Reconciliation

When we left off last week, we were talking about how all things are held together by Christ

But more, we have been talking about how God has qualified us to partake in the inheritance

Meaning we have a portion, a share in this life in Christ

You notice the titled of the message is ‘Reconciliation’

Let’s talk about that word for a moment

1. καταλλάσσω (katallassō) – Reconcile

Meaning: Change hostility into friendship, restore a broken relationship.

Scope: Usually personal/relational (between humans or humans and God).

NT Examples:

Rom 5:10 – “While we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.”

2 Cor 5:18–20 – Ministry of reconciliation.

Force: Reconciliation in specific relationships, not necessarily cosmic in scope.

2. ἀποκαταλλάσσω (apokatallassō) – Reconcile Fully

Meaning: Thorough or complete reconciliation, bringing back into proper order.

Scope: Cosmic—not just individuals, but “all things.”

NT Examples:

Eph 2:16 – Jews and Gentiles reconciled “in one body to God” through the cross.

Col 1:20, 22 – God reconciles “all things in heaven and on earth” through Christ’s blood.

Force: Paul’s intensified form, stressing reconciliation that is final, total, universal in reach.

3. ἀποκατάστασις (apokatastasis) – Restoration

Meaning: Restoration to an original state, renewal, setting back into order.

Scope: Often cosmic/historical.

NT Example:

Acts 3:21 – “The time of the restoration (apokatastaseōs) of all things” spoken by the prophets.

Force: Not just reconciliation of relationships, but a structural renewal of creation.

Semantic Overlap

καταλλάσσω – relationship repair (personal, limited).

ἀποκαταλλάσσω – relationship repair writ large (universal, complete).

ἀποκατάστασις – order repair (restoration of creation, cosmic).

Shared Core Idea: All three speak of healing division or repairing brokenness.

Clement, Origen, and Gregory noticed the overlap: if Christ “fully reconciles all things” (ἀποκαταλλάσσω, Col 1:20), and Acts promises the “restoration of all things” (ἀποκατάστασις, Acts 3:21), then Scripture envisions not just some reconciliation but a cosmic, universal restoration.

There is a Hebrew term that conveys a similar idea, it is called Shalom, peace.

The Hebrew Bible consistently links shalom with Israel and:

The Nations – peace proclaimed to all peoples (Zech 9:10; Isa 2:4).

All Creation – cosmic harmony including animals, land, mountains, and trees (Isa 11:6–9; Isa 55:12).

Messianic Rule – endless shalom reaching to “the ends of the earth” (Isa 9:6–7; Ps 72:7).

All of that and we have not looked at the passage yet.

Because this passage, and one other in 1 Corinthians 15:28 “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”

Form what became the single biggest division in all of Christianity

Going back as far as 150-200 AD, a mere 100 years after Paul penned this letter

People understood this passage to mean one thing…

And around the 300-400s…

People got concerned about what this passage really means

And it setup a great divide between the Latin West

And the Greek East

Col 1:18-20, “And he is the head of the body, of the assembly; who is the beginning, firstborn out of the dead ones, so that he might become in all things himself holding first place, because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile fully all things into him, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.”

You can see that Paul has the idea of Shalom on his mind:

The Nations – peace proclaimed to all peoples (Zech 9:10; Isa 2:4).

All Creation – cosmic harmony including animals, land, mountains, and trees (Isa 11:6–9; Isa 55:12).

Messianic Rule – endless shalom reaching to “the ends of the earth” (Isa 9:6–7; Ps 72:7).

This reconciliation is:

Meaning: Thorough or complete reconciliation, bringing back into proper order.

Scope: Cosmic—not just individuals, but “all things.”

1. Augustine’s Reading (Latin West)

Narrow scope: “All things” = all that are reconciled, namely the faithful.

Key move: Augustine insists that “all” in Scripture is often limited by context (e.g., Matt 3:5).

Why: To preserve the reality of eternal punishment as taught in Matt 25:46 and Rev 14:11.

Result: Col 1:20 is not cosmic in a literal sense but ecclesial—referring only to believers.

Representative quote:

“When it is said that all things are reconciled through Him, we must understand this as all things that are reconciled. For the wicked, who do not believe, are not reconciled.” (Enchiridion, ch. 112)

2. Gregory of Nyssa’s Reading (Greek East)

Cosmic scope: “All things” = literally the whole created order, including every rational being.

Key move: God’s victory means that evil cannot endure forever; reconciliation must eventually reach every will.

Why: He interprets 1 Cor 15:28 (“God will be all in all”) alongside Col 1:20. To him, both demand universal harmony.

Result: Col 1:20 envisions the healing of all creation—heavenly, earthly, even those estranged in rebellion.

Representative quote:

“For it is evident that God will in truth be ‘in all’ when there shall be no evil in existence, when every created being is at harmony with itself and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Great Catechism 26)

3. Contrast

Augustine: Limits “all things” to protect the doctrine of eternal punishment.

Gregory: Expands “all things” to insist that eternal punishment would thwart God’s victory.

Augustine’s God: Saves the elect, leaving the rest in eternal hell.

Gregory’s God: Saves by healing until no opposition remains, so God may be all in all.

Col 1:18-20, “And he is the head of the body, of the assembly; who is the beginning, firstborn out of the dead ones, so that he might become in all things himself holding first place, because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile fully all things into him, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.”

Summary: Colossians 1:20 became a crossroads. In the West, Augustine narrowed its scope to the faithful, aligning it with judgment texts. In the East, Gregory read it expansively, aligning it with God’s ultimate victory over evil. The result: two trajectories of Christian tradition—one particularist (Western), one universalist (Eastern).

Remember when I said you have been qualified to share in the portion of the Holy Ones?

This is how that is done.

There are things on EARTH and things in the HEAVENS

What kind of things in the heavens needed PEACE through the blood?

We are so self centered, thinking the blood of Christ only has application to humans on earth

Yet, there was something that needed reconciliation in the heavens as well

Close out:

2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Reconciliation