Reconciliation Day Text: Selected Scriptures Series: The Blood Of Christ (#5, Easter) Pastor Lyle L. Wahl April 5, 2015 (Easter)

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1 Reconciliation Day Text: Selected Scriptures Series: The Blood Of Christ (#5, Easter) Pastor Lyle L. Wahl April 5, 2015 (Easter) Theme: Jesus death and resurrection provides real, everlasting reconciliation. Introduction One writer states, Our society has a Ph.D. in alienation. Most of us have personal experience with alienation. 1 Yes, we know about that. Alienation is being separated from others, or the feeling of being separated and isolated. We see alienation in all aspects of life. There is political alienation between voters and their governments, between one region and the rest of the country, between countries. There is personal, relational, family alienation that separates and tears people, families, groups apart. Standing in in sharp contrast to alienation there is reconciliation. Reconciliation means the end of separation, disagreement and hostility and turning to good, positive relationships. It means to change and so bring into agreement with a standard. For example, you reconcile your bank account when adjust your records to what is actually in the account. Columnist Ann Landers ran this letter from a reader over twenty-five years ago. I ve suddenly become aware that the years are flying by. My parents suddenly seem old. My aunts and uncles are sick. I haven t seen some of my cousins for several years. I love my family Ann, but we ve grown apart. I think of my mother and her sister, who haven t spoken to each other in five years. As a result of that argument my cousin and I haven t spoken either. Wouldn t it be terrific if a special day could be set aside to reach out and make amends? We could call it Reconciliation Day. Everyone would vow to write a letter or make a phone call and mend a strained or broken relationship. Ann Lander s response was that it was a great idea. She proposed that every year at about that time we celebrate Reconciliation Day and pick up the phone or write a letter. 2 While you won t see April 2 nd (the day that is set aside) marked Reconciliation Day on very many calendars, some people observe it.

2 As serious as all human alienation is, there is one form of alienation which is infinitely greater than all of them our alienation with God. The great, good news is that reconciliation is possible, that today, Easter, is Reconciliation Day. I want you to look at this wonderful reality with me this morning. The basic core truth is that Jesus death and resurrection provides real, everlasting reconciliation. Our need for reconciliation. Why do we need reconciliation with God? First there is the unpleasant reality of the state of our relationship with God. Some ask, What are you talking about? God is love! He loves everyone! Let s go back to the beginning. At creation, God and man were in perfect harmony. Genesis chapter 3 speaks of God walking in the garden to have fellowship with Adam and Eve (v. 8). But when they sinned they devastated that relationship. God is holy. He does not, cannot accept sin or sinners. Ever since people inherit a sinful nature. And so, as we read in Romans chapter 3, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (v. 23). In Ephesians chapter 2 the apostle Paul tells us that in our natural condition we are separate from Christ, we are alienated from Christ (v. 12). Even more directly, the Bible tells us that naturally we are enemies of God. Does that sound too strong? too sharp? It is! It is both strong and sharp. The apostle Paul wrote, the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God s laws, and it never will (NLT). 3 And, that naturally we were far away from God. [We] were his enemies, separated from him by [our] evil thoughts and actions (NLT). 4 And what is God s response to us in this condition? While God is love, He also is pure, holy, and righteous. He hates and judges sin. He does not, cannot overlook sin. The Bible tells us that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. 5 And it speaks very clearly of the everlasting separation and punishment of those who are not reconciled, not brought into agreement, with God. 6 This unpleasant reality leaves us with a great problem, a great gap we cannot bridge. What if I told you I was going to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, the most eastern point in Canada. How many of you know where that is? That I would build a big ramp on the edge of the Cape and then rev up a motorcycle to full throttle, take off of the ramp and land on the coast of England 3,640 km away? You probably would call the people in the white coats to come, take me away and lock me up! That s crazy! 2

3 The gap between sinful people and God is infinitely greater than that 3,640 km. Yet millions of people to try jump, bridge that gap with sincerity, doing good things or manmade religion. You see our problem is that we cannot see God accurately, make sense of His truth, or change ourselves on our own. God tells us that the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (ESV). 7 And, that apart from being reconciled to God we are helpless spiritually, 8 that on our own we have no hope and are without God. 9 Ephesians 2:1 sums up the problem: You were dead in your trespasses and sins. We are spiritually dead. We cannot breathe spiritual life into ourselves. We are unable to bridge the gap, to reconcile ourselves to God. But to know God, to be freed from sin and death, we need to be reconciled. God s provision of reconciliation. What we cannot do, God in His grace has done. Jesus, by His death and resurrection has bridged the gap. Jesus death and resurrection provide real, everlasting reconciliation. The apostle Paul writes that God through Christ reconciled all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 10 And that Jesus is the one mediator between God and us, that He gave Himself as a ransom for all. 11 Be very clear on this: Only the blood of Christ, His death and resurrection, makes it possible for us to have our sins forgiven, to be brought out of separation and alienation into fellowship and full reconciliation with God. Jesus has bridged the gap. Jesus has bridged the gap for you. There are some people who think that what Jesus has done is great for others, but wonder about themselves. They do not feel good enough. They think they have done too many bad things. They think they have to get themselves cleaned up or straightened out first. Listen to what God says. He says that the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ is the power for salvation to all who believe. 12 That whoever believes will in [Jesus] have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever 3

4 believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 13 In His everlasting, committed love, God provides what we could never do, He has provided real, everlasting reconciliation for us. The results of reconciliation. So what does God do for us when He reconciles us to Himself? There are many parts of this, but consider two. First, when God reconciles us He saves us completely from sin. It delivers us from sin s penalty. Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It also delivers us from sins power. Romans 6:14, For sin shall not be master over you. We still have spiritual battles, struggle with right/wrong, but now through Christ we can win the battles! And it will deliver us from the presence of sin when we are in heaven forever with God. 1 John 3:2 tells us that when Christ appears, we will be like Him. That is, when we are with Him in heaven we will be pure and holy. There will be no more battles with sin ever again, forever! And then also consider that this reconciliation to God is complete. Christ s reconciliation takes us from being strangers and enemies of God to being in the family of God. The apostle John wrote, as many as received [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God. 14 Again, See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God; and such we are. 15 And also, now we can be a friend of God. Jesus has told us, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one s life for one s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (NIV). 16 Yes, as Abraham, you can be called friend by God. God s friend, even if at times it feels like you don t have one true friend in the world. Jesus death and resurrection provide real, everlasting reconciliation. 4

5 Conclusion Barclay Allen was born in His mother was a concert pianist. When he was only 14 months old his mother was sick in bed. From time to time she heard a faint sound from the piano. When she was able to sit up and see the piano, there was 14 month-old Barclay, pulling himself up on the bench and then slowly hammering out a melody with one finger. By the time Barclay was 30 he had played with the big bands, and formed his own. Success was his, but so was an alcohol problem. One night, driving alone, his car went over an embankment. He had a broken neck. He was paralyzed from the neck down. One of his hospital visitors was Pastor Norman Hammer. Barclay did everything he could to avoid those visits. He told Tell him I m dead. He did that until one day, after having gone down from his normal 200 pounds to 87 pounds, having given up any hope of living, Pastor Hammer got him angry enough to want to live, even if just to get even. After more visits, Barclay Allen accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Over time he regained some use of his arms and could play the piano but, of course, not like before. But even paralyzed he now had life with meaning, purpose, direction and hope. And, He had Jesus Christ as his Savior and Friend, who was always with him. In 1953 Barclay collaborated with long-time friend Roc Hillman to write a song about having Jesus in his life. The song is titled I ve Found A Friend. 17 I found a friend when life seemed not worth living. I found a friend so tender and forgiving. I can t conceive how such a thing could be that Jesus cares for even me. Each day, each year my faith in Him is growing, He s ever near, His love is overflowing, I have no fear, my worldly cares are few. I found a Friend, He can be your Friend too. 18 On this Easter Sunday, Reconciliation Day, God is here, reaching out to you, to reconcile you, to be your Savior, your Friend. Respond to Him. You may know Jesus as your Savior, but have lost sight of His love for you in the tough times you are experiencing. Or you may have wandered away from Him, focused on yourself, your work or other things instead of God. Reach out to God, be reconciled to Him today. On the other hand, you may never have taken that step of coming to God, admitting your sinfulness and helplessness to become reconciled to Him. Do that now, in these 5

6 moments. Tell God you know your sin separates you from Him. Thank Him that Jesus died and was raised from the dead to pay for your sins. Ask God to forgive you, give you life forever with Him, to have His rightful place as God in your life, and you can be His Friend. If you make an important decision now, or would like to talk about it, speak with me, Pastor Jared or Pastor Mike today. 1 David Chadwell. Reconciliation: God s Solution to Alienation. < 25 February Accessed 02 April Ann Landers. Reconciliation Day Now An annual Affair. < 2 April Accessed 16 Marchy Romans 8:7, NLT. 4 Colossians 1:21, NLT. 5 Colossians 3: Revelation 20: Corinthians 2:14, ESV. 8 Romans 5:6. 9 Ephesians 2: Colossians 1: Timothy 2: Romans 1: John 3: John 1: John 3:1. 16 John 15:13-15, NIV. 17 Ronald B. Allen. Lord of Song. Portland: Multnomah Press, 1985, pages Barclay Allen & Roc Hillman. I Found A Friend. New York: Alamo Music,

7 2015 Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois All rights reserved. 7