” is “I am RECONCILED to God”. Let’s start off by defining the word reconciled (katallassō in the Greek language). Romans 5:10 says “…we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…”. The word “reconciled” is in the passive voice which means that I am the “receiver” of the action. (Katallassō) means to restore to friendship or harmony or to return to favor with.
Reconciliation describes an exchange.
Read Romans 5:1-11 below.
“1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Did you see the exchange?? Glance back up and note the phrases, “while we were still weak”, “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly”, “while we were still sinners”, “while we were enemies” (verses 6-8, 10). We were weak, ungodly, sinners, enemies of God. BUT THEN!! God chose us, called us, regenerated us, justified us, and RECONCILED us to Himself!! I am now restored to God’s favor (reconciled) because, on the cross, God put my sin on Jesus and put Jesus’ righteousness on me.
Because I am RECONCILED to God…
- I have peace with God (verse 1).
- I have access to His grace (verse 2).
- I have confident assurance that one day I will see the glory of God (verse 2).
- I have been given the indwelling Holy Spirit who enables growth in my becoming more and more like Jesus (verses 3-5).
- I have the ever-increasing realization of the love that God has poured into my heart (verse 5).
- I have been saved from God’s wrath (verse 9).
- I have been saved by the finished work of the cross – His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension (verse 10)
ALL of this is THROUGH CHRIST!
Ephesians 2:1-5 says, “1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–”.
So I’m reconciled to God, NOW WHAT?
The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:18 says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation”. The word ministry in Greek (diakonia) describes the ministry whose work it is to induce men to embrace the offered reconciliation with God. We share the Gospel with others. We encourage and influence others to cherish and live their lives to bring glory to God.
Next week we will dig into “I am REDEEMED by God”. I hope you’ll join me!! Hasn’t going through the list of “Who I am in Christ” been such a joy to your heart?!! God is amazing!!