5.
The Word of the Conciliation
One
of the most profound, and yet lost, truths of Scripture is the conciliation of
God, which is uniquely found in the writings of Paul, the apostle of the
nations. The body of Christ is called to be ambassadors for Christ in taking the word of the conciliation to the
nations. It is the message of God’s love.
So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new
creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new! Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through
Christ, and is giving us the
dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not
reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation. For Christ, then, are we ambassadors,
as of God entreating through us. We are beseeching for Christ’s sake, “Be conciliated to God!” For the One
not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may be
becoming God's righteousness in Him. (2 Corinthians 5.17-21 CV)
How
can we be ambassadors for Christ if we do not have the word of the conciliation
in us, that is, written on our hearts? Unfortunately, this word is not taught
from the pulpits of Christendom in our day. It is safe to state that many have
not even heard of this word. They may have heard of reconciliation, but today
this word is most often used in reference to making peace with others and not in
reference to making peace with God.
The
word of the conciliation declares to all mankind: “Be conciliated to God.”
Now,
let us consider the word of the conciliation, and to do this we need to lay a
foundation upon which to build.
They are without excuse.
First, we need to see that mankind can try to deny
that there is a God, but God has placed within everyone the evidence that He
exists. All are without excuse.
For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God
is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation
of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that
they are without excuse. (Romans 1.18-20 NASB)
God is the Creator of all! All mankind needs to do
is look at the creation; look at the mountains and the rolling seas; look at a
rabbit with a cotton tail; look at a new-born baby; look at the amazing body in
which mankind lives–can anyone truthfully say that there is no God? We live in
bodies that are so intricate with parts that are very specialized and that work
together. The human body is a community made up of a multitude of living cells
that all work together without us even knowing what they are doing. Consider the
intricacy of the eye; light enters the eye and is converted to impulses which
are conveyed to the brain where an image is perceived. Yet all of this is
accomplished in a body which is 80% water. It is truly remarkable.
We look around us and see all sorts of man-made
objects that are a marvel to behold. Who cannot marvel at a rocket propelling
into space or at how a computer is able to do so much for us today?
None of these inventions of man happened by chance.
They did not grow out of some sort of chaos, going from chaos to order. They
started out as an assortment of materials that man had to put together after he
planned what they were to look like and what they were to do when built. If no
one ever touched them, they would remain as separate parts with no
functionality.
Then how can mankind look at the universe, the earth
on which we live and the bodies which we occupy and say that there is no God?
Our order comes from a God of order, a creative Genius beyond comprehension.
None are right before God.
Mankind
was created not only to see and know God in His creation but to be in His image
and to walk before God, living in communion with Him, knowing His Divine love
and ruling with God over His creation.
Let Us make man in Our image, according
to Our likeness; and let them rule. (Genesis 1.26 NASB)
However, the first man, Adam, disobeyed
God, and when he did, the process of death entered all mankind. In the day that
you disobey, to die shall you be dying,
was the word from God to Adam. Death passed through into all mankind, and Adam’s
race became a dying race, a race of sinners. The ration (wage, allowance) of
sin is death.
The proof that death is the ration of sin is in the
fact that all die (state of unconsciousness where we know
nothing [Ecclesiastes 9.5]) and their bodies return to the dust of the earth.
In fact, every living thing on earth faces death. Even creation itself groans
in its slavery to corruption. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic
eruptions, famine, pestilence, to name a few, are proof.
God’s
assessment of mankind is this–all have
sinned, that is, all have failed to meet God’s righteous demand. No one is
right before God.
“There is none righteous, not even one; there is
none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside,
together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not
even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep
deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of
cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and
misery are in their paths, and the path of peace have they not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3.10-18 NASB)
All
mankind die (go into a state of unconsciousness) and their bodies return to the
soil. To mankind, death is a hopeless tomb. No one, not one single person is
able to come alive and rise out of the grave by his own power, never to die
again! This is the hopeless lot of man. But there is good news of a great hope!
Man’s failure is according to God’s plan and God Himself has provided the
remedy. We could say that God alone is responsible for mankind.
God
has conciliated the world—His enemies.
God has allowed man to fail, even required it, so
that all mankind would know His love. To know love, we need the contrast of hate.
To know good, we need the contrast of
evil. To know light, we need the contrast of dark.
To know righteousness, we need the
contrast of sin. Man’s greatest
failure is for God’s greatest glory! This is the wisdom of God.
Since God Himself is responsible for
mankind’s fate, man is not responsible for his own salvation. A sinner cannot
save himself from sin and death. A sinner has no righteousness or rightness to
stand before God. A sinner can do nothing to please a righteous, holy God. A
sinner cannot find favor and peace with God on his own merits or works. A
sinner cannot overcome death. A sinner is an enemy of God who deserves the
wrath or indignation of God, but never an eternal torture chamber called hell!
The fact of the matter is that in His love, God has
shut up all in disobedience that He
might show mercy to all (Romans 11.32
NASB). All is
an inclusive word, which means that none are left out. God’s heart is to show
mercy to all mankind, without
exception. No one is excluded from His mercy, even the vilest and most corrupt
sinner. Simply, God has provided the way for all, all of His enemies, to be at peace with Him.
There
is good news. God is not angry with mankind and does not desire mankind to
suffer the fate of death forever. Mankind is not His enemy. After all, we are
commanded to love our enemies (Matthew 5.44). Will God not do likewise? He
wills that all be saved (1 Timothy 2.4). He has made peace with mankind, and
one day death will be no more.
God
has conciliated
the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them (2 Corinthians 5.19 CV). This is the grace and mercy of God. The word conciliated means “to win
over, to soothe the anger of, to gain favor.” In other words, God Himself has
made peace with His enemies. He is not angry with mankind. God has made peace
with all, and He is calling all
mankind to be at peace with Him.
In
order for mankind to be conciliated to God (peace with God), it is important to
understand how God conciliated mankind to Himself (peace with mankind); how He
has brought favor and peace to mankind and ultimately has overcome the mighty
power of death. God has accomplished this great act of love in, through and by
His Son.
God’s
Son empties Himself to die.
The most profound act of love in all
the universe is that God sent His Son to this earth to take on the form of man
and to be nailed to a cross by mankind that He created, and to shed His blood
and die as if He were the foulest of sinners, although He never knew nor ever
committed sin. The wrath of God fell upon His Son to pay for the sin of the
world. The Just died for the unjust!
He died for the sin of the world. The Righteous
became sin and died that mankind might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He is the Savior of the world and His
name is Jesus!
The
sinner may be most repugnant and offensive, but today God does not reckon these
offenses against him or her. God is not holding man’s sins against him, for
Christ died for man’s sins. No sinner could die for the sin of the world.
Everyone born of Adam’s race is disqualified from shedding their own blood for
the sin of the world. But One who was
not a sinner died for all the sin of
the world! This is what God’s Son has done so that God can be at peace with
mankind. He has done all the work
necessary to conciliate mankind to God, and God wants mankind to know His peace today.
Who, [Jesus] being inherently in the form of God,
deems it not pillaging to be equal with God, nevertheless empties Himself,
taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humanity, and,
being found in fashion as a human, He humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him, and
graces Him with the name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus
every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, and
every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of
God, the Father. (Philippians 2.6-11 CV)
Yet all is of God, Who
conciliates us to Himself through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5.18 CV)
Being enemies, we were
conciliated to God through the death of His Son. (Romans 5.10 CV)
Do you grasp the greatness of these words? All of us
were enemies of God; and yet while we were still enemies, in His love for
mankind, God sent His Son to die for us and conciliate us to Himself through
Christ. Today, God is not at war with
mankind; He is at peace.
This Jesus
God raises.
The
good news does not stop at this point, for if Jesus had remained in the grave,
there would have been no conciliation. After all, every human dies and goes
into the grave. However, Jesus did not remain in the grave, i.e., remain dead.
After three days, God resurrected Him from among the dead as the first man to
ever overcome death and the grave! He conquered death, never to be subjected to
it again. It has no power over Him. Jesus’ resurrection is proof that His death
was acceptable to God.
After
the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter declared what he and others had
witnessed.
“Men! Brethren! Allow me to say to you with
boldness concerning the patriarch David, that he deceases also and was
entombed, and his tomb is among us until this day. Being, then, inherently, a
prophet, and having perceived that God swears to him with an oath, out of the
fruit of his loin to seat One on his throne, perceiving this before, he speaks
concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither forsaken in the
unseen, nor was His flesh acquainted with decay. This Jesus God raises, of Whom
we all are witnesses.” (Acts 2.29-32 CV)
Jesus
is the Christ, which means the “Anointed,” and which declares Him to be the Son
of the living God.
If Christ was not roused (raised)
from among the dead, then conciliation
is a hoax, the salvation of mankind is impossible, death is an eternal tomb and
mankind has no hope. As Paul, the
apostle for the nations (gentiles), declared: “Now, if Christ has not been roused, vain is your faith—you are
still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians
15.17 CV).
The
good news is that He was roused (raised) from among the dead and many were
witnesses of this fact. However, not only was He roused from among the dead but
He also ascended back to God in heaven.
He [the Son of God] who descended is Himself also
He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
(Ephesians 4.10 NASB)
Christ
is now seated in heaven at the right hand of God the Father.
Saved by grace
through faith.
Mankind
has been conciliated to God through Christ, but how does the individual come
into the benefit of the conciliation of God, that is, come into the place of
knowing this peace? The sinner must be saved by grace through faith. Grace can mean “to bestow a benefit on
one who deserves judgment.” Christ took the judgment we all deserve when He
died on the cross for each one of us. Now, all we must do is believe God. It is
very simple. There is no work for anyone to do. There is absolutely nothing anyone
can do, except simply believe that…
Christ died for our sins [the sin of the whole world; past, present and
future] according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared
to more than five hundred brethren at one time [witnessed by many as proof that
the grave could not hold Him, after which He ascended back to heaven].… (1
Corinthians 15.3-6 NASB
[added by writer])
The
good news is that although He was buried, He was raised from among the dead
after three days. Jesus being raised from among the dead means that His death
for all mankind was acceptable to God.
Believing
in Jesus means believing in what He did for us sinners and putting our trust in
this work that He did, trusting Him.
What
did He do? He died for all (past,
present and future) our sins. He took our place as a sinner and the judgment of
God fell upon Him as if He were the sinner, although He never sinned. He laid
down His life and shed His blood on a cross for all mankind! He became our
righteousness before God. Once saved, we will never face the wrath of God.
Our
salvation is guaranteed by the fact that God raised His Son from among the
dead. All anyone must do is agree with God! The word is: Believe, and you shall be saved! Put your trust in the One who died
for you! It is God’s gift to you.
For by grace you have
been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2.8-9 NASB)
Jesus,
the Son of God.
Before
moving on to more of the good news, it is important to make sure that we truly
know who Jesus is, for many false teachings have gone forth regarding Jesus.
Let us be clear that Jesus is the Son of God who is the visible image of the
invisible God.
If mankind wants to see God, they must see God’s
Son. If mankind wants to know
God, they must know God’s Son. If
mankind wants to be saved from death,
they must see that Christ is the Way,
the only way. If mankind wants to be justified
before God, they must accept the One who is Just.
If mankind wants to be reconciled to
God, they must see that peace has been made through the blood of His cross. If mankind wants life, they must see that Christ is the Life.
Jesus
was not just a good man who somehow managed to live a good life. Many religions
of the world accept Jesus as a good man, a philosopher, a prophet, a teacher,
a moralist and many other things, but they deny that He is the Son of God.
Others believe He is the Son of God, but that He was never Man and He never
died. He only took on a body and faked being a man. They say that He shed His
body when He ascended. Others believe that Jesus was born a man, but not as
God’s Son, and somehow He attained to godliness and sonship to become a god and
God’s Son. Some believe that Jesus’ body is still in the grave, that He was
never resurrected. All these thoughts are false and all who hold these views are deceived.
Jesus was born of a virgin and His name was Immanuel, which translated means, “God with us” (Matthew 1.23). The Holy
Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High over-shadowed her.
Jesus
declared that as the Son of God, He came forth from God the Father, who sent
Him to this earth. He had a glory with the Father before the world was. He was
one with the Father (John 10.30; 17.5, 8, 18, 22). Jesus declared that He
existed before Abraham was born about 2,000 years earlier (John 8.58).
He is the Creator of mankind who took on the form of
His creation, becoming the Second Man, the last Adam (John 1.3; 1 Corinthians
15.45-47; Hebrews 1.2). He is the exact image and representation of the
invisible God (Colossians 1.15; Hebrews 1.3). He is the Word of God and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God (John 1.1-2 NASB).
There was the true light which, coming into the
world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him
(John 1.9-10 NASB).
The
world was made through Him and He upholds or holds all things together by the
word of His power (Hebrews 1.2, 3 NASB). Remove the
power of the Son of God from the universe and all will disintegrate.
There is but one God, the Father, from whom are all
things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8.6 NASB)
He
commanded authority over the elements, the wind, the sea, the demons and even
unclean spirits (Mark 1.23-24; 3.11; 4.41). He changed water into wine, which
required changing the very elements of life (John 2.1-11). Only the Creator
could do this!
The
Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day demanded His death because He made Himself out to be the Son of God (John 19.7). To the Jewish
people, one claiming to be the Son of God
was making himself equal with God. They persecuted Jesus because He did many
things on the Sabbath, including healing the sick. But He answered them, “My
Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” For this cause therefore
the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was
breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God (John
5.17-18).
Jesus
traveled from city to city, healing many and pardoning their sins. The question
rang out: “Who is able to pardon sins
except God only?” (Luke 5.21 CV).
Jesus’
followers knew Him to be the Son of God. Peter declared to Jesus: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God” (Matthew 16.16 CV).
The Son of God gave His life by dying on a cross to
save all mankind. For this reason, we
rely on the living God, Who is the
Savior of all mankind, especially of believers (1 Timothy 4.10 CV).
Do you know the Son of God?
The
work is finished!
To know the Son what is a person to do? Simply
believe what God says and give Him all the praise, honor and glory. Do not add
anything to it or take anything away from it. No one can earn this place before
God, for Another has earned it for all
mankind.
When Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary, He cried
out, “It is finished!” What did He
mean? What was finished? Jesus finished the work demanded by God to conciliate
all things to Himself and to save
mankind. Sin demanded the wrath or indignation of God; however, there was only
one remedy or work that was acceptable to God. In fact, there was one work that
was demanded, and that was the death and shed blood of a perfect, sinless man.
Jesus, as the Son of God, was that perfect Man and He did all that was required
for mankind and to meet God’s righteous demand.
He did ALL the
work. There is nothing that a sinner can do to be saved; and once saved,
nothing can be done to cause one to lose salvation. Salvation is the gift of
God, a gift purchased exclusively for mankind with God’s own blood. What love! The
sinner simply must believe what God has done, putting his trust in the finished
work of Christ–His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.
To some people, this sounds too good to be true; but
it is true. It is all about grace, which can be defined as “the enabling power
of God apart from human merit.” No one deserves to be saved, but God in His
mercy has made the way. It is by grace; and by His grace, God even gives the
faith. He has enabled man to be saved by the work of Another, His Son. It is not on the basis of man’s works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace.
Now if it is in grace, it is no longer out of
works, else the grace is coming to be no longer grace. (Romans 11.6 CV)
Only Jesus and His work can save mankind! It is by
grace!
Here is the really good news: Once one is saved, one
is forever saved. There are good works to be done after one is saved, but they
have absolutely nothing to do with salvation.
For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2.10 NASB)
Many preachers tell people they must do something to
get saved. For example, they must repent; they must make Jesus Lord of their
lives; they must change the course of their life; they must open the door of
their heart and ask Jesus into their heart; they must confess with their mouth
Jesus as Lord. These things have great value after one is saved but not in
getting one saved. By the way, joining a church and sitting in a pew or on
benches every week cannot and will not save anyone! Working up a sweat and
a dust storm every Sunday dancing and singing along with others cannot and will not save anyone!
We are saved by grace through faith. What are
sinners to do to be saved? Simply, believe; put their trust in Christ and His
finished work. Let their boast be in Him.
He made Him who knew no
sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him. (2 Corinthians 5.21 NASB)
But by His doing you are
in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and
sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, “Let him who
boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1.30-31 NASB)
Just as there is no work on our part to be saved,
there is no work on our part to remain saved. Many people make the big mistake
of thinking that they must do something to remain saved. But think about it; if
there is no work required to be saved but work to be done to remain saved, then
salvation is not by grace.
Believers would live in constant fear of failing,
never knowing whether or not they are truly saved. What a horrible existence
this would be! It would be bondage of the worst kind. Fear not!
We
cannot save ourselves no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, no matter
how many good works we do. We cannot lose our salvation no matter what we do,
no matter how little we try, no matter how many bad works we do, no matter how
much failure we might have in our life. Of course, our life should be one of
holiness and godliness, walking before God in the spirit; and this is possible
because God gives us His spirit by which to live (Romans 5.5; 8.9, 11;
Galatians 5.25; Ephesians 1.13).
As
I see it, the one thing that is at stake after we are saved is which
resurrection we will be in, the first or the second, and what rewards we will
receive in the
Only
the Son of God can save us and only He can keep us saved. The word of the
conciliation declares: Believe; put your trust in the One who did all the work
for your salvation by dying on the cross for you, and you shall be saved and
remain saved.
For while we were still
helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly
die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare
even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5.6-8 NASB)
For if, being enemies, we were conciliated to God
through the death of His Son, much rather, being conciliated, we shall be saved
in His life. Yet not only so, but we are glorying also in God, through our
Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we now obtained the conciliation. (Romans
5.10-11 CV)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great
love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made
us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…. (Ephesians 2.4-5
NASB)
Conciliation
and salvation are about love, the love of God for mankind. Thus, God, who is
love, loves and keeps loving the
world of sinners because He gave His Son for the world! God calls mankind into
a love relationship with Him. Once we believe, the door is wide open to commune
with God, to come into the depths of His love for us, to know Him and to be at peace with Him. Today, He is not an
angry God, no matter how difficult life might appear.
God
is love and His love is expressed in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Roused
because of our justification—“Not
Guilty!”
Christ’s
finished work resulted not only in conciliation
but also in justification. The word justify means “to constitute or make one
righteous.” This implies something far greater than forgiveness or pardon of
sins and offenses, for these words imply that the guilt remains. However, to be
justified means that one is not guilty of the sins and offenses. In fact, one
who is justified is pronounced not
guilty, just as if he had never committed
one sin or offense against God or mankind.
Now it was not written because of him only, that it
is reckoned to him, but because of us also, to whom it is about to be reckoned,
who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus our Lord from among the dead, Who was
given up because of our offenses, and was roused because of our justifying.
(Romans 4.23-25 CV)
How
is this possible? From God’s view, when Christ died, we died. Simply, when
Christ died, all mankind went into the grave with Him. He took all our sins and
offenses into death and there they remain. Our old humanity was crucified
together with Him that the body of sin may be nullified. In other words,
mankind died with Christ that all might live through Christ’s life.
Now if we died together with Christ, we believe
that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ,
being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. Death is lording it over
Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to Sin once for all time, yet in
that He is living, He is living to God. Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves
to be dead, indeed, to Sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
(Romans 6.8-11 CV)
So then as through one transgression [Adam’s sin]
there resulted condemnation to all men [“guilty,” death], even so through one
act of righteousness [Christ’s death] there resulted justification of life to
all men. For as through the one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience the many [all
mankind] were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One [Christ]
the many [all mankind] will be made righteous [“not guilty,” life]. (Romans
5.18-19 NASB [added by
writer])
Do
you grasp the greatness of what God’s Son accomplished through His death on the
cross? The blood of His cross not only conciliated mankind to God but Christ
being roused from among the dead also resulted in mankind’s justification.
Christ was roused for our justifying. In other words, mankind’s sins were left
in the grave and when Christ was roused, God, the Judge of all, declared
mankind “not guilty.” The penalty for sin was paid for in full and it was
erased or blotted out completely through the death, burial and resurrection of
the Son of God.
Many
sinners are told that they must ask God to forgive them in order to be saved.
But how can a sinner ask to be forgiven if God has already removed the sin and
the just penalty of sin in His Son’s death? Asking for forgiveness to be saved
is denying the very meaning of Christ’s death. Simply believe what Christ has
done for all mankind, and that includes each and every one of us. He is the
Savior of all mankind! He has saved all mankind and each of us who believe is
called to believe and enter into the joy of knowing that God has removed the
guilty sentence and has declared us justified in His sight, as if we never
committed a sin. However, do not take
this to mean that once we are saved, we are to persist in sin. Never!
What, then, shall we declare? That we may be
persisting in sin that grace should be increasing? May it not be coming to
that! We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it? Or are you
ignorant that whoever are baptized [referring to Christ’s death, not water
baptism] into Christ Jesus, are baptized into His death? We, then, were
entombed together with Him through baptism into death, that, even as Christ was
roused from among the dead through the glory of the Father, thus we also should
be walking in newness of life. (Romans 6.1-4 CV)
Yet where sin increases, grace superexceeds, that,
even as Sin reigns in death, thus Grace also should be reigning through
righteousness, for life eonian [life in the eons to come], through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. (Romans 5.20-21 CV)
We
are commanded to put off the old humanity with its bad behavior and put on the
new humanity which, in accord with God, is being created in righteousness and
holiness of the truth (Ephesians 4.22-24).
Be conciliated.
All
that has been presented so far speaks of God’s action to remove all the
barriers between Himself and mankind. It is all God’s doing. All we must do is
believe what God has done for us. However, there is one more important matter
that needs to be stressed. God is at peace with us; however, He desires us to
be at peace with Him.
Paul,
the apostle of Christ, wrote: “We are beseeching for Christ’s sake, “Be
conciliated to God!”” (2 Corinthians 5.20 CV).
God
has conciliated all mankind to Himself through His Son, but each one of us,
individually, must be conciliated to God. Conciliation requires that both
parties be in agreement or harmony, and when they are, they are mutually reconciled. In other words, we need to
respond to God’s grace and love, and be at peace with God.
Being, then, justified by faith, we may be having
peace toward God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have the
access also, by faith, into this grace in which we stand, and we may be
glorying in expectation of the glory of God. (Romans 5.1-2 CV)
Peace
is a state of quietness, tranquility, without disturbance or agitation. We are
to be in a place of rest in God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that He
loves us, that we can commune with Him in the spirit, that His grace will guide
us through each day, and that one day we will come into the glory of God.
God
is not satisfied with merely saving us and acquitting us of our sins. He
desires our love and adoration. Reconciliation urges us into full and
affectionate fellowship with Him and His Son. One day, all mankind will come
into this glorious place; but the call today is to believe and be reconciled.
Do not delay; enter into the joy of your Lord.
Through Him [God’s Son], to reconciled all [all
mankind] to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him [His
Son], whether those on the earth or those in the heavens. (Colossians 1.20 CV)
A
new creation in Christ.
Believers
in the finished work of Christ are a new creation in Christ, who is the Head of an entirely new creation. Believers
no longer belong to Adam’s race. When Christ died on the cross, He took us with
Him so that when He died, our old humanity in Adam died with Him. Further, the
new creation is identified with the new heaven and the new earth of the last
eon, God’s day, when all is new. See
Revelation 21.5.
So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new
creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new! (2 Corinthians 5.17 CV)
You have died and your life is hidden with Christ
in God. (Colossians 3.3 NASB)
For if we have become united with Him in the
likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our
body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we
believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over
Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life
that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin,
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6.5-11 NASB)
It is no longer our life
but Christ’s life. Our whole life is to be dependent on the One who died for us.
As Paul wrote: I am
crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in
that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has
loved me and given himself for me (Galatians 2.20 DNT).
Crucified
with Christ is the word (message) of the cross that is foolishness to the
world but the power of God to those who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1.18-25).
The cross divides humanity, separating the old in Adam from the new in Christ.
The cross wipes out all that was of the old humanity, for it was crucified with
Christ. He took it into the grave and there it must remain. A new humanity has
come forth, based on the word of the
cross that has applied the cross to the old humanity, which has been
crucified and rendered dead.
The
body of Christ, the ecclesia.
Today,
what is the new creation in Christ? It is the body of Christ. All who believe
have been joined to Christ in the most intimate way. They are His body and He
is their Head, and it is His body that is seated together among the celestials in Christ with every
spiritual blessing among the celestials. There is nothing greater than being
the body of Christ.
God’s
conciliation starts with the body of Christ, for this is where God first
manifests His peace with mankind. He begins with the body.
The nations are to be joint enjoyers of an
allotment, and a joint body, and joint partakers of the promise in Christ
Jesus, through the evangel. (Ephesians 3.6 CV)
For He is our Peace, Who makes both one [believing
Jew and gentile], and razes the central wall of the barrier (the enmity in His
flesh), nullifying the law of precepts in decrees, that He should be creating
the two, in Himself, into one new humanity, making peace; and should be
reconciling both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in
it. And, coming, He brings the evangel of peace to you, those afar, and peace
to those near, for through Him we both have had access, in one spirit, to the
Father. (Ephesians 2.14-18 CV)
Because
God has first manifested His peace through the body of Christ, the believers
are to let the peace of Christ rule in
their hearts, to which indeed they were called in one body; to be thankful (Colossians
3.15), and to be reconciled to one another. This is mutual reconciliation!
The
body of Christ is also the ecclesia
(church, assembly), the called-out ones, called out of the world as a celestial people. Christ is head over all things to the ecclesia, which is His body (Ephesians
1.22-23). Christ is Head of the ecclesia,
and He is the Saviour of the body (Ephesians 5.23). And He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign,
Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first (Colossians
1.18).
The
ecclesia, or what many call the church, is not a building or an
institution but a people who are intimately joined to Christ.
The
resurrection and the snatching away.
There
is more. The believer’s physical body is not exempt from decay and ultimately
death. But death to a believer is like sleep. In fact, a believer falls asleep
in Jesus; and one day all believers will be awakened at the same time and they,
just like their Savior, will be resurrected from among the dead and snatched
away being transformed into conformity with the body of His glory, in the image
of the Celestial One. [1]
To
illustrate, when we go to sleep at night and we are sleeping soundly, we are
unaware of our surroundings. We are simply unaware of all that is around us and
that is going on in the world. Our body slows down and our soul is not aware of
anything. It is asleep. When we wake in the morning, we are greeted by the sun.
Falling asleep in Jesus is similar to this. Believers will awaken as if they
had just gone to sleep a short time ago, even though it might have been as long
as 2,000 years, and they will be greeted by the Son (Sun) of God, the Light of
the world.
At
physical death, a believer does not immediately
go to heaven, as many believe, for the Bible declares that we wait for His Son from heaven, whom He [God]
raised from the dead (1 Thessalonians
1.10 NASB).
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity
with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even
to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3.20-21 NASB)
(Yet now Christ has been roused from among the
dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. For since, in fact, through a
man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. For
even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those
who are Christ’s in His presence; thereafter the consummation, whenever He may
be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be
nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15.20-24
CV)
Paul
was given a revelation by the risen Lord Jesus Himself.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren,
about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring
with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the
Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one
another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 NASB)
This
is a description of the resurrection
and the snatching away of the
believers. By the word of the Lord to Paul, those who belong to Christ, the
saints, will one day be caught up into the air to meet the Lord. In these
verses, Paul gave no indication of what transpires other than the resurrection
and being caught up into the air. In
another letter to believers, he proclaimed a secret.
Lo! a secret to you am I telling! We all, indeed,
shall not be put to repose, yet we all shall be changed, in an instant, in the
twinkle of an eye, at the last trump. For He will be trumpeting, and the dead
will be roused incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality. Now, whenever
this corruptible should be putting on incorruption and this mortal should be
putting on immortality, then shall come to pass the word which is written,
Swallowed up was Death by Victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O
Death, is your sting? Now the sting of Death is sin, yet the power of sin is
the law. Now thanks be to God, Who is giving us the victory, through our Lord
Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15.51-57 CV)
With the snatching away, all who belong to Christ
will be changed. Death will be swallowed up and the believer will take on a celestial (heavenly), spiritual body that no longer is subject
to death. The perishable or corrupt will put on the imperishable or
incorruption. Mortality will put on immortality. Christ will transform the body of the believer’s humble
state into conformity with the body of His glory. They will be like Him.
The first man was out of the earth, soilish; the second Man is the Lord out of heaven.
Such as the soilish one is, such are those also who are soilish, and such as
the Celestial One, such are those also who are celestials. And according as we wear the image of the soilish, we should be wearing
the image also of the Celestial. (1
Corinthians 15.47-49 CV)
Today, our physical body is sown a perishable,
mortal body that is restricted to this earth. Apart from wearing a space suit,
man’s body is not capable of living in the celestial
realm. It is impossible, for our blood needs the oxygen from the earth’s atmosphere
and the food provided from the soil. The celestial
body must be constituted for an entirely different environment.
Man’s body has been sown in dishonor but a
believer’s body will be raised in glory. In other words, the celestial body will be a body of glory that is capable of living
unhindered in the celestial realm, in
fact, living unhindered throughout God’s entire universe, including on the
earth. It is sown in weakness and infirmity; it is raised in power. It is sown a soulish body; it is raised a spiritual
body (1 Corinthians 15.42-44).
Think about the tremendous enormity of being
reconciled to God. The celestial body
will never experience pain, pestilence, famine and death. The soul will never
be anxious, depressed or doubtful again. The life of the celestial body will be a perfect spiritual life, for it is a spiritual body, energized and governed
by the spirit and no longer governed by the soul.
Today, believers suffer along with all mankind, for
all face death; but believers are kept by the power of God, even in these
mortal bodies, for a glory to be revealed when Christ comes to rescue His body.
Wherefore we are not despondent, but even if our
outward man is decaying, nevertheless that within us is being renewed day by
day. For the momentary lightness of our affliction is producing for us a
transcendently transcendent [surpassing, excelling, extraordinary,
supernatural] eonian burden of glory…. (2 Corinthians 4.16-17 CV)
Oh,
may the eyes of our heart be enlightened to see this great destiny for all who
are reconciled to God in this day.
The eons.
To understand the resurrection more fully, it is
helpful to know that God’s purpose and plan is being worked out in periods of
time called eons or ages. There were two eons before the one
in which we live today, and Scripture reveals two eons to come, which progress
toward the consummation of God’s purpose and plan that He set before the
disruption of the world (Genesis 1.2). Through the eons, God works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1.11).
We live in what is called the wicked or evil eon in
which man rules over man, administering his affairs apart from God. We could
say without contradiction that the governments of our sinful world do not
administer perfect righteousness and justice. This is the day of
According to God’s purpose and plan, 6,000 years or
six 1,000-year days must be completed before the commencement of the millennial
Following the seventh day is the last eon called the day of God, which we could call the
eighth day and will last at least 1,000 years and probably much longer, for
with God one day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like one day (2 Peter
3.8). Then, the Son of God will rule from the throne of God and of the Lamb that
is within the new Jerusalem, the dwelling of God in spirit (Ephesians 2.22), which
comes down out of heaven when the old heaven and earth pass away and all things are new (Revelation 20.11;
21.1-2).
Through the coming eons, God’s glory will shine forth
in greater splendor until, finally, at the end of the eighth day, all things, including all mankind that suffered the second
death (Revelation 20.14), will be fully and completely reconciled to God that
He may be all in all.
Heading up all.
During the next two eons, believers will be
glorified with celestial, spiritual bodies
and will be with the Lord in the celestial
and physical realm, no longer subject
to death. Now, one might wonder what the believer will be doing. However, the
proper question is, what will Christ be doing?
The next eon is when the kingdom of this world
becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Revelation 11.15). This eon
begins when Christ returns to this earth after being gone a long time to
receive a kingdom. Christ’s rule has one purpose, and it is to progressively
sum up or head up or gather up all in
Himself that God may be All in all.
Christ will begin to subdue the heart of every enemy of God during the next two
eons until, finally, death itself will be abolished.
For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in
Christ, shall all be vivified. Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit,
Christ; thereupon those who are Christ’s in His presence; thereafter the
consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father,
whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power.
For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His
feet. The last enemy is being abolished: death. For He subjects all under His feet.
Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is
outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. Now, whenever all may be subjected to
Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to
Him, that God may be All in all.) (1 Corinthians 15.22-28 CV)
The objective of Christ’s rule is to head up all things, to reconcile all things to God so that God may be All in all. The next eon will not be an absolutely perfect time
on earth, but it will be a continual increase of paradise as Christ begins to
aggressively head up all things. The heading
up will continue into the following eon when all things are new, until finally, at the consummation of the day of God, there no longer will be
the need for the government of nations, for God will fill everything in His
entire creation. He will be in all
and He will fill all.
Paul was the one who was given revelation of this
great fact, which he called a secret (that is now revealed).
In all wisdom and prudence making known to us the
secret of His will (in accord with His delight, which He purposed in Him) to
have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the
Christ—both that in the heavens and that on the earth…. (Ephesians 1.8b-10 CV)
Paul included both things in the heavens and things
upon the earth in this heading up. Now, let us add a few other verses to this
one. In referring to this eon and the eon to come, Paul declared more of the secret.
[God] subjects all under His feet, and gives Him,
as Head over all, to the ecclesia which is His body, the complement [filling
up, completion] of the One completing the all in all. (Ephesians 1.22-23 CV)
[God] rouses [raises] us together [the ecclesia,
the body of Christ] and seats us together among the celestials [in the heavenly
places], in Christ Jesus, that, in the oncoming eons [ages], He should be
displaying the transcendent [surpassing] riches of His grace in His kindness to
us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2.6-7 CV)
To me [Paul], less than the least of all saints,
was granted this grace: to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches of
Christ to the nations [gentiles], and to enlighten all as to what is the
administration of the secret, which has
been concealed from the eons [ages] in God, Who creates all, that now may be
made known to the sovereignties and the authorities among the celestials,
through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God, in accord with the
purpose of the eons [ages], which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord….
(Ephesians 3.8-11 CV)
All
these verses mean that, in God’s wisdom, the body of Christ has been chosen to
be a co-worker with Christ in the heading up of all, especially the heading up of all in the heavens. Can you
imagine a calling any greater than this? It is tremendous! Those who are
reconciled to God in this eon, the body of Christ, will enter the celestial realm during the next eon to
work alongside Christ as He heads up all
things in heaven and on earth.
The body of Christ is the first to be headed up in Christ and will participate
with Christ during the two oncoming eons in bringing all into subjection so that God will be All in all.
We
could say that the body of Christ is on the leading edge of what God has begun
to do in and through His Son. Spiritually speaking, believers are now seated
among the celestials, but a day is
coming when this great fact will be literally manifested for all the celestial creation to behold. Christ is
coming again to receive His body to Himself to reign with Him over the celestial realm and the world.
There
is no higher calling, no greater honor than to be a new creation in Christ and
to be included in the great work He is doing and will continue to do for the
next two eons until He has reconciled All
to God. Today, Christ is to be all until, finally, God Himself will be All in all.
Christ’s death on the cross is an
absolute, unfailing, glorious success!
The
time is coming when death will be no more and all mankind will be saved, justified and reconciled, and brought
into endless life.
“For God locks up all together in
stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all” (Romans 11.32 CV). Salvation to all!
“Our Savior,
God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the
truth” (1 Timothy 2.3-4 CV). Salvation to all!
“We rely on
the living God, Who is the Savior of all mankind” (1 Timothy 4.10 CV). Salvation to all!
“Through one
offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also ... through one just award
for all mankind for life’s justifying” (Romans 5.18 CV). Justification to all!
“Through Him
to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross)”
(Colossians 1.20 CV). Reconciliation to all!
“For even as,
in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified [made
alive]” (1 Corinthians 15.22 CV). Life to all!
At
the consummation of all, all things will
be truly reconciled to God. All this
will be worked out during the next two eons, until finally, all is headed up, and then endless glory
will begin.
CHRIST is coming again!
God
has raised Christ from among the dead, He has ascended into heaven and He is
coming back to this earth very soon for all to see!
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while
He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they
also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you
into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into
heaven.” (Acts 1.10-11 NASB)
It is time: “Be
conciliated to God!” Be at peace with God, and then give Him all the
praise, honor and glory. It is time for the body of Christ to have the word of
the conciliation written on their hearts and to be ambassadors for Christ.
This is in accord with the purpose of the eons.
[1] Those who die not believing in Jesus remain dead
in the grave, waiting for the second resurrection and the great white throne judgment
that will occur about 1,000 years later. They will face a second death but
ultimately will be reconciled at the consummation of God’s day.