BE RECONCILED TO GOD
“God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, not imputing our trespasses unto us.”
—2 Corinthians 5:19
WHY IS RECONCILIATION necessary? Scripture’s answer is clear –because of our trespasses and sins. We read in our text, “not imputing their trespasses unto them.” The word “trespass” means to “fall aside from the truth” or “go out of bounds” and this makes us worthy of punishment. Because of the consequences of Adam’s sin, which is called Original Sin, every person born into this world, Christ excluded, has stepped out of the bounds of God's Law by rebelling against Him, and when we did so we broke fellowship with God. Isaiah 59:2-4, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”
ISAIAH TELLS US that the awful price of our sin is personal wickedness and alienation from God. Do you understand this? Many people today look at the cross of Christ and don’t see a great thing because they don’t understand the seriousness and wickedness of sin. But Scripture teaches that every sin is rebellion against God and it destroys our fellowship with God, the very Giver of life. Therefore, if we will escape the just judgment of God, which is everlasting punishment in the Lake of Fire, then we must be reconciled to God, and this is only accomplished by the work of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ –God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:18-19). It is through Christ that we are reconciled to God because on the cross Jesus was the payment for the sins of all those given to Him by the Father (John 6:37). As our text says, God is the Reconciler and He reconciles sinners to Himself based on Christ’s sin-atoning death and law-abiding life.
JESUS WAS THE substitute for all who trust in Him. He stood in their place in order that the multitude of their sins, which separated them from God and would have cast them into eternal punishment, would not be judged in them but in Christ on the cross. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The “us” in this verse refers to all who trust in Christ.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you trusting Christ? Are you among the “us” that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5:21? Scripture is crystal clear –Jesus, and NONE other, is our only hope of being reconciled to God. As we read in Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Therefore, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:19).
Tuesday Encouragement: May 12, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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ASCENSION DAY WORSHIP
Thursday, May 14, 7:00 PM
Hope Reformed Church
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A SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER…
Dear Christian,
May the Holy Spirit prepare our heart to worship the sovereign God in Spirit and Truth this Lord’s Day (John 4:24).
May the Holy Spirit fill our soul with His presence and power as we hear His Word and bow our knees in prayer and praise to our sovereign God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18, Col. 3:16).
May our hearts be flooded with wonder, love, and praise as we commune with God Almighty and one another as the body of Christ (1 John 1:3).
By the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word, may we fight off anxiety, discouragement, and depression, and every wicked, malicious attack of the Devil! (1 Peter 5:8-9; Eph. 6:10-18)
May the Holy Spirit cause us to keep our eyes focused and fixed upon Jesus so we don’t grow weary or discouraged in this fallen, sin-cursed, war-torn world! (Heb. 12:3)
May the Lord Jesus bless us to reflect upon His atonement, the inexpressible anguish, pains, and terrors that He suffered in His soul on the cross in our place so that we might have abundant life in this world, the beginnings of eternal joy, and the fullness of eternal life hereafter! (Isaiah 53:4-5)
May the Lord cause us to always remember that He fulfilled all the Laws demands for our righteous standing before our holy God (Romans 8:4; 2 Cor. 5:21).
May He bless us to proclaim the Gospel to ourselves every moment of every day so that we are never led astray by our remaining sin and the deception of Satan (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
May we faithfully sing, “To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has Done!” To Him be all the glory, honor, and praise!! (1 Peter 5:11)
May this be a reality in every believer's life so that Christ might be exalted in the Church and that every member of Christ’s church would press on in this fallen world with our hope fully fixed upon Jesus Christ! (Heb. 10:23)
Christ alone is the salvation of His people! (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
He alone is the Prince of Peace! (Isaiah 9:6)
He alone is our Rock (Psalm 18:2), Refuge (Psalm 46:7), Fortress (Psalm 91:2), and Defense (Psalm 62:2).
Only in Christ alone is there full, free, and final forgiveness of all our sins (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14).
Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim, “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” (Psalm 107:2)
In Jesus' Name and Authority, I pray! Amen!
—Pastor S. Henry
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