Reconciled With God

Bible Reading: Romans 5:1-11

“For 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:11)

What is our status before God? Who does God see us as? 

A lot of the time, we look into ourselves and see our weaknesses, sins, incapabilities. However, if we have believed in Christ, God sees us as holy saints, perfectly justified in Christ and His righteousness. When we are so caught up in our mistakes and pity ourselves for them, we wrongly assume God’s grace as the Law. We start to believe that we are not good enough to go to heaven; we are not good enough to know God, serve Him, and enjoy Him. 

Yes, indeed, we are not good enough for any of these things. But that’s the whole point of grace! Romans 5:6 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly”. Christ came to save sinful and unworthy people who are never good enough to get to heaven. It is a totally free gift of grace with no hidden terms and conditions. We do not need to do anything to be made right with God because, in fact, we cannot do anything, and if we thought we could, we would be taking God’s place as the saviour. 

The sacrifice of Christ’s blood meant atonement for our sins. Christ’s blood was shed instead of our blood which deserves to be shed. As a result, we are justified or made right before God. In sin, we were God’s enemies. God’s holy wrath was stored up, waiting to devour us. And rightly so because we suppressed His truth and thought we could rule this life better in our own ways. However, because of Christ’s death, we are reconciled with God. God’s wrath is appeased as the Father looks and accepts Christ’s sacrifice.

Moreover, Christ’s righteousness is imputed onto us so that the Father sees us as righteous and thereby justifies us. Think about this fact. We are right with God. There is no condemnation. Rather, God invites us into a loving, peaceful relationship with Himself. 

God does not see us as needing to work our way to be good and righteous before Him. Instead, He has already given that to us. He has freed us from the bondage of sin and given us life in Him. Because of that, we can learn to live in holiness. We can rejoice in what God has already done for us. We can enjoy the process of being changed as we fall down and get back up in our walks of faith. Do we comprehend what it means to be reconciled with God?

Lord, thank You that before You, I am justified — a holy saint in Christ Jesus. Thank You for Your lavish mercy and grace. Teach me to rejoice in what You have done and teach me to learn Your good ways of holiness. Create in me a deeper love and desire for You and help me to put off my sin as I am no longer bound by sin but free to the life in God. I praise You. In Jesus’ name, amen.