Reconciliation is more than just an end to conflict or an agreement to forget past offenses. It is the total transformation of a relationship such that what was once utterly broken is now fully restored, and what was once defined by hostility is now governed by love and established on peace. Once, we were enemies of God. We hated and spurned His Word and were given to evil, living only for our own interests and pleasures. Then, we were strangers and aliens, living under His wrath without hope or sense, cut off from His kingdom and His promises. But now, through the justification that is ours by the blood of the Son, our relationship with God has been completely transformed. For while we were yet sinners, we were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Now, separation and hostility have given way to fellowship and worship and bitter rebels have become beloved children through the power of the cross. This is the beauty of justification, the saving love of the sovereign God on display in the unconquerable gospel of Jesus Christ.