A Ministry of Reconciliation

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/30/healing-for-the-whole-world

As God reconciled mankind to Him through Christ, we are likewise called to a ministry of reconciliation to also reconcile our family, friends and relatives to God and between them as well. It is a role that we can never avoid since our Heavenly Father Himself is very much into reconciliation as He aptly demonstrated by sending His one and only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and defeated death by His resurrection and in the process gave us all the hope that we too can defeat sin and death by accepting Jesus into our lives. We ourselves as specific individuals, not generic mankind, now have a hope of glory that one day we will stand before our Redeemer although our skin may already be destroyed. On that day, we will all be with our loved ones again, those who had departed this world earlier than us. It will be the day of joyful reunion with God in flesh and our loved ones and our fellow saints in the ministry and kingdom of God. We will also get to meet all the prophets and apostles of old that we read about in the bible. The new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem in Revelation 21 will be the permanent dwelling place of God among His people, recreating Eden that God originally intended for mankind.

What’s our takeaway this morning? I believe as our Heavenly Father is a reconciler at the much bigger picture and the universe macro level, we must at the micro and personal life level be a reconciler at heart. Between colleagues and management, between our friends, between our siblings and our parents or among our siblings or among our parents – we must be the one with the reconciliatory heart to mend and heal wounds. If we are the salt and the light of the world, then we must always be the peacemaker. Make peace, rather than war. Thwart the evil intentions and plans of the devil. Don’t be the hotbed for the devil to divide and destroy the unity in families and among the brethren. Even in church or at our workplace or colleges and schools, be the one to heal and restore, be the one who brings reconciliation like our Heavenly Father did for us. If we are the ones wronged, forgive and move on in the Lord. Don’t dwell in the past and on our past hurts and disappointments. Let the Lord handle in His time. Let the Lord minister and heal us and make us whole again. He is our God and Father, He knows what’s best for us. Even if some consequences resulted from our own wrong decisions or incompetence, let God restore and heal us.

Let us thus reconcile others among us and reconcile ourselves to God if we had in some ways strayed from Him. Let’s all be ministers of reconciliation that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, in our lives and the lives of our loved ones, friends and our brethren!