All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (ESV)

The heart of the gospel is the message of God’s deep desire to be with us.

It is through His finished work that Jesus makes it possible for us to receive this reconciliation with God. Being reconciled to God through Christ restores us to what was lost in the Garden.

Reconciliation means God initiated unconditional forgiveness toward us while we were yet sinners. God confronted our sin with the goal to end the enmity between us and Him. There is no more separation between God and us. This undeserved blessing is freely given to us and everyone. We are relieved from the fearful burden of God counting our sins against us. We can now live in continual friendship and fellowship with God because His Spirit lives within us.

The most important part of reconciliation is to realise that there is nothing missing or lacking in your relationship with God once you are in Christ. Living in union with Christ ensures we are accepted in the Beloved as holy and righteous.

Too often we undermine the presence and power of God when we say we can’t hear from God or feel God. It is easy to go astray if we wait for a feeling before acting in faith. Faith transcends feeling because it is rooted and centred in God’s nature and character. Faith is the commitment to remain in an intimate communion with God despite feeling the distance.

We are not only reconciled to God by faith, but we are also reconciled to each other by faith. These two always go together. There is a credibility gap in the gospel if we claim to love God but don’t love each other. Our reconciliation with God must connect us to a reconciled community and lead us to lead others to Him.

If we truly believe in the gospel, we will fully live for the gospel.