March 20
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God,” 2 Corinthians 5:19-20.
Sin erected a wall of separation between God and people. God and people needed to be reconciled. The wall of separation could not be removed by any efforts of people, individually or collectively, no matter how hard they might try.
So, God made the move for reconciliation. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” Reconciliation was brought about by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the Law of God in our place with His holy life. He fulfilled where we so miserably fail. He took our sins upon Himself and carried them to Calvary’s cross, where He shed His precious blood to wash them all away. He suffered and died and rose again to conquer sin, death, and the devil.
This reconciliation was beautifully foretold by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, the Old Testament evangelist. Isaiah wrote, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth,” Isaiah 53:3-7. Seven hundred years before it happened, Isaiah takes us to Calvary’s cross and portrays the silent, suffering Savior.
God did not impute or count our sins against us. He laid them all on Jesus, and Jesus paid the price for our redemption, and He set us free! Now we have been committed to proclaim the Word of reconciliation. Pastors in particular, and also all Christians, are ambassadors for Christ. Through us, God pleads with people, “Be reconciled to God!” We invite people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Son and the only Savior, and make God’s proclamation of love and forgiveness through Jesus their very own by faith.
The power is in the Gospel to turn a terrified sinner around to behold the face of the loving, forgiving heavenly Father. Every Christian ought to say with the apostle Paul, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes . . . For in it the righteousness of God is revealed,” Romans 1:16-17. Be bold and share this Good News with all whom you know!
“Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest,
And set my spirit free.” Amen.