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Mike Pohlman
Senior Pastor of Immanuel Bible Church in Bellingham, WA
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About the Author

Mike serves as the senior pastor at Immanuel Bible Church in Bellingham, Washington. Mike is a former church planter in the Pacific Northwest, and served for three years as the executive producer of The Albert Mohler Program, a nationally syndicated radio show dedicated to Christianity and culture. Mike is a PhD Candidate in American church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writing his dissertation on radio and the American church during the period 1920 to 1950. Mike is husband to Julia and father to four wonderful children: Samuel (11), Anna (9), John (8) and Michael (3). When not pastoring, Mike loves sports, music, and hanging out with his family.

Monday, April 13, 2009 | 17:00 PM

The Cross and Reconciliation

For the last couple months I've enjoyed daily readings in Walking With God Day by Day by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. This devotional book is actually a compilation of excerpts from several of Lloyd-Jones' books thanks to the good folks at Crossway. On the heels of Easter today's reading seemed particularly meaningful:

On the cross the Lord was reconciling us unto God. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Christ had to pay this penalty. The law had to have its way, and He has borne the punishment. And because of that, if we believe in Him we are free from the punishment and free of the condemnation. We are reconciled to God, and the power of God takes over and delivers us from the devil and his cohorts and transfers us into the kingdom of God. That is why the apostle puts it like this in Colossians 1:13: "who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." That is how it happens. That is what was happening upon the cross. The devil thought he was defeating Christ, but Christ was reconciling us to God, defeating the devil and delivering us out of his clutches. He does it by paying the penalty and putting us right with God. The power of God comes into us, and we are born again, receiving new natures and becoming new people. The Holy Spirit is put within us, and Christ's presence is ever at hand to help us.

Be sure to check out our library of audio sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones at OnePlace.com.  

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