The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Leads to Salvation and Reconciliation (Part 3): Reconciliation [Romans 5:6-11]

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

 

        Why is there a need to reconcile with one another after having conflicts and arguments? Can’t we just remove and forget people we are not compatible with as family members, friends, etc., and make new ones along the way? The answer to this is “absolutely no.”  The main reason for this is that we have been designed by God to love and receive love from others.  As each person is part of the body of Christ, all humans are meant to be connected with each other.  It is challenging to live without love.  I always received love, mostly, especially from my father.  After having conflict with my dad, and I usually deserve to get told off, he always reconciles with me a bit later.  He is not a firm believer like I am, but he illustrates God’s love.

We have explored the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the salvation we receive from Him spiritually, but what is the core reason of these? The reason that Jesus sacrificed His life for us is to offer us salvation through Him, but also to offer us the way to know and believe the Sovereign God, who is our Creator and Heavenly Father.  People had to carry the ark of the covenant wherever they went to stay in touch with God, and temples were the only place that the high priests could meet with Him and offer Him sacrifices to be cleansed of their sins and the sins of their community once a year in ancient times (Exodus 25:1-22; 30:10). 

However, as the temple curtains were torn when Jesus was crucified, God’s presence became available and accessible to everybody anywhere (Matthew 27:50-53).  Furthermore, Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit, who is also known as God’s Spirit and the Spirit of truth, to His followers to guide them on their journey with Him (John 14:26; 16:7-15).  The journey with Christ is knowing and believing in God through faith in Christ because Jesus is the exact image and representation of God (Colossians 1:15-23; Hebrews 1:3).  Although God is watching and looking after us all the time, we just need to set time aside for Him and spend time with Him through reading the Bible, God’s word, and through prayer, our conversation with God, even if it is challenging.  These are essential spiritual practices to grow in Jesus spiritually.

Meditate on 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, and ask yourself these questions: “Although I have been saved spiritually, am I truly following Jesus through reading God’s word and through prayer?” “How can I improve my spiritual growth in Jesus?”

 

The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Leads to Salvation and Reconciliation (Part 2): Salvation [Romans 5:6–11]

 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

 

How many of us got saved physically? I was not in any dangerous situation except two circumstances: I carefully walked when getting out of the car because of the edge of the cliff when my family and I went to one of the Korean churches, and I quickly opened all windows when I accidentally cooked instant noodles in a microwave because of the much smoke.  These come from basic and common knowledge.  Another situation that could have been dangerous was that when I was young, I was playing on the road, even while a car was trying to go somewhere, and my father quickly grabbed me and told me to go to the family because the car was trying to get out.

The theological definition of salvation is deliverance from sin and eternal consequences by God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ.  Sin has been originated from Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, and his consequence was separation from God (Genesis 3:1-23).  As the Hebrew term for ‘Adam’ is humankind, we naturally followed in his footsteps, even without us knowing.  Due to this, the second ‘Adam,’ Jesus Christ came down to the earth and sacrificed Himself for our sins.  The reason that only He could be sacrificed for us was that He was entirely both God and human (Romans 5:12-21).  As sin separates us from God and we have tendency to follow our desires, instead of God’s, we cannot ever done with sin, regardless of how many sacrifices we make, as our desires naturally creep back in.  In ancient time, high priests could offer specific sacrifices in specific ways to take their sins and sins of the many once a year (Leviticus 16:1-34).  However, sins could creep back in and high priests have to wait once a year to cleanse them.  This repetition shows that people are inadequate to be done with sin once for all.  Therefore, Jesus became human to take sins of the whole world away once for all. Although He was tempted, He could not ever sin because He was entirely God (Hebrews 2:14-18).  Overall, Jesus Christ has been our Lord and Saviour since AD 33 or approximately 2000 years ago, until forever (Romans 3:21-26).

     “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under             heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

 Salvation in Christ means eternal life through faith in Him.  Nonetheless, this does not only mean that we can just do everything we want and wait to go to heaven at the end of our physical lives.  We have to commit our lives in following Jesus, even if life gets challenging and tough.  The cost of following Him is to sacrifice our natural desires and devote our lives to God through faith in Christ (Mark 8:34-38; Luke 14:25-33).

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, and ask yourself this question: “Have I received salvation in Christ but have not been doing anything about it? How can I devote myself to God through faith in Christ?”