FLINCK, Govert Teunisz, Angels Announcing the Birth of Christ to the Shepherds, 1639

1 Peter 3:18

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Have you ever tried to be reconciled to someone…but it didn’t work?

You opened your arms to forgive and they didn’t acknowledge any wrong doing and would not be reconciled?  There have been a couple of times for me and they remain some of life’s biggest disappointments.  There is a great difference between being forgiven and being reconciled isn’t there?  Because we can forgive but relationships are not fully functional when one refuses to turn away from a sin and towards the open arms of a forgiver.  It can also go the other way.  As humans, we also can say that we forgive but not open our arms wide to the one we say we’ve forgiven.  We can speak forgiveness but not really live it out in our hearts and minds. 

I don’t always consider that difference when I speak of my salvation.  Because there is a huge difference between saying that I’ve been forgiven for all of my sins and saying that I’ve been reconciled or better yet…brought to God.  Yes…I have been forgiven…but my God and I are also enjoying the most beautiful and enjoyable relationship possible in this life.  It brings me joy to think of the pleasure it brings God and myself by simply turning towards Him…towards His open arms and heart.  Enjoy…not only the forgiveness…but this being brought to God…the reconciliation. 

To do right now:  Meditate on the verse above.  Praise the Father today for his love and open heart towards us first to send us Jesus and then to accept Jesus’ offering for us in order to be reconciled fully and forever.  Write a simple prayer or journal about this.  Listen to the songWhen Love Was Born.

Beyond the Nativity Week 2 PDF

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