Alienated and Reconciled

 

When my two youngest grandsons were little, they couldn’t wait to see each other.  As soon as they got to my house, they were in the backyard playing in the sand box.  But it wasn’t very long before one of them threw some sand, the other one retaliated, and they were fighting.  Soon, one of them (usually Greyson) would come inside crying with the other one (Bennett) close behind explaining his side of the story.  They were (here’s the Bible word) “alienated” from each other.  There was no hope for their relationship.  But then Granddaddy would get involved with an FBI investigation.  I would ask some questions and determine how it all started.  Soon, they felt bad about their behavior, one toward the other, and they would apologize to each other and go back outside to play, best of buddies.  What did I do?  Another Bible word: I “reconciled” them.  They were at odds, but I got them together and restored their relationship to what it had been before the problem.  Hey, that’s what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.  We were separated from God by our sins.  We could do nothing to restore our broken relationship with God.  We were “alienated” from God.  But God, in His infinite wisdom, sent His Son, Jesus, to bring us back into fellowship with God.  God didn’t just overlook our sins; Jesus took our punishment on the cross, paid for our sins, and then “reconciled” us to God.  What Adam lost in the Garden of Eden; Jesus restored on the cross of Calvary.  We were “alienated” by our sins, but Jesus Christ “reconciled” us to God.  Paul said in II Corinthians 5:18, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ …”  Hey, have you been reconciled to God?  Have you accepted the substitution of Jesus on the cross?  If you haven’t, do it today.  Don’t be alienated; be reconciled ... be reconciled to God for eternity.