Reconciled to God

Reconciled to God
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Jesus came to redeem us. He is the God-man, the unique Person of the universe.

Job 9:1-3:

Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

Isaiah says God's thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways. Why is it we cannot answer God?

Job 9:32:

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

The margin of your Bible calls that “daysman” an “umpire.” God is righteous. God is holy. God is perfect. I am fallen. I am unredeemed. I am full of sin and there is an impossible chasm between me and God.

Job 9:33:

Neither is there any daysman (mediator) betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

I am here to tell you that there is a mediator! His name is Jesus! He came and laid one hand on God and laid one hand on man, and He united the two impossibilities together! You see, God did not cause the chasm. Man caused the chasm, and that chasm was called sin. God could not bridge the gap because God can have no contact with sin. Man cannot bridge the gap because the barrier is too great for him. Satan thought he was smarter than God, but God came to earth in the form of a man. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Because He was a man, we could identify with Him and because He was sinless, God could identify with Him. Jesus satisfied the claims of God because He is God. He satisfied the claims of man because He is man; He united the two impossibilities. There is salvation in no other name than through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The book of Hebrews compares the work of the Old Testament to the work of the New Testament. In the book of Hebrews, the theme word is “better.” The first two chapters of Hebrews tells us Jesus is better than angels. Chapter three tells us He is better than Moses. Chapter four says He is better than Aaron, the priest. Chapters five, six, and seven tell us He is better than Melchizedec, who was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Then, chapters nine, ten, and eleven reveal Jesus is better than any of the Old Testament heroes. Chapter twelve describes the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ and the importance of following Him. Even though He has redeemed us and set us apart, we must still choose to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The book of Hebrews concludes by discussing the fact that Jesus is superior to all. Hebrews also compares the Old Covenant to the New and repeatedly emphasizes the fact that we have a better covenant established upon better promises. Although the covenant under which we live is a better covenant, the New Covenant is not good and the Old Covenant bad; it was good under the Old Covenant and better in the New!

How were sins dealt with in the Old Testament?

Hebrews 10:1:

For the law (not just the Ten Commandments) having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Under the Old Covenant sacrifices were offered year after year. There were daily sacrifices, but the main sacrifice was offered each year on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement occurred in the month of October. It was introduced with the sound of the trumpet and as the trumpet was sounded, the sacrificial animals were slain; first an oxen, then a bullock. Next, two goats were brought in. One goat was slain, and the other (the scapegoat) was sent off into the wilderness. The goats were a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was the Lamb of God until He went to the cross; but on the cross He became the goat. Jesus died twice on the cross, unlike any other person.

Isaiah 53:9 says He was identified with the rich man in His “deaths.” “Death” is plural in the Hebrew. Jesus not only died physically on the cross (the first goat slain), but His inward man was rejected from the presence of God. Just as the second goat was carried off into the uninhabited land, Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus went into the underground parts of the earth. This was all typified in the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement.

When people under the Old Covenant saw the significance of the sacrificial animal and put their faith and trust in the Lord,their sins could be covered. No animal could save them. It was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to save. The animals were no guarantee that a person would enter into God's presence at the end of their physical life; personal faith brought them into the presence of God upon death.

God taught His people through types and shadows throughout the Old Testament. The law was not designed to save the peole; it was designed to teach them of the One who could save them, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether called “Jehovah” in the Old Testament or “Jesus” in the New Testament, He is the manifested member of the Godhead.

During Old Testament times the Day of Atonement was observed. “Atonement” means “covering.” The sins of God's people were covered in God's sight, but there was a continual remembrance of sin brought about each year.
Hebrews 10:2:

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sin.

If it were possible for an animal to remit the sins of humans, animal sacrifices would no longer be necessary. However, it was not possible for an animal to remit sin for man because we are not animals. An animal did not sin in the Garden of Eden. Whoever went to the cross had to be the substitute. Innocent animals were slain representing the innocence of the Lord Jesus Christ who would go to the cross for mankind.

Hebrews 10:3-4:

But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible (or literally, ‘it is impossible’) that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

“Take away” is a New Testament term. Our sins have been taken away--removed! They are not merely covered; they have been completely removed! Jesus said, “[I have not] come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) In other words, every animal sacrifice, every grain offering, every meal offering, the oil, the furniture, every law, everything under the Old Covenant was teaching of the One who would come. His name is Jesus. Every sacrifice was fulfilled in Jesus! Every law was fulfilled in Jesus! Our sins were removed and we have been reconciled to God once and for all! Our sins no longer exist in the sight of God. We now stand holy before Him, justified before Him through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:5-6:

Wherefore when he (Jesus) cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Jesus was not speaking from His humanity; He was speaking from His deity, and He was speaking to His Father. Even from the time He was in the cradle He had communion with His heavenly Father.

Hebrews 10:7-10:

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first (the old covenant), that he may establish the second (the new covenant). By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Thank God! Jesus came and died for us and has reconciled us back to God!

2 Corinthians 5:17-18:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

The root of the word “reconcile,” means “to bring peace.” No animal can bring peace between God and man; it could only cover things up for a time. Only the work of Jesus could reconcile us to God. We no longer need to cry out with Job that God “is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.” With the work of the cross, Jesus reconciled man to God while simultaneously giving us the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5;19:

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.

While Jesus was on earth, He was reconciling the world to Himself until His work on the cross was completed. While hanging on the cross Jesus declared, “It is finished.” He was referring to the fact that the Mosaic Law was completed because He had fulfilled it. Jesus then committed to us the word of reconciliation. The ministry of reconciliation is not presenting the problem; it is presenting the answer. Jesus took the problem to the cross.

Again, 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, "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." Notice, the same message Jesus preached while on earth, we are to also preach. Jesus did not condemn people for their sins; that is what men did. When the woman who was taken in adultery was brought before Jesus, her accusers said, "Jesus, we caught her in the very act." Responding to their accusations, Jesus responded, "Well,if you are going to bring up sins,let him who is without sin cast the first stone." All of the woman's accusers left. Jesus then asked the woman, "Where are your accusers?" She answered, "I don't know. They have all gone." Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." Jesus did not present the problem; He presented the answer. The answer is Jesus!

2 Corinthians 5:20-21:

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he (the Father) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus was judged for our sins once and for all. Sin is no longer the issue. The issue what you are doing with Jesus. Jesus died for the sins of the world, but He did not die to be rejected by man. Rejection of Jesus Christ is the one sin the Holy Spirit still convicts the world of; He convicts the world of their need of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If the Holy Spirit convicts man of his rejection of Jesus, what convicts believers of sin? Many believers believe when they sin and feel convicted inside, it is the Holy Spirit convicting them; but it is not the Holy Spirit; it is their own heart. Our hearts convict us according to what we have put in our hearts. If the Holy Spirit convicts us, everyone would be convicted of the same things. Why does one person say, "Well, I don't feel bad doing that" while another person says, "Well, I do!"

Romans 14:14:

I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

In the day Paul wrote this, the big issue in both Rome and Corinth was meat offered to idols. In fact, while Romans and Corinthians committed fornications to idols, they would burn and cook the meat then serve it at a restaurant. Christians would say, "We won't eat that meat because we know where that meat came from! It was offered to idols!" However, Paul's response to this thinking was "Wait just a minute. There is nothing wrong with meat and you know an idol is made with nothing more than human hands. You are not offering the meat to an idol. God created the meat. If you can eat it with a clear conscience, eat it! If you cannot eat it with a clear conscience, then to you it is sin. To someone else it may not be sin." Paul continued, "But don't allow your liberty to become an occasion for someone else to stumble."

If something doesn't convict you, don't flaunt it before others. If something does convict you, don't condemn others. The Word of God clearly defines sin. All believers need to avoid these things and ask for forgiveness if they do sin.

1 John 3:20:

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.

Do you know what this verse is saying? Your heart can condemn you over things for which God would never condemn you. Aren't you glad God is greater than your heart? Aren't you glad God has truly set you free? I am not preaching some kind of license to sin. I am giving you a license to serve.

1 John 3:21:

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God.

This is not referring to sins like adultery. If your heart does not condemn you in adultery, you need to examine your heart to make sure Jesus really lives there. The Word of God tells us certain acts are undeniably sin. Your own heart convicts and condemns you. Jesus has reconciled the world to God. He is just waiting for man to take His other hand--to be reconciled to God by his own free will.

Bob Yandian

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