by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Ephesians 2:15,16
Making change is a lost art. It used to be that you handed someone, anyone, money and they instantly could subtract the amount owed and give you the exact change. It could be at a big box store or the local roadside vegetable stand. You handed over your money and they gave you change. Nobody thought about it, it just happened.
The masters of making change were the highly skilled men and women who sold stuff on streetcorners and other public places. You ordered and their fingers danced like a concert pianist, making change while they filled your order.
But somewhere along the line, this art was lost. Perhaps it’s because basic math skills have disappeared. Or what about everyone using credit/debit cards for just about every purchase. With cards, you always pay the right amount and there never is any change to be made. Or we’ve come to depend so much on technology for even the most ordinary and everyday calculations that we’ve lost the ability to make change, or even to think.
When change is done right, everyone is satisfied. Everyone gets what they want. Everyone gets what they need. Both parties are happy. The books are balanced. They are reconciled. No one owes anything. Everyone is paid in full.
Yes, making change is a lost art with people. But not with God.
Through the cross of Christ, everyone is satisfied. Everyone gets what they want. What they need. Everyone is paid in full. The books are balanced. We are reconciled.
Like making change, being reconciled is where two people come to an agreement. Both sides get what they want. What they need.
God gets the payment for our debt, and we get restored. We dug ourselves into debt to God through our self-centeredness. Our selfishness towards God and others. Our words, thoughts, actions, and attitudes dug us deeper and deeper into debt with God.
But when Jesus died for our sins, God was paid for all sin: past, present, and future. He even stamped our sin invoice, “paid in full.”
He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:13b,14
Our separation, and hostility with God was paid for, once and for all. Our disagreement with God was fully answered in Jesus. This made us reconciled with him. This creates the unity we had with God that we totally screwed up and lost in the Garden.
The reason God came in Jesus was to bring us back to himself. Our broken, unfriendly, and even hostile relationship with God has been remade like it was. That which was lost has been found.
But there’s something more than reconciliation and restoration going on here. Our hostility and alienation towards God has been killed. They are dead. And there’s no possible resurrection for it. It’s dead once and for all.
Now that we’ve been reconciled with God, what’s supposed to happen now? I’ll tell you what’s the natural, even logical response.
Thankfulness – since our eternal debt has been paid, and we’ll never be in debt again, we should shout thanks to God.
Worship – only God could pay our debt, causing us to worship Jesus as God with unbridled adoration, and praise.
Service – an energized desire to do things for God, his people, and everyone walking on planet Earth.
Being reconciled to God does more than change going to church on Sunday mornings. It completely alters the way we approach life and everyone we run into. That person who just cut you off in traffic is someone who Jesus died for. That person serving you in a restaurant should receive kindness and respect from us. That person making change for us at the vegetable stand is someone loved by God and a person of eternal value.
Being reconciled changes everything about life.
Are you reconciled to God through Jesus? It’s the best, one-time decision you can make. It will remake your relationship with God. It will change your relationship with people. It will energize your service to everyone.
Being reconciled does more than make change. It changes everything.
Noodling Questions
How does being reconciled with God change your worship? Prayer life?
Where do you see the need to let Jesus’ reconciliation change you more?
What acts of service is God energizing you to do through his reconciliation?
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