You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. -Romans 5:6
To be reconciled means that we once were estranged, but we now have been brought together. That was the situation between us and God. We were not on good terms with God because of sin, but in Christ Jesus the sin was paid for, and reconciliation took place. Through Christ we are no longer at odds with God, but rather we have entered into fellowship with Him. We no longer come to God in fear, but in fellowship. All of us were totally unable to save ourselves. We lacked the strength and the power to do so. No matter how carefully and diligently we might try to keep the law of God we would fail at some point. We lacked the power to keep the law perfectly. Only Christ Jesus could accomplish this, and He did so on our behalf. Think about that for a moment; Christ came and did this for us for no other reason other than His love for us. No one coerced Him to go to the cross. Rather, He did so willingly out of pure and genuine love for us. Christ paid a debt on our behalf that we were unable to pay.
If you were to look up some synonyms for reconciliation you would find such words as settlement, understanding, squaring off, and resolution. Jesus did all of that for you and me through His redeeming work on the cross. He settled our account with God, He brought understanding between us and God, we were made square with God, and the conflict between us and God was resolved. We have been reconciled.
Many years ago when I was a seminary student, my father loaned me some money that I might have some needed repair work done to my car. After a period of time I saved enough money to repay the loan, wrote my father a check, and mailed it to him. A few days later I received a letter from my dad containing the check I had sent him. Enclosed was a note that said, "The money for the repair work was my gift to you. You need not pay me back. Don't worry about it - this squares us. Love, Dad." The debt I owed had been paid. The account was settled. We were square with one another. The debt had been reconciled.
What a blessing to be "square" with God through Christ Jesus. The debt has been paid. Jesus has seen to it that our account has been cleared, and we have been reconciled. In Christ we can move forward with the assurance that our Heavenly Father loves us, cares for us, and we are reconciled to Him.
