Message topic: Are you enjoying your reconciliation?
Scripture text: 2nd Corinthians 5:17-21
What is your answer to the question that is been asked of you this morning? Are you enjoying your reconciliation, knowing that
reconciliation is the renewing of a strain friendship again or to win over a friendly attitude. Did any of you ever lost the friendship of someone and after a while reestablish that friendship?
Today we are going to look at such a message laid out for us in Genesis three, verses seven to ten, as it illustrates how no one is ever quite the same after sinning with knowledge that it is wrong even before they did the act or say the words.
Here we see that Adam and Eve’s sin occurs after God had instructed them with these words saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eats thereof, thou shalt surely die.
No body had to tell them they had done wrong, they knew! Now they looked at things differently than they had before; a sense of wrong rushed in on them immediately, moments ago all had been friendly and joyful. All of nature seemed obedient to their every wish, and life was good, suddenly, however, they felt guilt and fear and it seemed as if every creature in the garden had witnessed their act and condemned them. Feeling exposed, they sought to hide, illustrating that separation from the purity of God began immediately, the virtue of their innocence was lost.
I believe that these words of David in Psalm 40:11-13 would be adequate for them to cry out to God to forgive them: do not withhold your tender mercies from us, O Lord; let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve us. For innumerable evils have surrounded us; our inequities have overtaken us, so that we are not able to look up: they are more than the hears of our heads, therefore our hearts fail us. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver us; O Lord, make haste to help us.
Sin creates a sense of estrangement from God, leaving a tarnishing film on a person’s mind. Paul remind Titus, to the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their minds and conscience are defiled, sin perverts the mind so that one does not look at life in the same way as before. Jeremiah 6: 15 describes a sickening end to repeated sin.
Some children are adorable because we love to see the beauty of their innocence, but what happen on the trip to adulthood? Sin alters the way a person looks at life and the world. With maturity, people become distrustful, sophisticated, competitive, cosmopolitan, cynical, suspicious, sarcastic, prejudiced, self-centered, and uninvolved. It is sin that drives people apart and creates fear as it did to Adam and Eve when they sin against God.
The first act of God to Adam and Eve as punishment, was exile when he put them out of the garden of Eden, from all that was wonderful and good that God had created, the perfect environment in which he had placed Adam and Eve. They could never go back, as God had placed angels with swords to guard the garden all around, this could be called the breaking of a friendship.
The relationship between man and God became strained when they first ate of the tree which they were forbidden to eat of, but it got worse as now they are put out of the garden with all the comfort that they once had, now they will be punishment if they try to reenter because there is what is called sin between then and God.
When the man and woman ate of the tree of which they were forbidden, disobedience came between them and God, and leaves sin which is a barrier between God and man, and only God has the ability to destroy sin, and will in his time.
Now the separation is very clear, and mankind is cut off from God and from the Holy Spirit. Their action in the garden as is recorded makes it clear that humanity took itself away from God, not the other way around. In addition, Genesis three gives no indication that Adam and Eve wanted the breach to be healed. All they did was justify themselves, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.
In Genesis three we find that disobedience crept in between man and God and left it’s mark of sin which came between man and God resulting in a separation which only the love of God for mankind kept a relationship alive in that when God made man He took from himself some of his breath and put into man so man does have something of God in him which is not willing to destroy.
The opportunity yet exist that if mankind is willing to listen to the calling of God, he will one day call mankind individually and make it possible that there can be a reunion because of his love.
Man did not die when he was driven from the garden of Eden, so the love of God which was placed in him by God which gave him life was still alive and could be revive at anytime by God if he wishes to.
So in Galatians 4: 4-5 we find these words: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
We know that there is no greater love than the love of God and that his love is extended to all mankind everywhere, could it be that even you and I are covered under the all mankind and whosoever.
We know that God identify himself as a Trinity consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, so what should we understand that Paul is saying to us in (Galatians 4:3-5) even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Let us reflect again on the question that is been asked of us, are we enjoying our reconciliation which we have as is recorded for us in 2nd. Corinthians 5: 19-21.
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
We know that Adam and Eve became sinners the moment they did contrary to the command given to them by God, they were told to be fruitful and multiply, so when their children were born, they were born with sin and could not have true relationship with God, as only God can forgive sins against Him.
We are also encouraged by David in Psalm 51 to cry out to God and ask for his mercies since we now realized that we ware conceived and was born in sin, now we are asking for his mercy and his forgiveness as he did when the prodigal return to him and asked that he be not turned away, but make him even a servant.
Today we are rejoicing that the fullness of time has come and that God in his son has made it all possible that all men every- where has the opportunity to accept Christ as Lord and Savior so we can regain the loving relationship with God as it was in the beginning.
Now we can sing born again, reconciled to God, for we are washed in Jesus blood and sanctified with no fear of ever again separated from him as our Lord and savior.