Colossians 1.20-The Father Reconciled All Things in Heaven and on Earth Through His Son's Death on the Cross
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday May 31, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:20-The Father Reconciled All Things in Heaven and on Earth Through His Son’s Death on the Cross
Lesson # 26
Colossians 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (NASB95)
“And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself” presents the result of the previous statement in verse 19.
This indicates that as a result of being the full or perfect embodiment of the Father’s redemptive power and love, Jesus Christ reconciled all of fallen creation to the Father by means of His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
“To reconcile” is the verb apokatallassō (ἀποκαταλλάσσω), which means “to reconcile enemies, to restore a broken relationship to its former peaceful state.”
Here in Colossians 1:20, this verb indicates that the Father “reconciled” each and every inanimate and animate object on earth and in the first, second and third heavens through His Son Jesus Christ’s substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
It teaches the cross of Jesus Christ restored the broken relationship between creation and the Father who is holy to its former peaceful state.
This relationship between God and His creation was the result of Satan’s rebellion as well as Adam’s rebellion who were both the heads of their respective races.
Satan is the head of the angelic race in eternity past and Adam is the head of the human race.
The sin of both disrupted the former peaceful relations that existed between God and their races before their sins.
The infinitive form of this verb is a complementary infinitive which would indicate that this infinitive is identifying specifically for the reader what the Father was very pleased to have take place.
He was not only pleased to have all His fullness dwell permanently in His Son Jesus Christ but also to reconcile all of fallen creation through His Son as well.
“All things” is the adjective pas (πᾶς), which refers to the totality of inanimate and animate objects that are contained in the first, second and third heavens and the earth or in other words, that are contained in creation, which would include all marine life, bird life, terrestrial life, human beings and angels.
The adjective is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every thing” was reconciled to the Father through Jesus Christ’s substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
“To Himself” is indicating that the Father reconciled all of creation through His Son “for His own benefit” since by doing so He would glorify Himself and His power and love would be manifested by doing so.
“Through Him” is indicating that Jesus Christ is the intermediate personal agency whom the Father used to reconcile all things to Himself.
“Having made peace” is the verb eirēnopoieō (εἰρηνοποιέω), which indicates that the Father “made peace” with all of His fallen creation through His Son’s death on the cross.
The participle form of this verb is a participle of means which indicates that the Father reconciled all things to Himself through His Son “by making peace” through His Son’s cross.
It is defining for the reader specifically how the Father reconciled each and every thing in creation through His Son.
In other words, it is making explicit for the reader how the Father reconciled all things to Himself through His Son in that He did so specifically by making peace through His Son’s cross.
The expressions “His blood,” “blood of Christ” or the “blood of Jesus” that appear in Scripture do “not” refer to the literal blood of Christ but are part of a “representative” analogy between the physical death of the animal sacrifice in the Mosaic Law and the spiritual and physical deaths of Christ.
Therefore, in Colossians 1:20 “through the blood of His cross” is figurative language as part of a representative analogy between the physical death of the animal sacrifice in the Mosaic Law and the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross.
This prepositional phrase teaches that the blood of Jesus Christ, which is a reference to His spiritual and physical deaths on the cross, was the means by which the Father reconciled each and every thing in creation for Himself through His Son.
“Through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” is emphasizing that Jesus Christ reconciled all of fallen creation to the Father through His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
“Things on earth” would indicate that each and every animate and inanimate object that resides upon planet earth was reconciled to the Father through the substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross.
These animate objects would include human beings, the animal, insect and bird kingdoms on earth.
The inanimate objects would include such things as the seven continents and every type of body of water such as oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams.
“Things in heaven” would indicate that every animate and inanimate object located in all three levels of heaven was reconciled to the Father by means of the substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross.
These animate objects would be of course angels and the bird and insect kingdoms on earth.
The inanimate objects would include such things as planets, moons, stars and suns.
The reason why these inanimate objects on earth and in the first heaven, i.e. the earth’s atmosphere would need to be reconciled is that they are under the headship of Adam.
The sin of Adam and Eve brought a curse upon the earth and thus all the creatures living on the earth suffered because of their sin (cf. Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 8:19-23).
The reason why these inanimate objects in the second and third heavens would need to be reconciled is that they are under the headship of Satan whose rebellion brought a curse to these two regions of heaven just as Adam’s sin brought a curse upon everything on the earth and in the earth’s atmosphere.
Colossians 1:18 Furthermore, He Himself, as an eternal spiritual truth exists in the state of being the head over His body, namely His church who, as an eternal spiritual truth exists in the state of being the founder that is the firstborn from the dead ones. The divine purpose was accomplished so that He alone became the Preeminent One among each and every person with no exceptions 19 because He was very pleased to have all His fullness dwell permanently in Him 20 so as to reconcile through Him alone each and every thing for Himself. Specifically, by making peace by means of His blood, namely His cross-through Him alone, whether each and every thing on the earth or each and every thing located in the heavens. (Author’s translation)
So in Colossians 1:20, the apostle Paul completes this hymn he wrote in honor of Jesus Christ by teaching that Jesus Christ was the intermediate personal agency who reconciled all of fallen creation to the Father who is a holy.
He specifically identifies Jesus Christ’s cross as the means by which the Father reconciled all of fallen creation to Himself.
His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross reconciled all of fallen creation to the Father.
Reconciliation is God’s peace treaty with the entire human race (Rom. 3:23; 2 Cor. 5:17-21).
The peace offering in the Old Testament depicts reconciliation (Lev. 3; 7:11-38; 8:15).
The peace offering emphasizes the person of Christ.
The peace offering sets forth God as propitiated and the sinner reconciled.
The author of the peace treaty is God the Father (2 Cor. 5:18a; Eph. 1:3-7; 2:14-16).
Man was the enemy of God (Rom. 5:6-10; Eph. 2:1-5) and God the Father is the initiator of the peace treaty with man.
Man is totally helpless to make peace with God (Rom. 3:10, 23; 8:5-8; Eph. 2:1).
The Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of the peace treaty (2 Cor. 5:18b; 1 Tim. 2:5).
God offers the entire world a full pardon of their sin through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:19b; Acts 13:38; Eph. 1:7; 4:32b; Col. 1:14; 2:13; 1 John 2:12).
Every believer in the church age has been made an ambassador for Christ at the moment of conversion in order to communicate this peace treaty to the sinner (2 Cor. 5:20a).
The terms of the peace treaty is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31; John 3:16, 36).
Reconciliation is totally the work of God.
So Paul is teaching in Colossians 1:20 that Jesus Christ’s substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross were the means by which the Father affected a reconciliation with Himself and His sinful creatures, both men and angels.
These deaths were also the basis upon which salvation is offered to God’s sinful creatures.
Reconciliation is appropriated by the sinner through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
Those who refuse to exercise faith in Him do not benefit from this reconciliation and will experience eternal condemnation.