"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:10).

The word reconcile means to change from enemy to friend. We were once enemies with God, but because of His exchange at the Cross we have become His friends. You might say, "I never did anything to be an enemy of God." It is not a matter of what you did. It was a matter of what race you belonged to. You were part of the race of Adam, the one who was disconnected from His Creator. You inherited this condition. I can also guarantee you that because you belonged to the wrong race that you did many things that made you God's enemy; you did sin. Perhaps you are one who knows that you have done deeds worthy to make you an enemy of God. Read on, this message is for you!

"Reconcile" is a powerful word. Strongs Concordance defines it "to bring back a former state of harmony." It is defined "to repair, to put back into working order, making peace between two opposing views or groups." "Reconcile" infers that changes have taken place, even exchanges.

When I reconcile my bank account, I exchange what the bank says is true about my bank account for what I had recorded and thought was the truth. When I adapt the bank's truth and adjust my records, my bank account is reconciled. We need to see the truth of the Word of God and what it says about God's attitude towards us, in order to enjoy reconciliation. If we continue to disregard what the bank says about our account that will not change the truth, it will only keep us from enjoying the benefits of it.

We, as humans and descendants of Adam, all have a need to be reconciled to God. His pattern was to be in close, intimate relationship with each of us. Sin has broken that relationship, and reconciliation was needed.

Why do you suppose it was God's plan to reconcile us to Him? I submit that the end goal for this and all of the other aspects of the Cross we have been writing about is friendship and intimacy with God. He desires to be close to you. He said in John 15 that we were His friends, not only His servants. That is a very foreign concept to many people, and is easy for even Christians to forget and to fail to nurture. Our "normal" position with God is intimacy.

We need to see God's heart when it comes to reconciliation.

Reconciliation on a human level is not adequate to use as an example of how God reconciles us to Him. Stories say more than doctrine. I would like to use the story told in the Book of Hosea, and show how that reveals God's heart when it comes to reconciliation.

Hosea was God's prophet to the Northern Kingdom sometimes referred to as Israel or Ephraim. The Southern Kingdom was called Judah. His ministry began just prior to 753 BC. Israel's spiritual condition at that time was at its worst. They had forgotten God. They were into greed and idolatry of all kinds, even Baal worship, which included gross sexual sin and pornography. Some of the things God spoke about them in their backslidden state were pretty bad.

Because there is no human example with which to compare God's love, I find this very difficult to write about; therefore I must simply allow the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to communicate with you at this time.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Hosea 4:6).

"Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone" (Hosea 4:17).

"My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God" (Hosea 4:12).

"They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the LORD" (Hosea 5:4).

"When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound" (Hosea 5:13). This was an indictment that they had turned to the world for their help.

"They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker--He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, Until it is leavened" (Hosea 7:4).

Here is where God's acts towards this horribly backslidden, adulterous people absolutely amazes me!

He appoints His prophet Hosea to speak to Israel through a prophetic act. Often God would go beyond having His prophets simply speak His message. Through a prophetic act He would convey a message so that the people would understand clearly what He was saying.

God told Hosea to marry Gomer, who was a harlot, and to have children by her. This act was symbolic that Israel was God's bride, and that she had slipped into spiritual adultery. I cannot think of anything as painful as this kind of treachery. I submit that it was extremely painful for God to see His loved one go into adultery with His worst enemy.

"When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: 'Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD'" (Hosea 1:2).

Hosea and Gomer had three children, all of whom had prophetic names, which further demonstrated God's displeasure with His people.

I am not sure what happened in their relationship after that, some think that Gomer had left and had gone back to prostitution; it is not clear. But whatever happened, God spoke to Hosea a second time to purchase Gomer for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. "Then the LORD said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.' So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley [totaling 30 pieces of silver]" (Hosea 3:1,2). By the way, this was the same price paid to Judas for the betrayal of Jesus.

God does not however give up on Israel, nor does He give up on us. God has faith in His own love. His love is what draws us, not His judgment. He sees that Israel will not be satisfied with their lifestyle, and He says in Hosea 2:7,8, "She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.' For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold--Which they prepared for Baal."

God knows that the process must include suffering, so He says, "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor [trouble, calamity] as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt" (Hosea 2:14,15).

Then God states his strategy to wait. "I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me" (Hosea 5:15). The love of God leads to repentance (Romans 2:4), but our repentance is a needed ingredient. When we compare our suffering to His love, the choice should become clear for us.

Hosea (I assume) prophetically says, "Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight [the third day being a prophetic picture of the resurrection]. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth." "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:1-3,6).

Now just attempt to imagine your capacity to love in this manner as God does and as Hosea demonstrated. It does not exist on the human level. Humans without God cannot love in this manner, nor can most even imagine it. I believe that there are many people who feel that they have done things that are beyond forgiveness. Others may feel like they must work with some sort of penance to earn their way to God, or back to God in some cases.

Read God's heart in this passage. "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror" (Hosea 11:8,9).

God is jealous over you! "THE SHULAMITE TO HER BELOVED Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame" (Song of Solomon 8:6). There is nothing so final as death or the grave. In the same way, there is nothing so final as God's love for you. If your heart is touched, now is the time to cry!

God is promising reconciliation with a harlot who at the present time does not really care much about Him at all. This is a one sided transaction. God is doing the reconciling, and Israel has little to do with it. It is the same with us. I have heard people describe God as "The Hound of Heaven." He does the searching, He does the drawing, he makes prophetic statements that eventually come to pass. Surely we as humans have our free choice. But about all we can do, is say "Yes."

Hosea chapter 14 completes the story.

Israel says, "Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.' For in You the fatherless finds mercy" (Hosea 14:3).

God says, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him" (Hosea 14:4). Remember the basis for this is propitiation, that is God putting His wrath on Jesus.

Then God makes a prophetic statement and says, "I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon" (Hosea 14:5-7).

"Ephraim shall say, 'What have I to do anymore with idols?' I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me" (Hosea 14:8). This shows God's strength in drawing people to Him. Once a person has "seen" God and His amazing passionate love, which is expressed in spite of his/her spiritual adultery, idols of every kind look like dung!

Marriages take place at altars. Altars are where things are sacrificed and die. Jesus went to the altar called Golgotha, the Cross, and on it He proposed to an adulterous people. He took the risk of consecrating Himself to us before we ever came to the marriage ceremony, while we were still "harlots." Jesus said, "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself [separate Myself for them for an intimate union], that they also may be sanctified by the truth" (John 17:19). Do you reader, now take this Jesus to be your lawfully wedded "Husband?" He has already said "I do!"

In order to reconcile us, God changed our spiritual race.

It is God's plan for two people to go to the altar of marriage, of blood covenant, before they become intimate. Scripture states that the two become one. Before godly intimacy, two people must change who they are through covenant. My wife and I became one at our altar of marriage. Through the blood covenant of Jesus, we both changed who we were spiritually. Our new birth with Jesus and our marriage to our spouses are the only two times in our history when we make a blood covenant change. This only succeeds however, to the extent that both parties have a right covenant relationship with Jesus.

Jesus needed to exchange races with us. The blood covenant exchanges races. Jesus was sacrificed on the Cross in our stead. Then He took the old race and went to Hell with it. When He was raised from the dead, He became a new race, and gave that to us through the new birth.

In order to have an intimate friendship with another being we have to be like that person. If we are not, we must be reconciled. Our friendship with a dog can be rich and rewarding, but we cannot gain true intimacy with a dog, unless by some supernatural happening, it was changed from a dog to a human. This is exactly what happened to us, we changed races from a sinner to a new creation in Christ. In this chapter we are going to examine some history, the history of what I call the "great exchange," God's nature for our nature. That exchange took place through the blood covenant.

Our exchange was a supernatural event!

When Jesus died on the Cross we were "in him" not outside of Him. He did not absorb our sin as taking something from a far off person. He absorbed our sin by the fact that we were in Him. That is the way He was made sin for us. In the same way we did not receive the benefits we have been discussing as a distant person receiving something through the mail. No, we have these benefits because we are in Him and He is in us. If you check these blessings in the New Testament, they are always accompanied by "in Him." Here is an example. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

If we needed to become the same species or race as the resurrected Jesus in order to have intimacy, then how did that happen?

Being in Christ is like our being in our father and mother before we were born. When we were yet eggs and sperm inside our parents, we inherited their history. Everything that happened to them, happened to us. Likewise, we inherited all things that happened to Christ at the Cross when we were born again. He was punished, we were punished, He died, and we died. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

If being in Christ is like being in your mother before you were born, let us see how far we can take that analogy to help us understand this unique idea. We have to admit that we must have all been in Eve. A girl, when she is born, possesses all the eggs she will ever conceive with. Eve was the very first woman, therefore we must have all been in her. Going one step further however, 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that God put us in Christ. "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus …" (1 Corinthians 1:30).

In humans, the sperm and the egg are separate, the egg already being in the "ground," the woman. In the plant kingdom however, the male and female factors are already in the seed, all the seed needs is the ground. So it is spiritually, we were born again from the seed of the Word of God. The Word contains both the male and female factors, all it needs is good ground, your heart. Jesus often compared spiritual seeds and His Word to the plant kingdom.

God put us in Christ, therefore everything that he experienced on the Cross and in the resurrection, we also experienced. If we were born again from the seed of the Word of God, which is Jesus, then we must have been "in Him" as we were in our natural mothers. Jesus was the "last Adam" meaning that He represented all mankind even as Adam and Eve did.

Look at it this way. When the seed, the Word of God, gave you the new birth, you obtained the benefits of being in Christ. How? Since the spiritual realm transcends time, you received eternal benefits, meaning that there was sort of a "spiritual time warp" and you went back to being in Christ while He was on the Cross. Remember our finite minds cannot grasp everything spiritual, but the Holy Spirit can show you these things. Ask Him.

Following are some of the exchanges Jesus made with us at the altar of reconciliation, in other words at the "altar of marriage vows." It is similar to exchanging vows in a human wedding. Many of these examples were taken from the teachings of Derek Prince.

1. Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven. (Isaiah 53:4-5, Ephesians 4:32, Colosians 2:13).

2. Jesus was wounded that we might be healed (Isaiah 53:4-5, Matthew 8:16-17, 1 Peter 2:24).

3. Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be made righteous with His righteousness (Isaiah 53:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21). (Romans 3:22, Romans 4:6, Romans 10:10).

4. Jesus died our death that we might share His life. (Romans 6:23, Hebrews 2:9, John 8:52).

5. Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing (Galatians 3:13-14, Deutoronomy 21:22-23, Deutoronomy 28:1-13).

6. Jesus endured our poverty that we might share His abundance (2 Corinthians 8:9 and 9:8). Sufficiency is just enough, abundance is more than enough so that we can bless others. Jesus was hungry, thirsty, naked and in need at the Cross.

7. Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory (Matthew 27:35-36). Hebrews 2:10 says that Jesus brings many sons to glory (not shame). We can receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit counteracts shame. Sexual abuse causes shame. We obtain the slavery mindset through shame. We obtain self-esteem problems through shame.

8. Jesus endured our rejection that we might have His acceptance with the Father (Matthew 27:45-51). The Father hid His face from Jesus and rejected Him for us. Ephesians 1:6 says we are accepted by the Father. People are hungry to be accepted, to feel as if they belong, as if they matter to someone. Only Jesus can give this. His Church is the place for belonging. Children need their father's acceptance. Love must be openly expressed. Divorce causes rejection (Isaiah 54:6). Jesus died of a broken heart. "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" (Romans 15:7). God accepts us in our sinful condition (Ephesians 1:3-6).

9. Jesus was cut off from the Father by death that we might enjoy God's presence eternally (Matthew 27:46, Isaiah 53:8, Hebrews 10:21-22, Jude 24, Colossians 1:27, Ephesians 3:16-20). Our need for emotional security is satisfied. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is available to give us God's presence (Acts 1:8).

10. Our "old man" (sin nature) was put to death in Him, that the new man (Christ's nature) might come to life in us (Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20). Forgiveness of sins is great, but doing away with the person that sins is far greater.

11. Jesus experienced our sorrows and bore our griefs that we might have gladness and joy (Isaiah 53, Isaiah 35:10, Isaiah 51:11). Death of a loved one, loss of some kind, pending disaster, overwhelming worry and sadness can cause hopelessness in your life, even a potential for suicide. The Holy Spirit brings us joy.

12. Jesus kept the law for us so that we could live by grace (Romans 7:6 and 8:1-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 3:1-3). Living by legalism is promoting the power of the flesh (1 Corinthians 15:56). It leads to frustration, failure, addictions, condemnation, and backsliding.

13. Jesus was tormented that we might enjoy peace (Isaiah 53:5, Philippians 4:7).

14. Jesus was made insignificant that we might have significance. He was sold for the price of a slave (Matthew 26:15, 1 Peter 1:18-19). The price God paid for us makes us significant.

15. Jesus was captured by the world, so that we could be delivered from the world, this present evil age (Galatians 1:4 and 6:14). The world has been crucified to us and we have been crucified to the world.

16. Evil was conquered. Jesus (appeared to have) suffered defeat by evil that we might enjoy victory over evil. The resurrected life of God was put into you the life that is able to defeat and overcome everything that is evil. Remember this when it looks like circumstances are overcoming you, they cannot if you continue to believe the truth!

Satan, the world, and your flesh will scream at you telling you that all of this is not true. Many Christians just feel that they simply chose this religion over another. No! You have been totally re-created; you died and were born again. Jesus did this for you so that you could be returned to the original plan for man, reconciled, and enjoy intimacy with Him.

Reconciliation has given you the overcoming life of Jesus. You can make it!