Reconciled Love

The Ministry of Reconciliation 

Christine Nichols

Reconciled Love has the longest working history to date of more than one hundred paintings the Lord has given me. It was created in stages over a span of three years. The first stage was completed by prepping a 2 x 3' piece of plywood and painting layers of mint green, soft lavender, and iridescent gold then moving my hand with a large putty knife diagonally across the board like gentle waves rippling on the sea. I waited for more instructions, none came, but the Lord spoke the words, "Sea of Glass" over the painting. I was surprised by His words as I've always found that name in the Book of Revelation intriguing, but I never envisioned it like the abstract I had just done.

The second stage of the painting happened two years later, at an art workshop hosted by First Love in Le Sueur, Minnesota. The Holy Spirit had prompted me to take the "Sea of Glass" painting to the workshop. Before beginning to paint again, I prayed over the painting and sought the Lord's guidance on how to proceed. The Holy Spirit lead me to draw a heart and then added the swirly lines in hues of dark crimson, gold, purple and white directly from small paint bottles. Applying paint to piece in this manner was a first for me. It sort of had a Jackson Pollock look to it, but more refined than his famous abstract style.

Sea-of-glass-heart-swirly painting

Although the painting had multiple layers, a background, foreground and showed motion, it still didn't seem done to me and so I waited upon the Lord again. In the interim, God lead me to Digital Art as a new medium for the prophetic art. Just as in acrylic painting with a canvas and a brush, the Holy Spirit guides me through creative steps on the computer to achieve artwork that glorifies God and sends forth a message of His love. In fact, the Lord has been combining the acrylic art with digital to create new or finished pieces of art. Reconciled Love is a classic example of this collaborative media.

The last step began shortly after the art workshop with a supernatural yearning for the colors of rose magenta, crimson and vermilion. The color combination touched something deep within me and would not let me go! The color obsession mystery was solved several months later when the Holy Spirit lead me to digitally enhance a photograph of the sea-of-glass-heart-swirly painting. (That's a mouthful!) I could hardly believe my eyes when the green, purple and gold hues changed to the very colors I craved for months! The Lord showed me the name for the painting by leading me to Romans 5:1-11 and 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, both of which deals with God's love through reconciliation in Christ Jesus. Reconciled Love.

Reconciled Love - Christine Nichols, 2013

Scriptures for Reconciled Love

The Ministry of Reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God! 21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin[or be a sin offering] for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Romans 5:5-11

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 

All my paintings begin with prayer. I ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance from beginning to end - from choosing the canvas and paint colors to the last brush stroke. I pray that the Lord's message would go forth through the art and that Father God would be glorified. 

I believe all prophetic art has a message, but what the Holy Spirit speaks to me about a specific piece of art, may be different than what the Spirit says to you. Seek Him for a personal interpretation.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.

Redemption

Redemption

If you were to choose a synonym or phrase for the word redemption, what would it be? Atonement. Sacrificial Lamb of God. The Blood of Christ. Ransom for All. Purchased with a Price. Forgiveness of Sin. Justified. Grace. Deliverance from Sin's Bondage. Righteousness through Faith. Freedom. Eternal Inheritance. Peace with God. Adoption into God's family. Reconciliation. Choose one, choose them all for such words and phrases describe the powerful redemptive work of Christ on the cross as the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! John 1:29 & Revelation 5:8-14 There is no doubt in my mind, as the artist lead by the Holy Spirit, that this painting speaks of redemption through the blood of Christ for all who have faith to believe, and the painting also signifies the importance of the "sprinkling of the blood" explained in Hebrews 9 & 10.

Righteousness Through Faith - Romans 3:21-26

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,^{[*See note below]} through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance (long patience) He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. ²⁶ God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous^{[and acquit]} the one who has faith in Jesus.

<sup>*The Greek for sacrifice of atonement refers to the atonement cover (mercyseat) on the ark of the covenant (see Lev. 16:15,16). Learn more about redemption at Gotquestions and Studylight. Both websites include multiple Scripture passages. 

As I was preparing this blog, the Holy Spirit brought the song, "I am Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave to mind. I thought, "Okay...that goes along with the message of redemption," but it wasn't until I found two videos on Youtube where the lead singer, Mike Weaver, shared the story behind the lyrics that I realized how very applicable the song is to every Christian believer.</sup>  

^{Quote from video: "Real humility is simply agreeing with whatever He (God) says about anything. Over my life, as a child of God, as someone who has been ransomed by the blood of Jesus, when He looks at me, He says, "Redeemed.""}

Redemption - Christine Nichols, 2009

All my paintings begin with prayer. I ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance from beginning to end - from choosing the canvas and paint colors to the last brush stroke. I pray that the Lord's message would go forth through the art and that Father God would be glorified. 

I believe all prophetic art has a message, but what the Holy Spirit speaks to me about a specific piece of art, may be different than what the Spirit says to you. Seek Him for a personal interpretation.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.