2 Corinthians 5:18, commentary and pictures

All reconciliation begins with God and comes to sinners only through Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to bring them back to God. He joined humanity and divinity in one Redeemer, reaching the depths of human wretchedness in human nature while grasping eternity in His divine nature, and by His suffering, death on the cross, and continuing intercession He paid the debt of sin, upheld the law, and bridged the gulf between heaven and earth. Those who receive Him in repentance and faith at the foot of the cross are forgiven, no longer counted guilty, made new creatures in His image and restored to favor and fellowship with God. God then entrusts to every believer made new, not to ministers alone, the ministry and word of reconciliation to urge all people to be reconciled to God. That ministry is carried out by representing Christ's mercy and love in word and character, laboring with God to win souls, restore His image in them, and reconcile them to God and to one another.

Source in God Through Christ

All things are of God, and reconciliation originates with God and comes to sinners only by Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to save sinners and bring them back to God. Through Jesus Christ God brings fallen people back to Himself, restoring them to Himself and making them new. By His humiliation and sacrifice Christ completed the work of redemption and established the way for humanity to be reconciled to God.

In covenant with the Father, Christ represented infinite love in humanity by taking human nature, bearing temptation as man, giving His own life and tasting death for every guilty sinner, so that man might live through faith in His redeeming power. To reconcile us to God He endured the cross, despising the shame, and drank in man's stead the bitter cup mingled by sin, that He might put the cup of blessing to human lips. Thus whosoever will may come to Him and freely take the water of life.

The Bible sets out the plan of salvation by explaining how sinful people may be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. It lays down the principles of truth and duty for life. It promises divine help to follow them.

How Christ Accomplishes Reconciliation

Christ unites the human and the divine in one Redeemer, reconciling humanity to God through His human nature and reconciling God to humanity through His divine nature. His humanity reaches to the very depths of human wretchedness, identifying with the weaknesses and necessities of fallen man, while His divine nature grasps the Eternal. Through His merits and blood fallen people can be exalted and made partakers of the divine nature, bringing the finite into union with the Infinite.

By taking human nature He stood in Adam's place as the representative and head of the race, binding Himself to humanity forever and still bearing human nature before God through eternal ages. That taking of humanity enables Him to understand human trials and temptations as sinless angels who never knew sin could not fully share. As humanity's substitute and surety and sin-bearer He bore the punishment for sin, bearing the guilt of transgression and paying the debt owed to God's law by His own suffering to satisfy justice and uphold the law. The suffering He endured in hands and feet and side paid the ransom for sin and turns the cloud of vengeance that threatened only misery and despair into a decree to penitent believing souls to live. He came to redeem the world from sin's curse and the penalty of transgression, making forgiveness possible for those who deserve punishment to be pardoned through faith and return to allegiance to God.

The cross is the complete divine sacrifice and offering that makes reconciliation possible, where mercy and truth meet and righteousness and peace come together. There mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness are blended with equity and justice, joining mercy and forgiveness with unwavering justice and revealing the divine character. Without the cross man could have no union with the Father, no connection with heaven, no unity with the Lamb in the midst of the throne, no welcome for the wanderer returning to righteousness and truth, no means to overcome the strong foe, and no hope in the day of judgment, for every hope of the race hangs upon it. His death proves God's great love and is the pledge of salvation, and the Father with a father's relenting compassion looks upon the suffering given His Son to endure to save the race from hopeless misery and eternal death and accepts reconciled sinners in the Beloved.

His death upholds the unchanging claims of God's law and does not permit continued disobedience or give license to continue violating it. His trials and sufferings are to impress man with the greatness of sin in breaking the law and to bring him to repentance and obedience to that law and through obedience to acceptance with God. Christ imputes His righteousness to raise man in moral value with God so that efforts to keep the divine law are acceptable, and those who accept Him by faith receive remission of past sins. Through Him Jew and Gentile are united and share the blessings of salvation while He pleads for sinners without setting aside the law. He came just as prophecy marked out for the coming of the Just One and the manner of His coming, calling attention to the Father and teaching repentance toward God, so those willing to believe have sufficient foundation for faith. He came in humility and suffering rather than as expected, and those expecting a glorious king rejected Him.

Adam and Eve's transgression and disobedience forfeited all right to the tree of life and made it needful for Christ to come to reconcile fallen man to God by His own death. The words spoken from Sinai remain the conditions of life, and obeyed they will give man again free access to the tree of life. He bridged the gulf that sin made between God and man and between heaven and earth, bringing God's love and condescension to humanity and through His merits bringing humanity to meet God's reconciliation. He came to reveal the Father and give knowledge of God through the character of the Son, making it possible to understand God's character and purpose and man's relation to the Father. One with God, He gave up ease, riches, and life, left heaven's glories, laid aside royal robe and crown to come as a human child, entered humiliation and trial, humbled Himself to death on the cross, and set the cross between divinity and humanity to bring sinful people back to God, make them new after the Creator's image, exalt them with Him, and turn the rebellious into paths of righteousness. His righteousness bridges the gulf at the price of His life, bringing the world separated from God back into His favor and giving strength for each step along the path of purity and holiness.

Reconciliation is received only by prostrating oneself at the foot of the cross of Calvary in repentance, contrition, and true faith in Christ as the atoning sacrifice and propitiation, which leads to obedience to God's requirements. God casts down all who present themselves on their own footing, in their own ideas and way and strength, or lifting up their heads in their own righteousness, but to the contrite and penitent and humble He gives comfort, assurance, and joy to stand before Him and behold His face. Through repentance and the virtue of the cross people make peace with God and find Him a merciful Father reconciled to them. He continues His reconciling work as High Priest and Anointed Priest who ever lives to make intercession for every individual soul, pleading before the Father the perfect righteousness of all who accept Him. His sacrifice and intercession are the sinner's only hope while still on probation.

What Reconciliation Gives Sinners

Those reconciled are made new in Christ, made new creatures and renewed after their Creator's image, with the destructive tendencies of the sinful nature taken away. This new making comes because Jesus, one with God, took humanity upon Himself and humbled Himself to death on the cross so that sinful people could be brought back to God and exalted with Him, His sacrifice being complete and able to save fully everyone who comes to God through Him. God does not count their trespasses against them but forgives past sins received by faith, making Him who knew no sin to be sin for them and making them the righteousness of God in Him. To be so reconciled is to be clothed with Christ's righteousness.

The world that was separated from God is brought back into His favor and position and connected again with heaven to be benefited with all the treasures of light and knowledge coming from heaven. Christ's righteousness bridges the gulf between humanity and God at the price of His life. God restores fallen, sin-damaged people to their original relationship with Himself, bringing sinners to see their position, to surrender their will to His will, to have the soul temple sanctified and cleansed, and to receive power to become sons of God. In joining humanity to His divine nature He makes it possible for people to become partakers of the divine nature and to escape the corruption in the world through lust, laying aside royal robe and kingly crown to come as a human child and clothing His divinity with humanity so that humanity might embrace humanity. Those restored show by gratitude, sanctified life, and eagerness to serve that they are partakers of His nature, never covetous or grasping or selfishly striving for personal advantage.

Through Christ's righteousness communication between God and humanity is restored, and through repentance and the virtue of the cross repentant people make peace with God and find Him a merciful Father reconciled to them through His Son, the cross joining His mercy and forgiveness with His unwavering justice. His provision gives strength for each step along the path of purity and holiness. When the sinner kneels in faith at the foot of the cross and looks to the One lifted up to save him, his sins are pardoned and he may rejoice with fullness of joy. In that prostration he has reached the highest place and elevation to which man can attain. The Father with a Father's relenting compassion looks upon the suffering He gave His Son to endure to save the race from hopeless misery and eternal death, accepts reconciled sinners in the Beloved, and receives them to Himself through the merits of His Son to give them life, while the risen Christ still bears the marks of that suffering in hands and feet and side as He stands in the midst of the throne.

To be reconciled is to desire God's way above all things, to have His will plainly manifested at all times, and to do nothing from moment to moment but what pleases Him and promotes His glory. Self is put out of sight and dead, and the reconciled one watches for tokens from the Lord and listens attentively with mind and heart for His voice, directions, reproofs, and commands to know the way of His commandments, which is walking with God and standing before Him with humble ideas of self as a daily learner.

Ministry Entrusted to Believers

God gives those made new creatures the ministry and word of reconciliation, not contention and strife, entrusting it to the church to use received light for the world's benefit and blessing. That trust belongs in church capacity to every member and to every believer and not to preachers of the Word alone, calling for the cooperation of every human agency. Every son and daughter of God is called to this service of mercy, whether serving at home, in ordinary vocation, or as a teacher of the gospel in distant lands. When hearts are filled with Christ's love, even words of thanksgiving warm other hearts in need, and this is service all can perform that is accepted as offered to Himself.

That ministry carries the message that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting trespasses, with Him who knew no sin made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. As ambassadors for Christ those entrusted beseech the world with power from above, with power from on high, to be reconciled to God. The message of mercy is to be offered first to Israel and then to every nation, to Jews and Gentiles gathered into one church, so that all who come confessing their sins are freely received and may receive everlasting life.

The work is to labor together with God as His agents and fellow workers to win souls, enlightened by Christ who gave up ease, riches, and life and bridged the gulf sin made between God and man. It enlightens those ignorant and depraved, brings souls out of darkness into light, carries truth into dark places, makes God's love known, and teaches the perishing to believe in Christ as personal Saviour and wash in the fountain opened to cleanse sin. Through Christ the world was brought back into favor and position with God and connected again with heaven for treasures of light and knowledge, and that reconciliation leaves followers a work to carry forward to glorious completion by redeeming the time.

It is the work of restoring the moral image of God in the fallen race redeemed by Christ, redeeming those who broke away from allegiance, bringing them back and uniting them to their proper Center, and turning all their once-perverted powers to His service in aggressive good against evil. It is done by persuading men to be reconciled to God as Christ did for men's benefit, preaching the gospel of grace with the Spirit sent down from heaven. It does not mean settling temporal affairs and property disputes or directing people to earthly things rather than eternal realities, for Christ is the only remedy for sins and sorrows, curing selfishness at the root of injustice and hatred by giving the selfish heart of sin the new heart of love.

Practicing the Ministry Daily

Those entrusted with the ministry are to represent Christ's mercy, forgiveness, and love in word and work and character, revealing His reconciling work to the world by precept and example. They are to express appreciation for God's unspeakable gift, in which the whole heavenly treasure is included, and to manifest pure, unselfish benevolence that represents in actions the character of God. As channels by which the Holy Spirit communicates truth, they exert a saving influence and become a savor of life unto life. That work is to be carried forward to glorious completion by redeeming the time.

The ministry means seeking to benefit erring, tempted, and suffering people without first judging whether they deserve help, seeing even the most degraded as souls Christ died to save. The divine sacrifice on the cross, where mercy and truth meet and righteousness and peace come together, softens the heart and teaches the same mingling of mercy with justice. Those who correct the erring are therefore to keep the way of the Lord by mingling mercy with justice in correcting wrong.

The reconciling work includes at once settling error, disagreement, and variance between believers and coming into unity. Barriers are to be broken down so that heart is cemented to heart, with praying and conversing together instead of recrimination. Self-will and selfishness must die, that all may act in concert harmoniously as members of one body.

This restoring of the moral image of God in the fallen race redeemed by Christ is done in Christ's name and for the glory of God by following Christ's directions as Leader. Those who labor in it wear His yoke in humility of mind before God, dying to self and living to Christ as faithful stewards, and use varied gifts to bless humanity as His helping hand. United in one body under Christ with harmony in every action, they draw in even cords without friction, jealousy, or quarreling, giving room to fellow laborers. There is to be no jealousy over Paul or Apollos or Cephas, no quarreling with brethren, no measuring of brethren by one's own ideas, no following of human devising, and no fastening of the soul to a human leader.

Christ's mission reconciles people to God and through that to one another, bringing peace and brotherhood where its teachings are accepted, though its truths provoke hatred and conflict among those who reject them. By coming to earth in human nature He bridged the gulf between heaven and earth, revealed the Father, and made it possible to understand God's character and purpose. As Prince of peace He reconciles man to God, makes him understand his relation to the Father, and unites him with God and with his fellow man. In doing this He teaches him to see the poor and oppressed and suffering as purchased by His blood and valued as God's property, and teaches lessons that if truly learned right every wrong between man and his fellow man.

Success demands full conversion by the Holy Spirit, not half-and-half service of God and mammon, for to refuse full obedience and service is to rob God. Pure spiritual life comes only as the soul surrenders itself to the will of God through Christ, exercises faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and receives Christ dwelling in the meek and lowly heart. That faith brings communion with Christ, peace to the heart, and a path of self-denial and self-sacrifice. To be reconciled is to be clothed with Christ's righteousness, to desire God's way above all, to have His will plainly manifested, and to do only what pleases Him and promotes His glory, with self put out of sight and dead, watching and listening with mind and heart for His voice, directions, reproofs, and commands as a daily learner walking with God. Those reconciled contemplate Christ's sufferings and appreciate redeeming love, learn to manifest that love to men, realize the richest, purest joys of redemption, and show by gratitude, sanctified life, and eagerness to serve that they are partakers of His nature, never covetous or grasping or selfishly striving for personal advantage.

God has entrusted great light to the church for the benefit of the world and given it the ministry of reconciliation, which is to beseech men with power from on high to be reconciled to God. Believers are encouraged to pray for success with divine assurance that their prayers will be heard and answered. God makes the earnest worker effective by giving grace that reconciles people to Himself, so that when hearts are filled with Christ's love even words of thanksgiving warm other hearts in need, a service all can perform that the Lord accepts as offered to Himself. Contemplating Christ's sufferings, the reconciled press closer to Him in every temptation in reliance on His promise to be with them always even to the end.

This reconciliation came at the price of Christ's life, for His righteousness bridges the gulf and brings the world separated from God back into His favor. It calls for love, devoted service, and good works that lead others to glorify God. Doing the work means aiming high without hesitation in doubt and self-distrust, joining caution with aggressive action that discerns God's opening providences and moves at once so opportunities are not lost.

Christ's work was to turn people toward God by calling attention to the Father and teaching repentance toward God. His followers continue that work, devoting every capability to His service and striving to do good and be good, leading souls into all the riches of full assurance. They are to redeem the time and carry the work forward to glorious completion.