We comprehend the spiritual changes the gospel makes in our lives by comparisons to customs in everyday life. What we often think of as theological abstractions are really concrete pictures from human society. These customs are parables of the transformation in our relationship to God.
The picture of reconciliation comes from the peace conference. During or after a war, people from both sides sit down and plan for ending the fight. They design a new relationship between combatants.
Hostile parties have been resisting attack, or contesting for limited resources or land area. They may be fighting over cultural or religious differences. They believe they have reason to hate each other. So they take up arms. To resolve their conflict, they have to come to peace terms that both sides agree with, through compromise or surrender or common sense.
Reconciliation works out the new terms of their relationship after they stop killing each other. Grievances are addressed. The costs of war and of the issues that started the war have to be calculated. They may set reparations and changes in expectations. And then decide what happens next.
With the elimination of hostility, they can move on to a neighborly coexistence. Remaining suspicions may require inspections and accountability. Reconciliation works only when both sides understand the settlement and establish compatible relations. Sometimes they become allies in future conflicts or causes.
Our War against God
Our enmity against God and his enmity against us began when we rebelled against his love, his wisdom, and his warning in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve doubted God’s goodness and chose a course of independence from him. See Genesis 3. Without the continuing life of God in us, our innocence turned into evil, which led to many destructive thoughts and behaviors. See Genesis 6. We began to see God as a threat.
God’s perfect holiness and justice did not change. So our rebellion could not be allowed to go on unchecked. John 3:18 summarizes our condition as “condemned already.” The war was on.
A Chance for Peace
The gospel of reconciliation began when God in Christ reconciled the world to himself. God's hostility was rightly (even if gently) exerted toward humanity because of our rebellion and sin. We know he could have ended the war with one small blow. Not even a battle; just a puff of air. We were overwhelmingly overmatched. But, motivated by his steadfast love, he sought peace instead of victory. His goal was to end the hostility on both sides.
Isaiah 27:4-5 reminds us that God wants to be reconciled to sinners, even though his wrath could have ended the war quickly. “I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together. Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me.”
His wrath against sin was satisfied by the payment made by God himself as Jesus died for us. So he is reconciled. This theme is all over the Bible, but clearly explained in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”
He now approaches the people of the world through his ambassadors, to explain the conditions of the peace treaty. He pleads with people to make peace. In the gospel he receives all who come to God through Christ. We are no longer enemies, and we learn to exchange our enmity towards God for the life of Christ. It is a new creation. Instead of remaining enemies, we can be righteous allies.
We no longer have to fight against God. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:1-11).
The Peaceful Kingdom
Salvation includes reconciliation. It is kinda like when bitter enemies have nothing more to disagree about. They bury the hatchet and join forces as friends. The old, pre-sin relationship of love and loyalty is restored.
Historians don’t know what to write about times of peace. Their best work is about what caused the war, how it was fought, what decisions turned the tide, what gruesome new weapons were invented, who got medals for bravery, how many casualties there were, what monuments were erected, and how the bitterness caused by the treaty led to the next war.
Yet times of peace are the good times. People can then invest creativity into what they were created for. True human life prospers in the necessities and luxuries for all to enjoy. Art, music, literature, rebuilding, and other projects abound. People celebrate small pleasures and joyful achievements. True community happens within and among societies. Peace is a rare and beautiful thing.
And on Earth, Peace
Gospel reconciliation between God and his people then can overflow to the breaking down of walls between people groups. Without eliminating ethnic distinctives, God through Christ makes “one new man” of all the tribes and tongues.
“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:14-21).
Ultimately and eventually, the wars that have dominated our history books will permanently become history. “He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Micah 4:3).
Wouldn’t Won’t that be nice?
There is great peace and joy in Reconciliation. I find myself singing these older songs and choruses daily. I love Him, because He first loved me and purchased my salvation on Calvary's tree! All my sins are gone, all because of Calvary! Praise Him, praise Him! I've got peace like a river, I've got joy like a fountain, I've got love like an ocean in in my soul! I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God! Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before! Moment by moment I'm kept in His love, moment by moment I've life from above! I just came to praise the Lord! Happy am I, Jesus love me, He took my sins and He made me free, so happy am I! Joy joy, my heart is full of joy, joy joy my heart is full of joy, my Savior dear is ever near, that's reason why my heart is full of joy. Thank you Lord for saving my soul,, Thank you Lord for making me whole, Thank you Lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich and free. Amen & PTL
Yes, it made me think of a huge difference between truce and peace. Truce is just the absence of open strife, and peace is harmony that penetrates and unites all things.