08.01 Just What Do You Mean ...

8 - Reconciliation; Section 1 The Savior Of The World Series by J. Preston Eby 8. RECONCILIATION JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN ... RECONCILIATION! In the Bible there are a great number of words, phrases, and expressions that are especially significant in the creative and redemptive plan of God. One of the first such phrases was uttered by God Himself before ever He brought mankind into being when He said, "Let us make man in our image." This was the purpose of God condensed into about as few words as can be used. Then there were the inspired words of Isaiah when he prophesied, "Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given." Connected with this were the words of the angels unto the shepherds, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," and the proclamation of the Voice from heaven at the Jordan river, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Now God and man were united together in one body, never to be separated, never to be divided. And there were the meaningful words spoken by Jesus on the cross, "It is finished!" and then the wonderful words of the messenger at the tomb, "He is not here, He is risen." I am quite sure that no man as yet has ever plumbed the depths of those words or their meaning to all mankind. Innumerable works have been written, countless sermons have been preached, and many beautiful hymns have been intoned about the unsearchable riches of Christ and the unspeakable glories of redemption; but truthfully, no one has yet fathomed the depths of such glorious and awe-inspiring realities.

There are many other examples of such words and phrases, but one we want to consider in this message is the declaration of Paul in Colossians 1:20 "... by Him to RECONCILE ALL THINGS unto Himself." The full text reads, "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist ... and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled" (Colossians 1:16-17; Colossians 1:20-21). The word "reconcile" in the Old Testament means "to cover" or "to make atonement." The many sacrifices made upon the altar served to cover over the sins of the people, making a certain kind of peace between God and man. Yet under the limited meaning of the word "atonement" we do not have the complete answer to our need, for we need more than a covering over of sin, but a complete and finished putting away thereof, never to be remembered any more. "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year" (Hebrews 10:3). "But now once in the end of the world has HE appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). In Christ there is no more remembrance of sin, for HE brings forth a new creation life, old things passing away, and behold, all things becoming new. The dictionary defines the English word "reconcile" to mean: to unite; to bring back into harmony; to settle; to make consistent or compatible. The basic Greek word dealing with reconciliation in the New Testament is ALLASSO. This simple verb means "to change" or "to exchange" . From this verb comes the compound KATALLASSO which is translated "reconciled" in Paul’s epistles. Then there is an intensified compound, APOKATALLASSEIN, which is used in two places and rendered "reconciled" and "reconcile". ALLASSO is used in Acts 6:14 where Stephen is accused by false witnesses of preaching that Jesus of Nazareth would "change" the customs delivered to the Hebrews by Moses. In Romans 1:23 the apostle Paul declares that reprobate men "changed" (in the sense of exchanged) the glory of the creator for images of the creature. In 1 Corinthians 15:51 the apostle tells of a "mystery" concerning the resurrection when we are "changed" from corruptible to incorruptible beings. Again ALLASSEIN is used in Galatians 4:20 for a "change" of voice, and in Hebrews 1:12 for a "change" of garment.

KATALASSO is a word which had an interesting history of usage in secular Greek before it was taken up by the Holy Spirit for use in the New Testament writings. It early acquired the technical sense of money exchange or of changing precious metals into money. Later it expanded to include the idea of giving one’s life as a mercenary soldier in exchange for a small salary and adventure. Finally, in the Hellenistic writers, the term is found in constant use to describe the bringing together of individuals and nations who have been estranged. Have you ever received your bank statement only to discover that the balance therein was not in agreement with the balance shown in your checkbook? If so you know something about the Bible teaching of reconciliation! When the balance shown by the bank and the balance shown on your check stub are not identical, there is bound to be error on the part of someone. In most cases you have probably discovered, as have I, that the mistake was on your part - a simple error in arithmetic, or, perhaps, a failure to register a deposit or a change of one kind or another. At any rate it became necessary to "reconcile" your balance with that submitted to you by the bank. To do this you traced down the error, corrected it, changed the sum, and brought the figure in your checkbook into conformity to that given by the bank. The basic idea of reconciliation is, therefore, "to change thoroughly, to cause to be conformed to, or adjusted to a specified norm or standard." In the case of your home bookkeeping you found it necessary to adjust your check balance so that it "conformed to" the amount published by your bank in their monthly statement. In the case of Divine Bookkeeping there was found a necessity to have an adjustment made on man’s books which were out of balance with the Divine Norm or Standard. God’s act in bringing conformity of man’s account to the Divine Norm, by rectifying the "errors" (sin) that brought about the imbalance, was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How meaningful, then, these words of Ray Prinzing: "In the New Testament Greek we really find the depth of meaning for this word (reconcile), which is TO CHANGE THOROUGHLY. There can be no true unification without first a thorough change. Thus we are not seeking for just a present-time harmony, covering over the past, and hoping for the best in the future, but we desire that the Spirit of God, working within, shall bring a thorough change in us, and then we shall be united with our Lord. There will be no fear of the things we covered over rearing their ugly heads and distressing us again, making a break in our fellowship, for there will have been a thorough correction, and all things made new. Thus, we repeat, there must be a change before unification, ’for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness? and what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel?’ " (2 Corinthians 6:14-15) - end quote.