Radical Reconciliation

Radical Reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 I'm sure it's a safe bet that all of us have either had or known someone who had braces on their teeth. Braces are designed to straighten crooked teeth or bring teeth together that are separated by too large a space. However, braces are also uncomfortable and can get in the way. They make eating difficult because food can get stuck easily. Braces will even cause pain because every so often they must be tightened up. God has called every Christian to be His braces - to bring together things that are separated or people who don't look like they can get along. This change of bringing separated people back together is called reconciliation. In fact, the NT word for reconciliation, "Cat-a-la-gay," means to change or exchange. When used in relationships between people, it describes a change in attitude on the part of both individuals. It's a change from foe to friend. When used to describe the relationship between a person and God, it also means a change of attitude, but this change comes from the power of the Holy Spirit, from our Lord Jesus Christ, to exchange our sinfulness for Christ's righteousness. We go from being separated from God to reconciled to God through a radical change. But what is this radical change? Well, over the years, many laws have attempted to reconcile our race relationship. In 1868, the 14th Amendment gave black people equal protection under the law. In 1870, the 15th Amendment granted black people the right to vote. In 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. In 1954 segregation in public schools became illegal. And in 1968, the Fair Housing Act aimed to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, and religion. All these laws, and many more like them, attempted to give all people equal rights. From sea to shining sea, these laws were put into place and reached everybody. But even with these laws, we still see a racial divide because the one place a law can't reach is the human heart. Laws can reach everywhere except for the human heart, which is why we desperately needed some sort of Radical Reconciliation. That's why Romans 8:3 says, "For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering." Laws reveal a standard, and that standard can be broken and taken advantage of. God's Law also reveals a standard, His standard, which is one of righteousness. The Law shows us just how sinful we are, but the law can never bring complete reconciliation. It's like how oil and water don't mix. We can see this in any bottle of salad dressing where things have settled, and the oil and water have separated. In order to bring that oil and water back together, the bottle must be shaken. However, the togetherness won't last forever because as soon as the bottle sits for a while, things separate again. They go back to their separate bedrooms. They go back to their separate churches. They go back to their separate eating places. They go back to their separate communities. They go back because it's ingrained in their nature that they will not mix. Unlike salad dressing, mayonnaise doesn't have to be shaken even though it's also comprised mostly of oil and water. This is because mayonnaise also contains an emulsifier - an egg. An emulsifier is that which brings things together that otherwise could never come together. In mayonnaise, the egg brings together that which would normally not mix with one another. The egg infiltrates both so that they're able to come together as one solid substance. The cross of Jesus Christ acts as an emulsifier to bring people together - even those who would not normally come together. The Law stops our mouth of justification by showing us just how far we've separated from our Perfect and Holy God. It reveals the true intent of the heart, and what the law could never do, the cross of Christ did by reconciling us to God. Now that's Radical Reconciliation! "So from now on," as today's Scripture says, "we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer." We no longer regard people from a worldly point of view because, for those who have placed saving faith in Christ, they've gone from being in Adam to in Christ. There are 2 heads in the biblical view of Race Relationship. There is the 1st Adam, who is the head of the human race and who brings sin and death. Then there is Christ, the 2nd Adam, the head of the redeemed or reconciled human race who offers forgiveness and life. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 says, "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Everyone in Christ is made alive because only Christ "Bore our sins in His Body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 'By His stripes you are healed'" (1 Peter 2:24). Remember, sin is the root of all evil. The Bible says we've "all sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and the Bible describes this as a debt we could never pay. There's nothing we can do to become reconciled with God because our sin debt is too great. And those who are not reconciled with God are still in their sins, and being in their sins results in law-breaking, racial un-harmony, and a host of other problems that fallen humanity can't pay for! But the Bible says those who repent and turn to Christ are forgiven. Jesus Christ "canceled the debt ascribed to us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14)! Jesus Christ reconciled us to God the Father by taking our place and paying that sin debt we could never pay. Only Jesus fulfilled every prophecy. He came from the throne of David, through Isaac the child of promise, from the seed of Abraham (as we mentioned last week), all the way back to Adam. Where Adam fell short and introduced sin, Christ lived a perfect life, fulfilled the Law, and introduced eternal life through His blood. His sacrifice was the ultimate act of reconciliation because Jesus did what we could never do. That is Radical Reconciliation! Unlike fallen people who get caught up trying to reconcile their own righteousness with sin, Christ went straight to the root of sin where it first sprung up. As someone once wisely said, "Everyone stands equal at the foot of the cross." The cross of Christ bridges even the widest gap, reconciling those who name the name of Christ and turn from their sin by placing faith in Christ for salvation. That's why verse 17 of today's Scripture says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" You're not just turning over a new leaf, No! You're made new! Not reformed or rehabilitated, but re-created. Adam is no longer your head; Christ is. You no longer have life from Adam; you have life in Christ and bear His image. As A.W. Tozer once said, "I believe in the brotherhood of man. I believe there is a universal brotherhood of the once born, and then I believe in a universal brotherhood of the twice-born. Jesus Christ makes a universal brotherhood and says everybody is out except those who are born again." To be reconciled means you must be twice-born, and it is radical because, just like Nicodemus, being born twice just doesn't make sense. But for those of us who have been saved or will be saved, it makes perfect sense. Biblical reconciliation is God in Christ redeeming the world through love and grace. To be reconciled with each other and with God, "you must be born again," as Jesus said. But not just born of water, but of Spirit. John 4:24 tells us, "God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." Free will allows you to take whatever path of worship you choose, but God doesn't accept any path that doesn't end at the foot of the cross and the feet of Jesus. You can only worship God "in Spirit and in truth" through the person of Christ, who is God Himself. Therefore our worship originates with God and is reflected through us. This unites us as brothers and sisters in Christ and reconciles us to God as members of God's family, the Communion of the Saints. And since only those who place saving faith in Christ receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, then true reconciliation is only found in Christ. There is no other path to Christ. Islam is not the way. Buddhism is not the way. Mormonism is not the way. Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Only Christ reconciles us to God the Father through His blood by being born again. "All this is from God," as today's Scripture says, "who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them." Reconciliation is God blotting out our sins and making us righteous in Christ. And this message of reconciliation Christ gave us to share with others, as we'll learn more of that next week. On the evening of June 17, 2015, the national news was dominated by a story of a shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The tragic event, known as "The Charleston Church Shooting," was a mass murder in which 9 people were killed. As the story unfolded, we found out that a 21-year-old man walked into the church, and joined a bible study. He was welcomed by regular attenders. . . . . . . and yet the man killed them. Just two short days later, several family members of those who died in the Charleston Church Shooting attended the bond hearing for the shooter. Some gave victim impact statements and spoke directly to the man who shot their loved ones. As reported in the Washington Post on June 19, 2015, "One by one, those who chose to speak at the bond hearing did not turn to anger. Instead, while he remained impassive, they offered him forgiveness and said they were praying for his soul, even as they described the pain of their losses." "I forgive you," Nadine Collier, the daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, said at the hearing, her voice breaking with emotion. "You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never, ever hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul." Now that is Radical Reconciliation! The story of Charleston Church stayed in the news a long time and kept coming up because it was so unusual. It was a counter-intuitive, counter-cultural response to a situation in which the culture would often respond by demanding revenge, or angrily calling for some sort of severe punishment or retribution. But these families weren't on the offense. Instead, they freely shared their pain, but also offered forgiveness. Jesus Christ knows your pain, and you can freely share it with Him. Only Christ reconciled the world to Himself by bearing the pain of the cross for your forgiveness. On God's side, Christ's work of atonement is a finished act, but on our side, you must accept Christ's finished work on the cross. Once you do, you've come full circle by receiving the reconciliation that's already been accomplished through Christ, by being reconciled to God. It's a radical reconciliation through God's amazing grace. So be reconciled with God and man, today. AMEN 2