Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 2nd Corinthians chapter 5.
2 Cor 5:18-21
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is referred to as the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation is a situation when two groups of people become friendly again after they have argued. It’s a restoring of friendly relationships once again.
Reconciliation can only happen if the offended party is willing to forgive the other. Reconciliation is the proof that forgiveness actually took place in somebody’s heart. It is evidence.
Have you ever been driving down a dry highway and all of sudden the highway is soaked and has puddles on it? The evidence shows that it had just rained there.
Have you ever been in school and had a homework assignment given to you by the teacher? The next day when the teacher checks your notebook, he sees the evidence of what you did the night before.
The evidence that somebody truly has forgiven another person is complete reconciliation with them.
There are many people in society today who profess Christianity that want to claim that they are forgiving with others but the truth is, they never really forgive from their hearts.
Forgiving somebody in your heart shows you love and care for the offending party, and that you are willing to forgive and forget as God does with each of us through Christ Jesus.
To truly be forgiving with another means that you want and desire to be with the other person in a restored relationship again.
The Bible teaches that God cares for us and he wants us to be in heaven with him. He wants us to get forgiven for our sins and our misdeeds so that we can be with Him someday. God is waiting and he’s ready to forgive each of us and ultimately His forgiveness results in a renewed relationship with Him.
Todays modern form of forgiveness can be very shallow, bitter and cold. Somebody wants to claim that they are forgiving, while the truth is they’re not walking in the truth.
Reconciliation is so important to God that he doesn’t even want an offering at the altar until you are first reconciled to your brother who is upset with you. If you don’t think reconciliation is important to God you’re deviating from the Christian faith. It’s more important to God than an offering. When real forgiveness happens inside a person’s heart, reconciliation immediately follows.
As we said before can you imagine The prodigal son apologizing to his dad and then his dad telling him I forgive you but I don’t want you living here anymore? Can you imagine if God did that to you? Our God is very merciful and ready to forgive. He ceases to remember our sins and forgets the past so that we can have a relationship with him once again and be in heaven with him eternally. Reconciliation is the direct result of forgiveness in your heart. True charity forgives others. people today want to profess that they’re forgiving when the truth is, they’re just wearing a cloak of bitterness and resentment.
In the story of The Prodigal Son, the dad gave a big part of his life savings to his son but he blew it and wasted it. Nonetheless, when he returned home and apologized, his dad quickly forgave him for spending part of his fortune.
His dad didn’t rebuke him. His dad didn’t yell and scream at him, but embraced him and forgave him completely, insomuch that they had a celebration when he came home.
That is a perfect example of forgiveness and reconciliation which God requires to happen in each of our lives if we profess Christianity.
The beginning starts with a simple apology and admission of fault. Notice the dad didn’t tell his son to go work in the field for a year to pay off his debt. Notice the dad didn’t have any kinds of resentment or bitterness toward his son. knowing that each of us have been given forgiveness through Christ Jesus and made mistakes in our lives should cause you to treat others in the same manner that Christ has treated you.
The Christian faith is referred to as the ministry of reconciliation. Without reconciliation people are denying the truth of what the scriptures teach us. It hurts when people do what’s wrong to us but when they apologize you must forgive them. Sinners cannot undo what has been done already, you simply must forgive as Christ forgives us.
When someone apologizes and regrets something they have done you must forgive and forget as God does towards us. God will not forgive you if you cannot forgive others as He does.
How forgiving do we need to be with others? How many minutes are in a year? How many seconds are in a month? The answer is God wants us to be very very merciful and forgiving with each other.
Ephesians 4:32 – And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Matthew 6:14-15 – For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
When you think about forgiveness and reconciliation always remember the story of The Prodigal Son. True forgiveness results in a restored relationship because true forgiveness completely forgets past misdeeds and ceases to remember them. Without reconcilliation, its only lip service forgiveness.
I think that’s where I’m going to stop for right now but Lord willing we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then bye-bye everybody.♥️
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