As
much as you desire to resolve a relationship or an important issue, it may never
come about. As much as you pray and plead, there will be not be a coming together.
But could it be that you are the unwilling party? You say that you aren’t ready.
You don’t want to reconcile. You would rather be right. You enjoy replaying
old videos in your mind. You like to nurse those old wounds. You may be willing
to resolve issues but you want to be sure it’s going to be in your best interests.
I have played that game too. There have been times when I’ve been in an irreconcilable
frame of mind when I should have been making the first move. With self-righteous
justification, I too have conveniently sidestepped the biblical command to be
engaged in “the ministry of reconciliation”.
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But
there is a fourth answer to our question, “Is reconciliation possible?” and
it is not, “I certainly hope so,” or “I’m not so sure,” or “It isn’t going to
happen.” The answer, “Always and absolutely.”
It
is a reconciliation which is not just possible but desirable. It is a reconciliation
that is essential. It is not subject to the whims of another person or group,
or contingent on your negotiation skills. No. It is a reconciliation in which
God takes the initiative. It is a gift God offers through His Son. It is the
reconciliation of which Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:19 where says “God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins again them.”
While
reconciliation with people is not possible in every situation, it is forever
possible with Jesus. While you can’t resolve matters with some individuals
in this world, God is more than ready to make things right with you not only
now but in the eternal world to come. This reconciliation is possible not because
of what you have done or achieved. No. Reconciliation is possible not because
of you but because of what Christ has accomplished for you. Now that’s reconciliation.
The
cross is the greatest demonstration of reconciliation this world has ever seen.
On the cross, God treated His Son Jesus as if He had lived your life so He could
treat you as if you had lived His life. On an ancient Roman torture rack, your
sin was put to His account. His perfect life was credited to your imperfect
life. So when God looks at you He is able to say, “You’ve done everything right.
You were good in your relationships. You were holy not only in your thoughts
but in your actions. You have done no wrongs. When you were ignored, scorned
or mistreated, you responded in righteousness.” In other words, you weren’t
bad, wrong, mediocre, good, OK or even superb. No. In the eyes of God, you
were perfect. That’s how God sees you. “God made him who had no sin to
be sin for us, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.”
That is how God sees you because He does not see you but His Son, Jesus Christ.
That
is a shocking assessment because you know better. You don’t deserve this gift
of heaven. This awesome offer of reconciliation should not be yours or mine.
But that is the mercy of God. And it is because of the One who had no sin deliberately
became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.
______________
John
Tornfelt is Professor of Pastoral Ministries at the Evangelical School of Theology
in Myerstown, PA.
