THE GLORY OF RECONCILIATION WITH GOD

As we saw last Friday, though God made us in His image and for His glory, humanity in general and each of us in particular have broken God’s image in us. We have intentionally supplanted Him from the center of our lives and have set up our own kingdoms in an aggravated rebellion against His glory and rightful authority. His wrath against His rebel creatures is therefore just and right.
Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. Indeed, rather than destroying us, He has made provision for our salvation. This salvation is so miraculous and comprehensive that an eternity in God’s presence will no exhaust our reasons to praise Him. Among the millions of evidences of God’s grace, consider just these three that demonstrate the wonders of redemption.
First, is it not astonishing that God gathered His righteous wrath upon our sin and placed it fully on His own Son?! What wondrous love is this, that He “did not spare His Son, but offered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32)! Though Christ was utterly sinless, “yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:10). Indeed, “He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Second, by pouring out upon Jesus His wrath against our sin, God affected for us a just forgiveness, meaning that when God forgives sin, He doesn’t simply overlook sin. The sin has actually been propitiated by the suffering and death of Christ. The penalty has been paid by Christ, and the punishment has been absorbed by Him so fully that there is no longer any sin-guilt between God and the redeemed. Therefore, in Christ “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).
Third, perhaps the most glorious aspect of salvation is this: after pouring out His wrath upon Christ, and pardoning our sin in a grand act of forgiveness, God then graciously chose to transform His former enemies into His own beloved children. Speaking of Christ, John wrote, “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). He reconciled us to Himself! He drew us into a relationship with Himself and injected into us Christ’s own resurrection life, thus making us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). No wonder Christ explained this to Nicodemus as being born again (John 3:3-16)! It is new life, eternal life, God’s own life; and it makes us eternally His own dear children, “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
By His own choosing, and at His own expense, God has called the rebels not only into His forgiveness, but into His family. For those who say yes to His call, it will take us the rest of eternity to thank Him for this reconciling salvation. It’s time we got started.