CROSS PURPOSES 4: RECONCILIATION
In this series of messages on the purpose of the cross, we began by seeing how the cross reveals the amazing love of God. Then we considered the cross as God’s ultimate answer for human suffering.
Last week, we took a deep dive into the righteousness of God: In the cross, God combined justice and mercy, so as to be “just and the one who justifies” all who trust in Christ.
Some preachers tell a parable to illustrate that God is “just and the one who justifies.” In the story, an offender stands before a judge in a court of law. The evidence is presented, and the offender is clearly guilty. The judge pronounces the verdict, and decrees the penalty required by law. Then the judge comes down from the bench, takes off his robe, and himself pays the fine or accepts the punishment. The righteous judge satisfies the demands of justice, while justifying the offender. Like God, he is “just and the one who justifies.”
Yet the parable fails to account for the public spectacle of the cross. If God needed to do something to be “just and the one who justifies” (as we saw last week), couldn’t he do it in a hidden corner of the universe, or in heaven? Why did the Son of God come to the earth, to die such a publicly humiliating death?
***Imagine a different story—a story of a father and a son. The father is a pillar of the community. The son had every advantage: a loving home, the privileges of moral training and good schools, and a future of great opportunities. Yet from early days he showed signs of rebellion. He goes off to college, where he chooses a life of immorality and debauchery. Feeling ashamed, he breaks off all contact with his father. After two years of failure in his studies, he drops out of school, and takes a menial job. Feeling hopeless, he begins to deal drugs. A drug deal goes bad, and a woman is shot. The young man is brought before a judge.
What does the father do with his wayward son? Does he accept the choices his son makes, justifying them by saying, “I am sure he has good reasons for his choices.”? Does he disown his son, to avoid the shame of being identified with such a lowlife individual? Does he wash his hands of his obligations to his son, saying, “He didn’t want my help before; he is on his own now.”?
No, the father—a pillar of the community—takes a walk of shame. As he exits his car, his picture is taken, for the news later in the day. He walks into the courtroom, and his son barely acknowledges that he is there. Yet the father stands in solidarity with his son, sharing the pain and shame which he does not deserve. Why is he there? He hopes that by his presence, the son might be RECONCILED to him.**
Sin is not only a problem of justice; it is a problem of a broken relationship with God. At the cross, God reaches out to us to restore a life-giving relationship with himself. The cross brings reconciliation.
Colossians 1:19-22 says, “God was pleased…through [Christ the Son] to RECONCILE to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were ALIENATED from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has RECONCILED you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation…”
Reconciliation.
HOW DOES THE CROSS RECONCILE PEOPLE TO GOD?
-THE CROSS RECONCILES WITH TRUTH AND GRACE
***In Dallas, Texas, an off-duty police officer killed a man who was sitting on the couch in his own apartment, watching TV. She was convicted of murder, and after her sentencing, the 18-year-old brother of the man who was killed was given a chance to speak from the witness stand. The young man said he was willing to forgive her, and he pleaded with the judge to allow him to come down from the stand and give her a hug. The emotional hug lasted for 30 seconds.
The story made national news, and some questioned whether forgiveness was too easy, for such an odious crime. Some sources neglected to report how the young man began his statement in the courtroom: “I don’t want to say twice or for the hundredth time what you’ve taken from us. I think you know that. But I just—If you are truly sorry…I forgive you. And I know if you go to God and ask him, he will forgive you.”**
Forgiveness is not ignoring wrong or making excuses for another person: the offense was real, harm was done, and the hurt does not go away easily. Forgiveness is costly, but it sets us free.
Forgiveness is a personal decision, which might be confined to our own hearts. If someone hurt you by betraying a confidence, you can choose to forgive them, for your own peace of mind, while resolving to stay away from them in the future.
Reconciliation is more difficult. To be reconciled with someone, the truth must be shared, so that both parties can deal with it. If a friend betrays a trust, the relationship can only be restored by confronting the truth: their behavior caused harm and hurt. Reconciliation requires mutual recognition of the wrong that was done, as well as forgiveness.
The cross displays the truth about humanity. Our sin is an offense against God. It alienates us from God, harms people, and destroys us. That is a hard truth, which Paul calls “the offense of the cross.” (Gal. 5:11) Yet it is a necessary truth, for reconciliation to occur.
***A skeptical theologian, an author of 22 books, made a name for himself by questioning biblical teaching. He was lecturing at a Christian college, and at the end of his lecture, he invited questions. Someone asked, “What do you think of the cross?” The lecturer replied, “If forgiveness was really necessary (!), certainly God could have come up with a better way.”**
The cross shows us that forgiveness IS necessary; our sin alienates us from God. The cross displays the seriousness of sin, and the cost of God’s forgiveness. At the same time, the cross demonstrates that God will do whatever it takes to forgive us and rebuild our relationship with him. God went all the way to the cross because there was no better way to reconcile us to himself, with truth and grace.
-THE CROSS REMOVES GUILT AND SHAME
The cross in the ancient world was the ultimate symbol of shame. Jews identified the cross with Deuteronomy 21:22-23, “If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” Greeks and Romans as well recognized death by crucifixion as the most degrading kind of punishment.
Why, then, did Jesus die ON THE CROSS? Paul speaks of “the offense of the cross,” and how foolish it seemed to people who did not understand what God was doing there.
***During the brutal war in the Balkans, a newspaper editor filed a report about the cruel treatment of Albanian refugees. A reporter asked him, “Can such a deep hurt ever heal?” The editor replied with a story: “There was a naughty boy whose father would hammer a nail in to a piece of wood every time his son did something wrong. One day, the boy asked why, and when it was explained, the boy decided he would behave better. Each time he did something good, his father would remove a nail form the board. Eventually, all the nails come out.” Then the editor added the moral of the story: “Yes, the nails were gone, but the holes always remained.” (Fleming Rutledge, “The Crucifixion,” p. 115)**
God freely forgives our sins, but what about the holes that remain? How do we deal with the scars of sin—the holes that are a blemish on our lives?
In Colossians 1:22, Paul says, “Now he has RECONCILED you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, WITHOUT BLEMISH AND FREE FROM ACCUSATION…” Instead of requiring us to fill every nail hole caused by our sins, God points us to the cross, where the nail holes are in the hands of our Savior.
Jesus took our shame—every nail—to the cross. Paul says in Colossians 2:13-14, “God forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
At the cross, our slate is wiped clean, and condemnation is eliminated. All charges against us, even the ones we make against ourselves, are dismissed. Our blemishes are fixed, and our shame is taken away. In God’s sight, and in the sight of all who understand what Jesus accomplished in his death, we are holy.
There is no guilt or shame at the cross!
-THE CROSS RECONCILES ALL PEOPLE EQUALLY
The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There are no plush seats, no VIP passes, and no skyboxes.
Colossians says, “God was pleased…through Christ to reconcile to himself ALL THINGS…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
Are only good people able to be reconciled to God? Is reconciliation only for those who are good at heart, trying their best, and not too far gone? No, Jesus said in Luke 5:31-32, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Are only religiously astute people able to be reconciled to God? Must they be like many of us: coming from a good home, knowing a lot about the Bible, and inclined to do what is right? Ephesians 2:13-17 speaks to gentiles, raised in a pagan culture: “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. He is our peace, who… in one body RECONCILES both [groups—Jews and gentiles] to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.”
Are only privileged people able to be reconciled to God? Must they be rich, attractive, smart, or successful? No, in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul pointed out that the cross was not as much for the rich and powerful, or wise philosophers, as it was for common people. Many in the early church were slaves.
The ground is level at the foot of the cross. All who come can be reconciled to God.
This changes how we see the people around us.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:16-18, “From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view…if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who RECONCILED us to himself through Christ and gave us the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION: that God was RECONCILING the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION.”
From a worldly point of view, we see…a coworker who is angry at the world…a scheming manipulator…a neighbor of another race, or different cultural values…a person living an immoral life…a boss who abuses power.
Through the cross, we see a person for whom Christ died, so that they can have a life-changing relationship with God.
God “has committed us the message of reconciliation” through the cross:
We speak God’s truth: Sin is evil, abuse harms people, and manipulation destroys relationships. Yet forgiveness is possible, and reconciliation can come by God’s grace.
We offer a way to deal with guilt and shame: not covering up the scars and blemishes, but allowing God to wipe the slate clean, and declare us holy in his sight.
We reach out to everyone in the same way, because the cross is for everyone. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
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Who needs to hear that message of reconciliation this week? Do you need to accept God’s truth and grace, removing the guilt and shame? Is there someone at work, or someone you don’t know too well? Is there someone closer to you, who by your words and deeds can understand the message of reconciliation, coming through the cross?
“We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God…” (1 Corinthians 5:21)
