Reconciliation Accomplished

When you take this bread and wine, you are not only receiving God’s promise to forgive all of your sins, you are also receiving God’s promise to forgive all who seek His forgiveness. Here, God displays His willingness to forgive your dad for his harsh words. Here, God displays His willingness to forgive your husband for his unfaithfulness. Here, God displays His willingness to forgive your wife for her critical spirit. Here, God displays His willingness to forgive your children for their hard hearts and thoughtlessness. This week we witnessed an eruption of protests regarding the legal decision in Ferguson, MO. Regardless of the details of that particular case, we witnessed evidence that we live in a land still full of distrust, bitterness, and resentment. The gospel is the proclamation of reconciliation through the cross. And the cross is the reconciliation of all things because it is the proclamation of God’s wrath against all sin, every angry outburst, every lustful thought, every backbiting lie, every complaint, and at the same time, the cross is God in Christ entering into that pain, that loss, that agony and enduring God’s wrath, exhausting His wrath for it all. The gospel is the proclamation that God cares about racial injustice, sexual abuse, the oppression of the weak, the slaughter of the unborn even more than we do. And it is on this basis that we forgive those who sin against us. Our world desperately needs this good news that justice has been satisfied, that the truth has been told, that the penalty has been paid, that the agony has been felt. And because of the cross, we are not trying to make reconciliation happen. Reconciliation is already accomplished. Here at this table, we proclaim reconciliation finished. So as you eat and drink, do so in faith believing this announcement, the proclamation of this gospel and believe it for the brokenness in your life, in your family, in your world.