5 Gifts Jesus Secured on the Cross by David MathisSample

## Gift 4: Reconciliation To Restore Our Best Relationship Ephesians 2:13 puts forgiveness at the fore: “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” At the heart of this bringing near is the reconciliation of humans with our Creator. Our sin and rebellion against God put an impassable chasm between us, but now, in Christ, the relationship is restored. Christ grants us personal access to his Father—access that we, born into sin, never could have secured. Paul is not just speaking on an individual level here. In the past, God drew near to his covenant people, then called Israel. But now, in the new covenant, he draws near not to a particular ethnic people but to all who receive his Son in faith—no matter how far away they have run. In fact, the phrase “brought near by the blood of Christ” gestures to what each of these divine gifts in Jesus’ blood does for us: they bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). Prayer What would you like your relationship with God to be like on a day-to-day basis? Are there steps you can take to spend more time with him?