Probably the one benefit of the salvation that more people cite as a motivator for their salvation than any other is this one: Hell. God wants to take Hell out of your future. The removal of the horror of future eternal damnation in Hell removed is no more clearly seen than in the element of the gift of salvation called Reconciliation.

Why? Because reconciliation saves us from an eternal suffering to pay for our sins because we died as strangers, at war against, and alienated from, God.

This involves the one event that God promised would happen, warned everyone to prepare for-and yet it takes almost everyone off guard and by surprise.

That is of course death-and the judgment of God upon all who die in their sins.

Every second two people die somewhere on this planet.

May I remind you that this is the most frequently fulfilled prophecy of all? God says it is appointed for all humans to die, because all have sinned. So far other than two (Enoch and Elijah), every human that has ever lived has fulfilled the prediction God made. 

Have you ever thought what happens just one moment after death? So that we would know and be ready Jesus instructs us in His Word.

First, Jesus warns that the very worst thing that could happen to anyone is for them to die in their sins.

John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

Next, He lets us know that death does not end life, it just changes the location. There is no cessation of conscious existence.

2 Corinthians 5:6, 8 "So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."

Today we will study the final truth Jesus speaks of most frequently. He lets us know that the dead awaken from the momentary rest of death in a very real, very painful, very different place. The first thing that they experience is the inescapable reality that they will now have to live with the results of their choices.

So every second over and over again the prophecy of God's Word happens. People face death alone. People face death in their sins. People face death in horror, pain, and the endless punishment their sins deserve. So what has God done? He has left His personal family members on Earth to go and share the only way out of eternal disaster. That is the ministry of reconciliation.

THE GIFT OF RECONCILIATION-CRITICAL NEED

Because of our sin-we are all enemies of God; so we need reconciliation.

So Christ died to take enemies and make them friends-that's reconciliation! A Sinner stands before God as an enemy and is made a friend by His peace.

Romans 5:10" 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." NKJV

Have you experienced the wonder of friendship with God?