Gifted with Reconciliation

Have you ever had someone so upset with you that no matter what you did, you couldn’t help them get over it? It feels terrible when one of our relationships is out of whack—and so peaceful and life-giving when it is restored. Our relationship with God was in desperate need of reconciliation, even if we didn’t know it. Have you noticed, though, how much more peaceful you feel now that you believe in Jesus and have Him living inside of you? That peace—the peace of Christ—is the peace of reconciliation!

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.  2 Corinthians 5:19

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

The Incomparable Peace of Christ

A loss of peace alerts us that something is going wrong. We need this kind of warning system: there are so many things that can go wrong! What we don’t need is to be stressed up all the time. To help us with this and so many other things, our Father has sent the Peace of Christ into our lives. But first He had to help us recognize the Main Thing that had gone wrong: We were separated from Him by our sins.[1] Then He had to help us figure out that there was nothing we could do about it. Then He had to help us discover and believe in His answer: Jesus!

Probably while all of this was going on you were stressing up even more. Right? The closer we try to get to God—without Christ bridging the gap—the more we inevitably feel the anguish of God’s apparent absence. When Jesus finally showed up as Answer to your prayers, the peace flooded in to fill you. What a relief! St. Augustine called this deep-seated emptiness on the inside, the “God-shaped void” because only He can fill it.[2]

God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.

God's Answer to Our Emptiness

Along with conscience that void is God’s homing beacon.[3] God didn’t make it, though—we did. It is the hole left when Adam chose to feed on forbidden fruit, rather than stay in fellowship with his God. He pushed God out to let sin in! Don’t be shocked: We do it all the time, too. Keeping God out, living without God in the inside, felt so natural that many of us hardly questioned it. To make matters worse, some of us actually let the devil in. All of us let Self take over. As they say, nature hates a vacuum. So it seems, does the spiritual life.

God, however, saw how desperately empty we were and He grieved over the lost and broken relationship with us, even if we didn’t. He set out to make things right, saw that we could in no way ever hold up our end, and decided to do it all Himself. There! That’s salvation history in a nutshell. Any good church will fill you in on the whole story (be sure to find a good church—it is one of the Two Key Acquisitions listed in your "Quick Start" Guide). For now, let’s consider how good the Peace of Christ is now that it has become a treasured part of your inheritance in Christ.

Living in the Fullness of His Peace

The peace lets us know that we are reconciled with God and He is reconciled to us.[4] On God’s side the reconciliation is complete. That is why the peace is always available to us. The faith that we have received through the gospel—the good news that God is for us—gives us a base-line level of peace. We, however, can easily lose the fullness of the peace. Any “step” away from trusting the Lord, any actual step into disobedience will weaken the bond of peace.

This is God’s way of alerting us that we are drifting away from where we need to be—sticking close to Jesus.  The Holy Spirit watches over us, alerting us by lifting the peace if we are letting go of trust or failing to follow through on something Jesus is asking us to do.[5] Eventually, this peace can grow so powerful within you that it becomes a might river lifting you over things that used to stress you in daily life.[6] For now, learn to notice when the peace goes missing, and RUN back to Jesus to get it restored!

Next Free Gift to Open

Gifted with Redemption  Redemption has many meanings and practically infinite applications. The idea behind it is payment of a debt, setting free from slavery, releasing from captivity, or buying back something sold. Jesus, our mighty Redeemer, does all of the above! That’s the meaning—treasure it in your heart. Then saturate it with faith and spread it all over every troubled area of your life. The application has endless possibilities…

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Reconciliation Scriptures

For thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. Isaiah 66:12

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:9-11

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 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. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Ephesians 2:14-17

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:19-20

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23