Reconciliation - the action of restoring estranged people or parties to friendship.
- restoration of relationships
God created us with the need to both give & receive love.
God's desire for humanity is genuine friendship, between Him & us, & between us & the people around us.
God made a plan: He created the idea of marriage & family.
Because of Adam's disobedience, the plan was disrupted & rebellion & selfishness entered.
God still longs for there to be complete harmony. He wants us to be reconciled to Him & to the people around us.
*Luke 15:18
I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
The young man determined that he would confess his sins, accepting responsibility for them while seeking mercy.
*Proverbs 28:13
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
*1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
When a person sins & offends God, they also offended those around them.
Confession - result of a repentant heart that knows it has strayed from the path & decides to turn around to get back on the right track.
Crucial - "cross"
Cross - both reconciles people to God & helps us restore our relationships with others.
I am confident that the best medicine in existence is the forgiveness we receive through the cross.
*2 Corinthians 5:14-15
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
There is unlimited power available at the cross of Calvary; it has become the only door through which man can be reconciled to God.
*Genesis 2:16-17
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."
God has also given us the opportunity to be reconciled to the people around us through the cross.
*Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
When we forgive, we set a prisoner free & then discover that the prisoner we set free was us.
- Lewis Smedes
The best medicine that exists for the human heart is forgiveness. It breaks the strongest chains, opens the securest doors & demolishes the sturdiest walls.
In prayer, forgive those who have hurt & offended you.
REMEMBER:
THE CROSS WAS MADE OF 2 PIECES OF WOOD - ONE HORIZONTAL & ONE VERTICAL. THE HORIZONTAL BEAM REPRESENTS FORGIVENESS BETWEEN PEOPLE & THE VERTICAL BEAM REPRESENTS RECONCILIATION WITH GOD.
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