#26 The Purpose and Power of Reconciliation

The first experience I remember having, with reconciliation, took place when I was around 10. Being a young kid in a private school, you can become acutely aware of what you lack versus what you own. In my case, this realization took place in the form of video games. Not having a job really weighed on me, (actually, not having money weighed on me) and I began to devise a plan to make some money and buy a video game I’d been wanting for some time. One day, I came home from school and quietly slipped into my parent’s room in their absence. With my father’s jeans pockets unguarded, I slipped $20 out of his wallet and into my own. That weekend, we went to Toys R Us and I purchased the game, having no idea that my father knew I had taken his money. When we got home, he expressed how disappointed he was in my action. But, he did something else that I never expected. He reassured me that, regardless of what I had done, he would always love me as his son and that I would have to work to regain the trust I had lost. The relationship that I had willingly broken, for my own gain, was in the process of being restored. That, my friends, is reconciliation. I want to take a look at 2 Corinthians today and talk about how Christ restored our broken relationship with God when Adam sinned as well as reconciling His own relationship…(More on that later.)

So, 2 Corinthians is another one of Paul's letters in the New Testament. If you’re at all familiar with the New Testament, then you’ll know that the majority of these letters are written to specific churches, identifying specific problems, and providing wisdom on how to deal with them. 2 Corinthians is the second of two letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Putting it lightly, they were a hot mess. From church divisions to sexual debauchery, everything that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong. Imagine what Moses saw the Israelites doing when he came down the mountain the first time…..yeah, it was bad. But, this particular letter is written as a follow-up to the 1st. The church has begun to get its act together, and Paul is now teaching them the steps of righteous living.   Whereas the first letter is about correcting bad behavior, this letter is about introducing and explaining, and encouraging good behavior. Enter, 2 Corinthians 5 where Paul begins to expound, just a bit, about the nature of the church body’s relationship with Christ.

The first part of chapter 5 sees Paul talking about the temporary nature of the flesh. He says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” He’s putting forth the notion that though our physical bodies may be destroyed, we have the eternal residence of Heaven to look forward to. He also encourages his people not to take the way they live their lives so casually because at some point we will all have to give an account for what we did with the body we were given. (For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (Hang on to that “what is due us” line.))

The second portion of Chapter 5 talks about both our vertical (with God) and horizontal (with people) relationships. More specifically, Paul talks about the purpose behind why he lives his life in the manner he does. (read verses 14 - 15) Before I go any further, I want to reiterate something. Christ loved us so much that he humbled himself and descended into a world full of something he hates, sin. He didn’t die because he was excited about it; he died because he knew His blood was the only sufficient sacrifice that could pay our penalty of eternal death. If you don’t take away anything else from this message, remember that God loves you and Jesus’ death is proof of that. Back to the text, Paul says that he’s compelled by Christ’s love to live for Him instead of himself. He, then, begins to talk about how Christ was once regarded in the flesh but He’s no longer known that way. (Paul’s making a statement that Christ was beyond just a man but so much more.) It’s in verse 18 that we see his first mention of reconciliation in this text.

The easiest way to understand reconciliation is to think about a relationship, in your life, that was damaged at some point. Did you have a falling out with a friend? Did you stop talking to your parents/spouse? Were you ignoring relationships because someone hurt you? This is where reconciliation comes into the picture because in its simplest form; it’s the restoration of a relationship. That awkward moment when you and your best friend have to talk about that guy you both like/liked in college….that’s the process of reconciliation. It’s the movement from broken to restored. Paul applies that to the church in Corinth and says “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Now, this begs a question: what did it mean that Christ reconciled us back to himself? Let’s take a quick trip to the Garden of Eden.

Way back in Genesis, we find the fall of man and the sin that started it all. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were kicked out of the Garden. Now, what Paul was stressing in 2 Corinthians 5:18 was that this sin did more than just physically remove people from the garden. The second thing that happened was that our perfect relationship with God was destroyed. In the same way that my theft broke my father’s trust; Adam’s and Eve’s sin broke the whole relationship with God for a while. He clothed them in animal skins and would soon require animal blood sacrifices as a temporary atonement and attempt for restoration. Unfortunately for those living in the Old Testament, these sacrifices were never meant to be enough to restore us back to Him. Earlier, I made a comment about “what was due us” when we are judged. The truth is, we deserve to be eternally punished. However, Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, and His death served as a new bridge to replace the one that had been broken. His death mended what should’ve been eternally broken, all for the sake of the world He loved. But wait, there’s more.

Remember how I said Christ descended to Earth to save mankind? That’s not a simple statement and there’s a little bit to unpack here. So, the Triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) decides to reconcile the world back to Himself and the Son is sent to complete this task. Jesus is perfect, sinless, and in complete harmony with His Father on all accounts. His death brings reconciliation not only to the Father but also to Himself and the Holy Spirit. Hehehehe, see you thought it was just reconciliation with the Father but not so fast. Jesus Christ’s resurrection ushered in a new comforter that was to be bestowed upon anyone who was a believer. (Bestowed as in granted a relationship with) Not only has our reconciliation restored our relationship with God the Father through His Son, but the Holy Spirit serves as a guide that we can call upon at any moment. That relationship only exists because we have a relationship with God through Christ.

So, what does this mean for us? Well, there are two major things that I want you to take away from this. First, Jesus’ sacrifice is the only thing that can restore our relationship back to the Father. You can’t be “good” enough to get into heaven. You can’t do the right things, think the right thoughts, give to enough charities, feed enough homeless people, etc… Our relationship with God is not established based on performance, so you can breathe a sigh of relief and take off some of the pressure of being “good enough” for God. His son’s death was good enough to open the door to a relationship with God the Father, and we should love Him unconditionally for that.

Secondly, in the same way, that Christ was willing to reconcile us back to himself, we should be willing to reconcile our relationships. Am I saying you have to be buddy-buddy with everybody? No. But, if we are to live like Christ, then we must learn how to genuinely forgive and restore broken relationships. This task is not easy, and it may be one of the most uncomfortable and difficult things we must learn. But, the love of Christ, his reconciliation, and the Holy Spirit have called us to a ministry of reconciliation. If Christ can humble himself enough to reconcile a relationship, so can we.