Reconciliation with God By Pastor Dan Kennedy © July 23, 2017 www.pastorkennedy.com Everyone has experienced the need for reconciliation with someone, whose past friendship has been broken. Often, the breaking of those previous friendships, on either part, have been because of: Arrogant, Prideful or Demeaning Attitudes,  Thoughtless, Deceptive, or Lying Words,  Obsessive or Destructive Habits,  Untrustworthiness, Unfaithfulness or Passive Selfishness,  Abusive Actions, or Aggressive Unkindness,  A Carnal, God-defying Heart…  Daily Reconciliation? Because every person who has lived on earth has a carnal, depraved nature, most anything, on either side of a human equation, can spark the need for daily reconciliation! Seriously Broken Relationships: When relationships have been seriously broken can the two parties ever reestablish an honorable and trustworthy relationship? Initiation: Seeking reconciliation begins on the part of one or the other; and, should be deemed worthy to pursue by both parties to become valid.  Acknowledgement: It begins by Acknowledgement of previous wrongs by the party who understands that the broken relationship began with them, or by confrontation of their wrong.  Between God and Us: What about our broken Relationship with God?  · What should cause us to recognize the Need for Reconciliation with God? Reconciliation begins with the Realization that there is a God. Realization: The Realization that God IS. If there is no god there is no need of reconciliation.  Faulty human reasoning asserts that if one chooses to believe strongly enough that there is no God, that makes God non-existent. Does that even make sense? Pinch yourself to make you think clearly. Everyone exists because of God – a Super-human Intelligence: · Cells: the trillions of diversified, specified cell tissues in your own body, · [1]Unique bone structures (270 at birth which decreases to 207 in adulthood because some become fused together [2] – in every human being), · Muscles, (there are over 650 named muscles counted in the human body [3]) · Arteries, veins and capillaries: There are some 60,000 miles of very specific arteries, veins and capillaries in a child, and around 100,000 miles of blood vessels in an adult[4], · Pain sensory receptors (“Every square centimeter [less than a ½ inch square] of your skin contains around 200 pain receptors but only 15 receptors for pressure, 6 for cold and 1 for warmth” [5]), · Nervous System, · Spinal Column, · Brain (“Each individual neuron can form thousands of links with other neurons in this way, giving a typical brain well over 100 trillion synapses (up to 1,000 trillion, by some estimates” [6]). · Heart, · Lungs, · DNA (“The 3 billion base pairs in each cell fit into a space just 6 microns across. If you stretched the DNA in one cell all the way out, it would be about 2m long and all the DNA in all your cells put together would be about twice the diameter of the Solar System.”[7]) · Blood, · Eyes, · Reproductive system, · Waste management, · Cognitive Understanding and Perception, · Communication and Thinking Skills · etc., etc., etc. (Obviously many, many facts and observations could be itemized beside each of the above organs and critical elements making up our diverse and profoundly intricate human anatomy - which could not have existed to function together in such a complex state...originating from nothing. What fools we are to think otherwise. God is obvious through His Creations unless our heart has been blinded.) Look around you: · Millions of Plants and Vegetation on earth · Millions of Unique Species on earth (which cannot breed outside of their species) – animals, birds, insects, aquatic life and exotic species such as those that live in extreme ocean depths around volcanic vents. · Trillions of galaxies in our known universe (each with billions or trillions of masses and planets the size of our sun or more). Where did they come from? Reconciliation begins with the Realization that there is a God. o Realization: We just reviewed a few honest reasons for the Realization that there is a God. What other indicators reveal that we need reconciliation with God? o Personal Peace? The Lack of our Personal Peace with God… What is missing in life that cannot be fulfilled by all of the world’s allurements? o Hope: The Need for Security in this volatile world, and in life after death. o Hell: The Comprehension of the Justice for our own Soul’s Damnation. o Good and Evil: Both Good and evil exist in earthly reality. The Answer is in the Domain of Good and Evil Spiritual Dynamics  God is Good. Satan and his demonic forces are evil.   We live in a sin-cursed world, of which Satan is the god. o Contentment? The Lack of Contentment and Fulfillment within Ourselves. o Universal Depravity: The Realization of the Curse of Depravity all around us. o Future Judgment and Reward for Everyone: The Comprehension of the Necessity of the Judgment of Sin, Injustice and Depravity. Let’s Consider some Questions about the Imperative Need for Reconciliation Why Do We on Earth Have Courts and Courtrooms in Every Country? A Reasonably Peaceful Life on Earth Requires Reconciliation with Conflicting human Parties: (Justice in courts throughout the world is meant to resolve conflicting issues between people, without violence.) Why is there a basic need for reconciliation between conflicting parties on earth…even some of the individuals say they do not believe in God? Why Does Belief in God require Reconciliation with Him? Our Loving God is also a Holy and Just God, who knows even the deepest inclination and motivation of each person’s heart. Without reconciliation, a sinful person must be accountable for just payment for all of his or her own sin. · Seeking reconciliation begins on the part of one or the other…Who initiated reconciliation between God and the human race? o God is the One who initiated reconciliation with sinful humankind Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. · What Happens when a Person is not Reconciled with God? He or she must suffer eternal consequences for their own sin. · What Does It Take for a Person to be Reconciled with God? Understanding that we have sinned against God and need His salvation; that we cannot save ourselves through the good things we have done. (Rom. 3:23) Acceptance of God’s gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. (Rom. 6:23) We should call out to God to save us from our sins because of what Christ has done. Belief in your heart and confession with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord. That He died for your sin, was buried and rose again from the grave. That you want to repent of your sins and be changed to live as God would have you live. Belief that Jesus broke the power of sin and death, through His death and resurrection, and is powerful enough to redeem and transform you through His Holy Spirit. (Rom. 10:9-10, 13; Titus 3:5-6) · Why is Reconciliation with God intrinsically bound to Jesus Christ? o The sacrifice that the sinless Jesus Christ made for us in His death and resurrection is the only way to be reconciled to God and become His Child. (John 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 Cor. 15:3-4) · Why are atheists so upset with any teaching given by a “Creationist,” on “Intelligent Design,” or “The God factor”…Regarding how human beings came to exist or the existence of the world? o It seems that the fundamental reason why atheists insist so vehemently that there is no God – including their insistence that everything came into existence from nothing, or from some other source than God, may be their own accurate perception that belief in God would require accountability and reconciliation with God. (Heb. 11:6) These individuals could not continue living as they pleased if they were accountable to God. o Atheist and agnostics also seem to hate Christianity because God’s provision of reconciliation can only be found in the atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. o Atheists sincerely hope that if they disbelief in God strongly enough, that in fact, God may not exist and there will be no afterlife or hell either. These individuals do everything in their power to find supporting evidence for the sudden existence of life without God. Satan has blinded the minds of those in rebellion against God 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. · Can a Person who has been Reconciled with God live apart from that Reconciliation? If you live apart from reconciliation with God it may be revealing that you are not born again by God’s Holy Spirit. · Can we be reconciled with someone who will not be reconciled with us? · How Does a Person sustain the daily Peace of Reconciliation with God? Fellowship with God daily, seeking repentance and forgiveness in things we know we may be doing wrong. Seeking communion with God through His Word, the Bible, prayer and fellowship with others who know Christ and are seeking to follow Him. Growing in deeper fellowship is found through spending time together, being open and honest and trusting each other. What are the Benefits of Reconciliation? Redemption,   Transformation,   Justification,   Adoption,   Hope that the world does not have, and   Peace that the world cannot give.  Growing communication and fellowship with God and others who love Him;   Spiritual Interaction,   Personal Sharing of Hopes and Dreams,   Trustworthy Fellowship, and   Spiritual Communion.  Scripture Identifying Reconciliation with God Romans 5:8–11 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Colossians 1:19–22 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— God wants those He Created to be Reconciled to Him “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20b) [1] http://www.ducksters.com/science/list_of_human_bones.php [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXxXqJzVjnQ [3] https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/muscles.html [4] https://www.fi.edu/heart/blood-vessels [5] www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/factfiles/touch/touch.shtml [6] www.human-memory.net/brain_neurons.html [7] www.sciencefocus.com/qa/how-long-your-dna