An elemental consequence of sin is alienation – alienation between people, between humanity and creation, and, most profoundly, alienation between humanity and God (see part 2 of this series for more detail). And thus central to the project of salvation is reconciliation – bringing creation back to healthy, loving relationship, beginning with the relationship between God and his people.
In this episode we turn to this relational dimension of salvation and Jesus’s ministry of forgiveness. What we discover – I think – is not a God overflowing with rage, satisfied only by exacting punishment (as God is, sadly, too often described!), but a Father extending compassion to his beloved children. Just as Jesus heals broken bodies and broken hearts, so he heals the wounds of our own wrongdoing and restores the shalom for which we so desperately long.
This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), 9 February 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!
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