Peace Through the Blood. Colossians 1:20. Sin separated us from God and also caused disorder, dysfunction, and chaos in the created world. When Christ returns, this disorder will be eliminated, and harmony will be restored in the physical world. The principle has already been established through the death of Christ as the perfect sacrifice for sins and the severe consequences of sin in the creation, spiritual, and moral realms. These results will not be fully realized until people are reconciled to God.
The problem of enmity is difficult to solve. From the beginning, when God called Adam and Eve in the garden to face their sin, throughout history, mankind has refused to admit its guilt. For years, innocent victims like certain animals were sacrificed as substitutes for the guilty, covering sins that burden them. These sacrifices came from different creatures, so they only addressed outward appearances, not the mind.
But one came, in a manner fitting a real man, to reconcile God and humanity as only another man could. There was, and never will be, anyone who could bring peace so that the enmity between a Holy God and sinful man would end. He came full of grace, willing to pay the full cost of establishing everlasting peace by giving His life on the cross as only someone of the same nature could. Truth, with its demands for justice, was satisfied by Christ's shed blood for our sins. We have been redeemed by His precious blood, which testifies to the perfection of His person and work.
Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have made peace with God and are not enemies or strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's family. God never became mankind’s enemy by any action He took, but humans are enemies because of our sin and its nature in us, which gives us the right and responsibility to be reconciled to God through the choices we make. God never did anything wrong, but out of His great love for us, He sent His Son into the world, appearing as a man, to redeem us and enable us to be legally and forever reconciled to Him. “Christ also has suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God.”
Now, peace is possible between God and man. It is not limited to a few; anyone can come in repentance for sin and trust solely in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. As God's unchanging Word states, reconciliation happens because Christ reconciled with God for us when He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. We are responsible for being reconciled to God by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ willingly and gladly. Although sin remains a problem, a day is coming when the lion, the lamb, and children will be unafraid to play and be together. Peace has been established for all things through the blood of His cross. God will restore all things lost through man’s sin.
Christ, the Son of God, is exalted as the Reconciler of all things to God. It is God's purpose that there will be unlimited fellowship between man and God. To fulfill that purpose, the One to whom everything is subordinate, and in whom "all fullness" resides, has become the Reconciler of everything on earth and in heaven. When creation began, it started perfectly from heaven to earth, with "all things" established by God. Regarding the church, the obstacle that separated us was our sin here on earth. This reconciliation had to start with peace being made with God here on earth. This is what the Lord did when "He made peace through the blood of His cross."
In the creative process, the order of words in verse sixteen is “in heaven and in earth;” in reconciliation in verse twenty, reconciliation begins “in earth” and then “in heaven.” This demonstrates that separated things are restored to a former state of harmony through reconciliation with God. The blood of Christ, the Reconciler, has addressed the state of enmity. The enmity between God and man, as well as between Jews and Gentiles, has been eliminated by the reconciling work of Christ.
God's will was fulfilled through Christ coming to earth to settle the accounts between sinful humans and a holy God. The "blood of Christ," His sacrificial death for us, is the answer to the hostility between heaven and earth. The Lord Jesus Christ made it possible for us to be accepted by a Righteous God. The false teachers in Colossae were promoting other ways of approaching God. We understand that reconciliation was needed and was achieved here on earth, but it’s unclear what needs reconciliation in heaven. Perhaps this refers to what happened to “angels who kept not their first estate” and what occurred when they disobeyed and rebelled against God. Gnostics taught that angels, or unseen spirits, were necessary for people to reach God.
But in this discourse, Paul presents such a high view of salvation that anyone who compares the work of Christ with anything else or adds to it clearly lacks spiritual life. The Lord Jesus Christ, in His deity and humanity, is supreme in every way and aspect compared to anything others might teach. May we truly honor Him as Lord of all in our lives, as our Savior who has redeemed us and as the Designer, Creator, and Sustainer of all things. He alone is the Head of the church. No other person is the firstborn from the dead, the possessor of all fullness, or the reconciler of all things. Angels and men alike must bow before Him, who is Lord of all.