Reconciliation
“God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” - II C ORINTHIANS 5:19 [KJV] This phrase declares the ministry of reconciliation which God has given to faithful preachers. It declares the AUTHOR, MEANS, SUBJECTS, and CONSEQUENCES of that work. In the person of His dear Son, God was actually providing Himself a lamb, a ransom, and an atonement. He did not charge our sins to us, but to Christ, having made Christ to be sin for us. The word “world” does not mean that Jesus Christ effectually bore the sins of every son of Adam and reconciled every person to God by His death. If this be the case, no one would be finally lost. He reconciled the “world” in the sense that He actually redeemed a people out of every kindred, nation, and tongue, not of the Jews only (R EVELATION 5:9-12) . John Owen said, “If Christ died for ALL of the sins of ALL men, then ALL men would be saved; if Christ died for SOME of the sins of ALL men, then NO ONE would be saved; but in that He died