1. “He now has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death” (Col. 1:22).
Although man has problems with God and needs to be reconciled to Him, he has given no thought to this matter nor could he devise a way to be reconciled. But God, who has never had a problem with man and does not need to be reconciled to man, wants man to be reconciled to Him. He made a way of restoration so that we might be reconciled to Him because He loves us.
In order for us to be reconciled to Him, God accomplished a way of restoration through the Lord’s redemption. God reconciled us to Himself through the Lord’s death in the flesh. Just as the forgiveness of our sins is based upon the Lord’s redemption, so also is our reconciliation to God. Without the Lord’s redemption, there would be no way for us to be reconciled to God. If the Lord did not accomplish propitiation for our sins, God could not reconcile us to Himself; even if we were to turn to Him, He could not accept us. However, the Lord’s redemption solved every problem and removed every barrier between us and God so that we might return and be reconciled to Him and He might receive us gladly.
2. “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).
Through the Lord’s shedding of His blood on the cross, God made propitiation for our sins, solved all the problems between us and Him, made peace, and reconciled us to Himself.
Through the Lord Jesus and His redemption, God reconciled not only man but all things to Himself. This can be compared to a divorced wife who is also reconciled to her children when she is reconciled to her husband, their father. Man represents the whole creation, and all creation hangs on him. God reconciled man and creation, both of which were at odds with Him, to Himself through the cross of the Lord Jesus.
3. “Might reconcile both...to God through the cross” (Eph. 2:16).
The cross of the Lord Jesus is like a bridge spanning the gulf between God and man so that man may communicate with God and return to God’s presence. God reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to Himself through the cross of the Lord Jesus.
4. “God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).
Even though man hates and rejects God, God still loves and longs for him. Although man refuses God, God still wants him. Therefore, God came to reconcile man to Himself. He sent Christ to accomplish this through the shedding of His blood and His redemption on the cross. Christ accomplished all that was necessary to reconcile man to God. God, therefore, reconciles man to Himself in Christ. It is in Christ that God reconciles man back to Himself.
5. “The ministry of reconciliation”; “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:18, 20).
To reconcile man to Himself, God not only accomplished all the requirements of reconciliation through the Lord Jesus but He also ministers reconciliation through the Holy Spirit; that is, He moves His ministers by the Holy Spirit to beseech man to be reconciled to Him, and simultaneously, He does the same thing in man. He earnestly longs for man to be reconciled to Him, and He even causes the Holy Spirit through His ministers to beseech man on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to Him. What love! What earnestness! Because many ministers have been moved by God’s earnest love and thus express it, they eagerly exhort people to repent and turn to God, pleading with them to receive God’s grace. God not only wants and even waits for man to be reconciled to Him, but He also sends others to admonish and plead with man to be reconciled to Him. This is like a husband who longs for the return of his wife who has problems with him and sends people to ask her to come back. If man is not reconciled to God, the problem is not with God but with man. Any problem with reconciliation is related to man’s unwillingness to receive God’s love, to hear God’s plea, to answer God’s beseeching, and to be reconciled to God.
6. “We, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10).
God did not come to reconcile us to Himself at the time of our repentance and seeking; rather, He came when we were His enemies. While we were still His enemies, He came to reconcile us through the death of His Son. Because of the Lord’s death, God will reconcile to Himself anyone who is an enemy and who has problems with Him as long as he is willing to be reconciled.
7. “Having been justified out of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
We have peace toward God because we have been justified by faith. Being reconciled to God is also a result of faith. The Lord Jesus accomplished all that is necessary for us to be reconciled to God; however, we still must believe, confess, and receive by faith what He accomplished. Once we believe, God reconciles us to Himself through the Lord Jesus and His accomplishments. Upon believing, we receive God’s forgiveness and justification, and then we are reconciled to Him. Although there is a sequence to God’s reconciliation, forgiveness, and justification, we receive these items simultaneously when we believe.
When we are reconciled to God, we have peace toward Him. Originally, we had problems with God and did not have peace. After believing in the Lord, the problems between us and God do not exist and we are reconciled to Him; therefore, we have peace toward God. This was accomplished by God in Christ for us, and it is obtained by us through faith.