For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:13

Reconciliation is the restoration of a relationship breached by an offense by one or both parties. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden by joining Satan's rebellion against God, they breached the relationship between God and themselves and their descendants.

A relationship with God, sealed through the indwelling Holy Spirit, is a gift to mankind. A gift is meant to be a source of joy, peace, and happiness. A loving, godly parent-child relationship mirrors the relationship that God longs to have with his human creatures. He made us to be His children. Unlike the animals, we are specially created in His image to be loved in a way that isn't possible with an animal. It is a higher, purer, selfless form of love that looks for the best for the person being loved. It is the sort of love that God wants us to feel towards Him and each other.

Unfortunately, most relationships on Earth are marred by sin. Even among born again Christians, there can be strife. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us to teach us how to love with this godly love shown by Jesus Christ, who loved us so much and so selflessly that he was willing to die on the cross for us.

However, part of fellowship is that you do not deliberately offend the other party. Just as a loving earthly father punishes his children when they commit an offense against the family rules, God has had to decree punishment for every human being who committed an offense against His laws. Since sin is a sign that you are a part of Satan's rebellious kingdom warring against God's kingdom, even a small sin constitutes high treason against God. The punishment for that is death.

God so loved us that he sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to pay for our sins and make it possible to reconcile our relationship with Him. He has been calling for His children to come to Him ever since Adam and Eve hid themselves in the Garden of Eden after eating the Forbidden Fruit. He yearns for us to come back to Him and freely join His family.

God had no legal, binding obligation to do anything for any human being once Adam and Eve voluntarily joined Satan's rebellion against Him, but God is a Father, not an owner. He made us to be His children, and He can't simply turn His back on us as we turned our backs to Him.

Our Lord requires nothing of those who call upon Him for salvation but that they come to Him. He doesn't require you to go though rituals to "purify" yourself. Jesus paid the price to cleanse you at the cross nearly 2000 years ago. He doesn't require you to be a "nice" person. Even the worst criminal is covered by the pardon purchased at the cross. He doesn't require you to do huge numbers of good deeds to compensate for your bad deeds. You can't do enough to buy your salvation. It is completely free for you, but cost Jesus everything.

It sounds like an offer that is too good to be true. It is, but it is still true! No other "god" or "religion" makes such an offer. Other religions require all sorts of physical and spiritual exercises trying to perfect yourself. The problem is that you can never perfect yourself. Jesus Christ is the only one who ever lived a perfect life. Everyone else falls short at least once, and usually far more than once.

Christianity is just about the most mysterious religion in the world. In what other religion is the god willing to lower himself to become human, suffer what Jesus did on this Earth even though He came here to save us from our sins and ourselves, and to do it for nothing more than His love for the rebellious, sinful children who got themselves into this mess by their own choice in the first place?

Many Eastern religions say that man is just a part of a whole universe and should respect the animals, plants, dirt, and whatever else is around on a par with himself, then let children starve to death while sacred cows, monkeys, and rats thrive. They say the children are working off "bad karma" from past lives, and to interfere would mean that they would just have to go through the ordeal again in another life. Where is the love in that?

How about the humanist types of religion that revolve around glorifying man and raising his self esteem and self knowledge levels? You can meet some of the most arrogantly self-confident people happily praising their group's teaching and their success in achieving the higher levels of accomplishment, while leaving the rest of mankind mired in misery without a thought for their well-being. Where is the love in that?

Satanists and followers of the similar occultic religions glorify self and power and getting whatever you need, and then perform vain rituals to get what they want, sometimes including torturing or sacrificing infants and children. Where is the love in that?

Satan tries to lead humans astray by creating false gods for them to worship and follow. Ultimately, he would like everyone to worship him, which is why he led the revolt in Heaven against God. If he can't get you to worship him directly, he will try to get you to worship anything else besides God so that you will never rejoin the safety of God's family.

Satan has no love for anything except himself, not even for his loyal followers. He has proven that by leading them into their destruction in a futile attempt to make war against God. He shows his utterly depraved malice towards every other created being by trying to comdemn more living beings to Hell with him.

Christianity differs from these religions in teaching that a man should look out for the welfare of others ahead of his own. It teaches the sacrifice of the self for others, not its development. While we are not to despise or ignore ourselves, we are not to glorify ourselves above others but to use our talents to help those less fortunate than us. It is the Christians who have taken the lead in helping others through the establishment of hospitals, schools, aid programs, and other forms of assistance.

Clearly, it wasn't just Adam's and Eve's fault that we are living in the destructive societies we have had throughout history. Whenever a people live by God's ways, they thrive and prosper. Whenever they turn to their own ways or Satan's ways instead if His ways, they destroy themselves, their children, and others around them.

Jesus Christ showed that He is not only a faithful king towards God to lead the human race in God's kingdom by being faithful even to the death, He also showed that he is a faithful king toward us as well by loving us so much that He was willing to die for all of us to redeem us back into God's family even though we were still rebellious sinners at the time.

Jesus showed His love for all of mankind when He went to the cross to die to redeem us all. How many other religious leaders ever did that for you? Come to Jesus and ask for the free gift of salvation. You'll live with Him forever in Heaven in perfect love and joy and peace. Just pray this prayer sincerely:

Dear God, I'm sorry for my sins. I want to join your Heavenly family and I submit to King Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I renounce anything to do with Satan, his kingdom, and his ways. Please save me and adopt me as one of Your children. In Jesus' Name, Amen