It is a tragedy that sin is in our world, but the fact of the matter is, this world is broken by sin, and everything that we experience is corrupted by sin.  However, I believe in three words that must be near to the heart of every believer, because everyone who has professed faith in Christ Jesus has experienced these words in their own way, their own time, and for their own sin.  Even the apostle Peter experienced these words from the mouth of Jesus, only days after denying that he even knew the Lord.

 Please read John 21:15-19

Reconciliation – is the process that we as humans engage when our thoughts and emotions are focused on the person of Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us, rather than upon the judgment of any person’s sin.  Truly He has shown us grace and mercy, and neither were earned, nor could they be earned.  When believers in Jesus remember that we all have fallen short of the glory of God, and have been found guilty of disobeying the Lord God, we will more naturally engage in humble interaction with those who have been caught in sin.  Jesus himself indicated that he was more interested in reconciliation than judgment when he met with Peter after his resurrection.  He asked Peter three times if Peter loved him.  Christ was displaying the Love that he expects from us.

Make Right the relationships that are corrupted by sin, and look with merciful eyes at those who, like you, have been found guilty of sin.

Redemption – At its core, redemption is the act of making valuable, something that has no real value.  If I have a token at a carnival, and redeem it for a ride or a prize, I have taken a trinket of implied value, and exchanged it for a unit of intrinsic value.  The same happens here with Peter.  Peter had sinned at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion by denying that he knew the Son of God.  By all human accounts, he was nothing more than a shell of a man who could never amount to anything, because he had dishonored the Lord at the most critical stage in Jesus’ ministry.  However, Jesus saw Peter in a different way.  He saw that Peter had a unique value that could only exist when viewed under the lenses of Restoration.  By engaging Peter in this discussion, Jesus, imparts a vision and passion for Peter’s life.  Jesus gave Peter a mission, and invested the Holy Spirit into Peter to ensure that such a vision could produce good fruit.

Speak Life into your relationships today, but acknowledging that when the Holy Spirit empowers us, we can achieve what the world sees as impossible. 

Restoration – The final stage in Jesus’s discussion with Peter was to reinstate him to a place of service.  This (in light of recent events) seems impossible to most, but it is the most important step in the process if we are to look like Jesus.  Jesus took the time to reconcile with Peter, redeem him to value in the Kingdom, and Restore him to a place of service to the Most High God.  Jesus had many followers, he could have used any one of them, but he chose Peter.  He chose peter to champion the message of salvation to the lost, and to show grace and mercy to those who had denied the deity of Jesus (Acts 2).  Peter would become useful to the Lord because the Lord reconciled with him, redeemed him, and restored him to a place of honor.  In fact, Jesus restored Peter to the place he had been prior to his deception.  Peter reassumed his service to Jesus as though he had never sinned, and that truly is the Amazing thing about Grace.  We have been made whole again.  Washed clean in the blood of the lamb.

Seek out someone who has asked for your forgiveness, and restore that relationship…as though there had never been a problem between you.