Reconciled – Saturday, 20 January

^“17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 KJV

Too many believers don’t see themselves as they really are: completely new because they are now in Christ. Part of being in Christ is being reconciled to God. The Amplified Bible defines reconciled to God as making us acceptable to Him.  Reconciliation means that God is pleased with us and that He accepts us. The fruit of reconciliation with God is friendship with Him because we are reconciled with Him. We can now be friends with Him and have a good relationship with Him – we are reconciled to God means that we have been brought close to Him and there is nothing that hinders our connection to Him.

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
1 Corinthians 6:17 KJV

“But if you give yourself to the Lord, you and Christ are joined together as one person.”
1 Corinthians 6:17 TLB

When you become a Christian you become one with Christ – your spirit joined together with His and now you are united as one. In the Greek (the language this verse was written in originally) the word for one is heis which means one to the exclusion of any other. In verse 19 the Scripture tells us that our bodies are now dwelling places for God.

Here’s the point I want to make: far too many Christians are trying to get closer to God when they’re already one with Him – He is living in them. Geographically speaking you cannot get any closer to God than you already are – He is closer to you than the breath you’re breathing! He promised He would never leave you and never reject you (Hebrews 13:5). God is a lot closer than many Christians believe He is. If you listen to many people’s prayers and songs it would seem that God is far, hiding and reluctant to come close to us, but that is clearly an Old Covenant mentality. Through Jesus Christ we have been reconciled to God, we are now one with Him and He will never leave us or reject us!

But there is an area in which we can grow closer to God, and that’s in the area of intimacy with Him. All of us can grow closer to Him in intimacy – getting to know Him and growing in relationship with Him. This kind of getting closer to God has nothing to do with the Old Covenant mindset that many Christians have embraced today.

You cannot convince God to come closer to you than He already is. He is not hiding from you (or even for you). He is not far from you, even when you sin. He will never leave you for any reason. You may feel far from Him but He is not far from you. Don’t allow your heart or your feelings to deceive you – they are not based on truth. The Word reveals that He is always with you – He is one with you. You cannot be separated from Him. You may feel disconnected from Him, but He never disconnected from you. The distance you feel between you and Him is only in your mind – it’s not real. Accept the truth of the Word and stop following your feelings.

You are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. You are now one with God. Your body is His dwelling place. Nothing could ever separate you from God. Any feelings you have of being disconnected from God are only lies.