Reconciliation 2

Reconciliation Colossians 1: 19-23 English Standard Version (ESV) 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. Introduction In simplest language, to reconcile is to make peace. When two parties are estranged, feuding or at war, they are reconciled when they put aside their differences or hostility. Many times, a great price has to be paid for reconciliation. When Japan attacked the United States during World War II, and the US declared war on Japan, it took the incomprehensible destruction of two atomic bombs to bring about reconciliation. Although they were once enemies, now the US and Japan are allies. The US and Japan are reconciled, even though during wartime, there was deep hatred and hostility between the two nations. Let's explore the word hostility. It refers to two parties that are at war with each other and that have abiding resentment and anger toward each other. The Bible applies reconciliation to both God and man, and therefore we have to understand how hostility applies to each party. Man is at War with God When applied to man it simply means that man, in his sin, hates God. This is a concept that is difficult to accept: Apart from faith in Christ, man hates God and is at war with him. All people are sinful, but not all people are as evil as they could be. Some people are desperately wicked, others are kind and generous. However, the exterior behavior of people does not reveal the sinfulness of the human heart. Because God is our creator, only God can fully understand us and fully know our heart: Jeremiah 17: 9-10 King James Version (KJV) 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17: 9-10 GOD'S WORD Translation (GW) 9 "The human mind is the most deceitful of all things. It is incurable. No one can understand how deceitful it is. 10 I, the Lord, search minds and test hearts. I will reward each person for what he has done. I will reward him for the results of his actions. Hebrews 4: 12-13 GOD'S WORD Translation (GW) 12 God's word is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and cuts as deep as the place where soul and spirit meet, the place where joints and marrow meet. God's word judges a person's thoughts and intentions. 13 No creature can hide from God. Everything is uncovered and exposed for him to see. We must answer to him. We cannot understand who we are without the revelation of Scripture. We understand we are intrinsically sinful because God has revealed this to us through the Bible. The Bible teaches us that we are not good but wicked apart from God: Luke 18: 18-19 English Standard Version (ESV) 18 And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Romans 3: 10-12 GOD'S WORD Translation (GW) 10 as Scripture says, "Not one person has God's approval. 11 No one understands. No one searches for God. 12 Everyone has turned away. Together they have become rotten to the core. No one does anything good, not even one person. The Scripture does not teach that man is intrinsically good but intrinsically depraved. This depravity is the basis of humankind's hostility toward God. Man's Source of Hostility Sinners do not become sinners because they sin. Sinners sin because they are, by nature, sinners. It is who they are. And it was our nature before God gave us faith to be saved. The source of our hostility toward God then is our sinfulness. God's Hostility Toward Man God's hostility toward man is categorically different. God is holy pure and all wise and is incapable of evil. God's perfect holiness means that if even the smallest, the most subatomic speck of iniquity were found in God, he would instantly cease to exist. There is no sin in God. That is what the Apostles mean when they say God is light and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1: 5). So, while man's hostility towards God originates from sin, God's hostility toward man originates from his lack of sin. God's anger burns toward sinners because he is angry at sin. His righteous nature demands a response toward our sins. Romans 1: 18 English Standard Version (ESV) 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1: 18 GOD'S WORD Translation (GW) 18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. Romans 2: 2-5 English Standard Version (ESV) 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. If you were to read Romans 1-3, you would see the Apostle Paul has a lot to say about the wrath of God. One of the characteristics of God's wrath is that it is always just and fair. Our sins are described as unrighteous and ungodly motivated by a hard and unrepentant heart that seeks to suppress the truth. However, God's wrath is a holy and pure response to the naked evil of man's sin. In other words, the God of Scripture is never vindictive or petty. Illustration Let me provide a silly illustration. Suppose your neighbor's teenage son stood on your lawn and threw a large rock through your dining room window. After hearing the sound of broken glass, you rushed into the dining room, and when the teenager saw you, he laughed at you and ran away. The next week the teenager smashed your car windows with a hammer. When you ran to the investigate the noise, he looked at you with a scowl and cursed you. The following week your young son or grandson comes home with a black eye and two broken teeth and tells you this same teenager jumped him in the bathroom and beat him senseless, laughing as he did so. You wouldn't just want the police to come and punish that teenager for breaking the law by destroying your property. You would also feel intense anger at how that teenager disrespected your person and your family. That teenager's actions not only had incurred a debt needed payment, but his actions would have kindled blazing anger in your soul. Granted, this illustration is wanting, but it is designed to get us thinking how our deliberate life of sin was an affront to God's righteousness. Again, we cannot separate God's law from his person. We cannot separate God's word from his nature. We Enjoyed Sin! Apart from Christ, we reveled in sin. * We enjoyed gossiping, cussing and taking the Lord's name in vain. * We enjoyed getting drunk, getting high, and fornicating. * We laughed when people believed our lies to be true. * We embraced pride, delighting in our accomplishments and achievements, all the while looking down on others and refusing to give God the glory for the gifts, he gave us. As we loved our sin, God's anger blazed white hot against us. Indeed, Jesus said: John 3: 36 King James Version (KJV) 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. The Glory of the Cross of Christ The Glory of the Cross of Christ is that Jesus not only delivered us from the debt of sin by paying our debt in full and completely, but he also reconciled us to God. God was tremendously angry with us, but on the cross, Jesus Christ received the full fury of God's wrath for our sin, and God's anger was cooled and satisfied. That is why the Apostle Paul writes: 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 English Standard Version (ESV) 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God is Reconciled to Us God is reconciled to us, because the terrible affront to his justice has been satisfied through the sacrifice of Jesus. God's justice has been satisfied and his anger sated because Since our sins have been wiped clean and they no longer exist. We are Reconciled to God We are reconciled to God because of the new birth. God took that ugly, rebellious sinner that we once were and killed him, and nailed him to the cross. And he replaced that sin loving, sex loving, blaspheming liar with a new creation in Christ Jesus. This new creation has a heart that loves God and follows Christ. Remember, we just read: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Galatians 2: 20-21 English Standard Version (ESV) 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. What was the old? That old sinful man. What was crucified with Christ? That old you and I that cursed God and man and loved to sin. God destroyed that person and gave us a new spirit! We bear witness to this fact by partaking of the sacrament of water baptism. This doesn't bring about the new creation, but it tells the world, "I'm changed! I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus!" So why won't some of you get water baptized? The Price of Reconciliation Isaiah 53 GOD'S WORD Translation (GW) 53 Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord's power been revealed? 2 He grew up in his presence like a young tree, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that would make us look at him. He had nothing in his appearance that would make us desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn't consider him to be worth anything. 4 He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him, and punished him. 5 He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds. 6 We have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the Lord has laid all our sins on him. 7 He was abused and punished, but he didn't open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off. He didn't open his mouth. 8 He was arrested, taken away, and judged. Who would have thought that he would be removed from the world? He was killed because of my people's rebellion. 9 He was placed in a tomb with the wicked. He was put there with the rich when he died, although he had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie. 10 Yet, it was the Lord's will to crush him with suffering. When the Lord has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, he will see his descendants for many days. The will of the Lord will succeed through him. 11 He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned through suffering. He will carry their sins as a burden. 12 So I will give him a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are rebellious. I read this passage to illustrate the strength of Jesus suffering not just for payment of our sin debt but to appease the wrath of God. An Application for Today Now what I am about to say, I say prayerfully and advisedly. I have emphasized my own need for salvation, and my own failures from this pulpit many times. But like I said many times, I'm not going to keep my sins or your sins, be they past or present to keep me from preaching the truth. I dislike preaching these kinds of topics because I really, really don't trust my flesh. I know my flesh nature is capable of anything and I don't want to preach hard and then be found a castaway. But again, my choice is to preach a watered-down sermon that I think I can live up to or preach the Gospel and stay on knees in prayer asking God to keep from temptation. There is a present-day application of this concept of God's wrath for you and me. We are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and thank God for that. But we must never presume upon the mercy of God. We must maintain a horror of and complete rejection of the sins that angered God so. One sin that angers God that the church has become careless about is the sin of divorce and remarriage. While I believe there are exceptions where God allows divorce and even, possibly, remarriage, believers have made these exceptions the rule. The church has become guilty of abusing the grace of God and divorcing and remarrying out of a spirit of lust, greed and selfishness. What the church has not properly discerned is that this wanton disobedience to God has kindled his wrath. Matthew 5: 32 English Standard Version (ESV) 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Romans 7: 3 English Standard Version (ESV) 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 1 Thessalonians 4: 4-8 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Hebrews 13: 4 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. God forgives. I believe when a person divorces and asks God for forgiveness, their sin debt is paid in full. I believe when a person remarries the same truth applies. But there are two things we have to watch. First, just because God forgives us of sin doesn't mean we should ever become lax about sin. We can extend love, forgiveness and restoration to our brothers and sisters who have experienced the tragedy of divorce and committed the sin or remarriage, without pretending that this behavior isn't sinful. I think it is important that the local church have a way in which people can be properly counseled, restored and given the opportunity to repent that preserves their dignity and allows them to move forward in their faith and service in the local church. I believe that because God forgives, it is never appropriate for any believer who has confessed their sins to feel guilty before God or feel shame in the house of the Lord. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying is that we must not pretend that to make this s topic off limits or to close our eyes to the fact that God considers that divorce and remarriage are in fact adultery and this behavior makes him angry. If we understood the wrath of God, we would make better decisions in this area of marriage, divorce and remarriage. Marriage is hard, and the world, our flesh and the devil will not make it easy for us to stay faithful to our covenant partners. But we must understand that God hates divorce and the act of divorce ignites his anger. While there are exceptions, to be truthful, many of us have gamed the system so to speak. We have exploited compassion loopholes to get our way, not realizing that God is all seeing and all knowing. I think if we really stop and consider that God is a consuming fire, we might think twice about some of the decisions we make, even if Pastor So and So says it's okay. Second, our former life of sin, and again, I'm specifically speaking to this issue of divorce and remarriage which is in fact adultery, but it could apply to anything else, should manifest itself in our present Christian lives in the form of manifest humility. 1 Timothy 1: 12-15 English Standard Version (ESV) 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. The Apostle Paul never forgot his roots so to speak. He never became puffed up and adopted a superior attitude. He always keep a remembrance of his previously life within reach because it served a spiritual benefit to him. We would do well to learn from Paul. Again, I emphasize that God had a list of those deserving judgment and I was on that list. But so were you. And right by your name was "adulterer". In some cases, there next to that in parentheses was (x2). Every time, the Father looked at that list and considered your unrepentant heart, his anger burned. Now because of the Father's love and mercy, and Jesus's faithful obedience, we are no longer on that list. That list was nailed to the cross and our debt paid. However, God didn't just forget about our sins. Jesus paid for our sins and suffered God's eternal wrath for our sins. So, wouldn't it be wise, wouldn't it be reasonable, wouldn't it be sane to be humbler in the house of God? Some of have this superior attitude in God's house like our sins are not that big of a deal. We are strutting around like it is all in the past. It is in the past, but like Paul we have to remember where we came from and the price that is paid so we never stray too far from the faith upon which we stand. Let us be mindful of these truths! In the name of God, Amen Created on;10/19/19 Printed on:10/19/19 Page | 1 of 10 Https://Bwccpastor-My.Sharepoint.Com/Personal/Pastor_B-Wcc_Org/Documents/Reconciliation.Docx