Four Steps to Reconciliation

Trevor S. Ferguson
August 1, 2010

2nd Corinthians 5:17-20 (KJV)
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;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

2nd Chronicles 7:12-14 (KJV)
12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

INTRODUCTION
Broken relationships have become exceedingly common in today’s society. Many people are at odds with just about everyone. Many marital relationships are “just existing”; there may be too many social ties – children, houses, etc – for them to separate, but there is no joy in the marriage. In many families parents and children only tolerate each other because they cannot reverse the genetic linkages. Some are ready to disown or disregard family members, others seek to alienate themselves. Sadly, for many of us our relationship with God is not any better than the broken relationships we just mentioned. We attend church services, participate in church activities, even lead in many activities but still we do not have a genuine or deep relationship with God. As Christians who are seeking to go to heaven however, we must seek to mend our relationship with God and also our family relationships. Today I would like to outline some basic principles which will help us reconcile our relationship with God and others and thus bring healing and harmony to our lives.

EXPOSITION
Reconciliation refers to an alteration or change in a relationship; specifically the restoration of harmonious relationships. Persons who were at odds with each other are brought back into harmonious relationship; persons who were at odds with God are brought back in harmony with God.

All of us were in conflict with God, but though the death of Christ the door to harmonious relationship with God is reopened. Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are past away, behold all things are become new”. This is achieved through Jesus Christ. Verse 20 suggests that although we have received reconciliation with God at salvation, there is need for continuing reconciliation – Paul now pleads with the Corinthians – "... we pray you in Christ stead, be ye reconciled to God". In 1st John 2:1, John reminds us that if for any reason we find ourselves at odds with God we have an advocate who will seek to ensure we are reconciled to God - My little children these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

How does the Christian obtain reconciliation?
A simple formula for reconciliation is found in 2nd Chronicles 7 - "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; the will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land". I find it useful to look at this as four steps: 1) Humble yourself; 2) Pray; 3) Seek God’s face; 4)Turn from our wicked ways.

Note that this was a promise God made to Solomon after his prayer at the dedication of the temple. This promise was contextualized as follows: "If I shut up heaven…, command locust to devour …, send pestilence …". One may therefore ask - Why would God do such things? The reasons are given in Chapter 6:24-30 – all related to Israel sinning against God! Similarly today broken relationships are the result of sin! Bruce Wilkinson in his book Secrets of the Vine suggests that often when we face adverse circumstances in our lives, it is God's way of bringing us to the awareness that we are drifting from where he wants us to be.

Today God wants to bring healing and restoration to His people; healing and reconciliation to broken relationships – relationships with family, relationships with friends, relationships in the church, relationships with God himself!!

How do we accomplish this?
We can find reconciliation by following this 4-step plan:
1. HUMBLE YOURSELF – admit that you are wrong, admit that there is a problem, accept that you need God’s help
2. PRAY – Prayer is the basic means of communication with God. Although God already knows our situation and knows our problems we must still come to him in prayer!
3. SEEK GOD’S FACE – desire real deep relationship with God, seek to know God him, not just know about him
4. TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS – true reconciliation requires a change of behaviour; if behaviour does not change then the relationship will be headed for disharmony again!! If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature …

CONCLUSION
As we reflect on the various relationships in our lives today, let us evaluate which relationships need reconciliation and apply these principles in order to restore harmony. Remember that it is God’s desire to be in a harmonious relationship with us and that we be in harmonious relationships with others.