A Christian friend was one day taking a walk along a pier that went far out into the sea. Some distance out he came upon two dogs growling at each other so fiercely that it seemed a fight was inevitable. One dog was bigger than the other, but they both bared their teeth and snarled at each other in a dreadful manner. My friend moved out to the extreme edge of the pier in order to get around the angry beasts.
By and by when he returned, the two dogs were nowhere to be seen. But looking over the edge of the pier he was surprised to find both had fallen into the water below. How different things were now! The dogs were both swimming for shore, and the big dog was swimming along side the smaller one as if to make sure he got safely in. Soon they reached the shore and walked up the sandy beach together-no longer enemies, but friends! They were reconciled!
When man sinned, sin put distance between him and God, for God is holy and cannot have sin in His presence. Not only are we sinners, but there is in our hearts enmity (or hatred) against God. Man proved he was an enemy of God, for when God sent Jesus, His beloved Son, into this world, man put Him to death.
However, God still loves man in spite of this enmity toward Him. He sent His Son into this world to save sinners such as we. Those who trust in Christ as their Saviour not only have all their sins put away, but that enmity against God is gone too. They have a new nature which delights to please God, and they can say, “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Man needs to be reconciled to God. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). But the world would not be reconciled to God, and the day is drawing near when God will “judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31).
Still God is seeking to save and bless sinners, and the Word says, “Be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
ML-07/04/1976