"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." The
life of Jesus on earth was a life of love. A part of the angelic
chorus as it floated down from the skies, announcing the birth of the
Son of God, was: "GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN." Good will toward men was
everywhere manifested by our Lord in the life he lived and in the
death he died. In his life "he went about doing good;" and no part of
that good gave him deeper joy than to see sinners repent of their
sins.
The burden of John's ministry, by which the way of the Lord was
prepared, had for its keynote: "Repent, and bring forth fruits meet
for [corresponding to] repentance." When our Lord sent out the twelve
to preach, he charged them to say: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand." Right here I wish to impress your minds deeply with this
thought that repentance and reconciliation mean one and the same
thing; at least, there can be no reconciliation without repentance.
Reconciliation is repentance made perfect.
What keeps men in a state of enmity toward each other? It is pride,
self-will, and self-love.