"..let God change you.." 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (GNT)

Where did we ever get the indication or belief that God was angry with us? If Jesus is the exact representation of our Father God, it stands to reason that someone passed along the wrong message somewhere. 

Paul wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to make this message of reconciliation, which is the most prominent part of his ministry, be known if he didn't believe it were true. 

I believe that this is the reason that God did not dictate the Bible directly to us, He wanted flawed men through the years to write what they had heard and experienced so that we would question the veracity of scripture, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring truth and revelation to the forefront through our interaction with it.

Reconciliation comes with a responsibility to hear from God directly for ourselves, being guided by the scriptures, not limited by it.  It is when we place too much confidence in "sōlā scrīptūrā" (the scriptures alone) that we get into error and we worship the scriptures instead of Christ whom the scriptures speak about. 

The whole purpose of being reconciled to God is to become friends with Him, and as friends, develop a relationship that can withstand the test of time.

Knowing Christ is interpersonal and is developed over time. I have never had a relationship (worth keeping) with anyone where I did not go through the typical ups and downs of feelings and emotions to develop trust and confidence in that relationship. 

Relationships can be complicated at times because of our personal needs which are based on our experiences which can be either affirming or painful depending on our background or our origin story. 

It is essential to encounter Christ from the knowledge that He doesn't condemn us for our sins, our sins have been done away with, this puts us on a sure footing with God that is unshakable and immovable.  God is unchangeable, (or immutable), and that is starting place where we build our relationship with Him.

“Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.” 

James 1:17 (TPT)

Paul appeals to everyone, not just the Jews of his day or a select few that he was meeting with, the gospel is for everyone everywhere. 

Paul's ministry was specifically to those who were not of Jewish descent but commonly known as gentiles.  The word "gentile" is a Latin word for the original Hebrew word "goy" or "goyim" which refers to "peoples","nations", or "stranger" and is applied to both Israelites and non-Israelites in the Bible. (ref: Jewish encyclopedia)

He goes on to say that God doesn't keep account of our sins; we are the ones that tend to keep account of our fallen human nature. We also tend to keep account when people wrong us and hurt us and hold others to be responsible for our pain; God never does that with us. We also tend to condemn ourselves when we fail to live up to either our or God's perceived expectations of our behavior; again, God never does this with us. 

One thing that is often overlooked in this passage of scripture is that God lets us off the hook of trying to please Him. He approaches us as a friend and confidant. He does not make judgments about us, because sin has already been judged at the cross of Christ, He lovingly receives us as sons and daughters. 

Paul opens the door wide and declares that as friends of God we not only have an opportunity for a deep interpersonal relationship with Him, but we have been commissioned as ambassadors of this good news to tell others. 

Paul pleads with the Church in Rome "..let God change you from enemies to friends" which is his sole message in this letter.

We have been given freedom from our preconceived ideas from false notions that God was angry with us, and that freedom does come with strings attached, God wants us to stay in that freedom with Him for a lifetime, and the strings that are attached are His cords of love for us.

“I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lift a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.”  

Hosea 11:4 (NIV)

We can know Him and receive directly from Him affirmation and forgiveness if we confess and acknowledge this provision in Christ, it's that simple. 

We have the greatest gift of all, we have Christ, and He wants to live in us, and by love drawing us into a deep intimate relationship with Him revealing our need for a life filled with Joy and overflowing abundance.  

We also have a new identity; sons and daughters of God, overcomers, the bride of Christ, image-bearers, chosen, mostly according to the passage we are friends of God!

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett