Your True ReflectionSample

You Are Reconciled:
The Greek word for “reconcile” is ἀποκαταλλάσσω (apokatallassó), and it describes changing from one state of feeling or being to another or to reconcile two formerly opposing groups or ideas by bringing them into a relationship.

Jesus changed my destiny in sin from death to life through the cross.

Have you ever heard an exaggerated story and thought to yourself that something didn’t add up? It was like the other person was making things fit in a way that would color them in a positive light. But you knew, just from the way she listed the facts, that something wasn’t right. There was no way to reconcile the events of the story, and it made it hard to believe. We try to do that with our sins and good works.

Even though our guilt in sin is absolute, we somehow believe that if we can move God’s focus onto the good things we’ve done in our lives, maybe our sins will be forgotten. But that’s not how it works. Absolute guilt from sin can only be reconciled by the absolute perfection of Jesus. And He has done that for you. You are the image of a sinner who has been reconciled to Him.

When you hear the word reconcile, one image that comes to mind is of a business trying to reconcile their expense account with their income. That's also a good way to think about what Christ has done to save us. He has taken the debt of sin and death from our account and moved it to His own. He has taken perfection, holiness, and life from His own account and moved it to ours. He has reconciled the cost of our sin by trading His righteousness for our unrighteousness. Through the cross, He made an impossible situation possible for us by taking that impossible situation on Himself because only He was able to reconcile it. What was a terrible trade for Jesus was a terribly wonderful deal for us.

We are only able to be reconciled to God in our sin because the God of heaven moved on our behalf. Our holy and powerful God took on human form and lived a perfect life, free from sin, something we could never do ourselves. Our own personal goodness was never enough to free us from that bondage of sin. Only God alone, with all power and authority over all things, was able to change our outcome from death to life through the cross. His blood paid our sin debt and brought order to our chaos.

His reconciliation brings new peace to our lives. This is an everlasting peace that we only experience in Christ. What was meant for evil Jesus turned to good, and He has made right all that sin has broken. The cross of Jesus is the ultimate transaction, where we have been given freedom from sin and death, and provided peace that we can rest in with the hope of eternity. At the core of our identity, we have forever been changed by the cross.

Remember, you have been changed from a sinner to a saint through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.