Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross

Colossians 1:18-23 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.

²¹ And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Paul speaks of the blood of Christ’s cross, on the cross Jesus said: "It is finished." (John 19:30) The finished work of the cross is the redemption from sin of all mankind who will receive it by faith. The finished work of the cross is also the reconciliation of man to God and the restoration of all things to the way God intended them. These three, redemption, reconciliation and restoration all have impact on past, present and future.

Redemption, Christ’s willing sacrifice for our sins, affects our past in that He died once for all. In Christ, through the finished work of the cross we are no longer accountable for our past sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ( 1 John 1:9) Redemption through the finished work of the cross cleanses us of our unrighteousness. It removes it completely. Through the redemption we have in the finished work of the cross we have a secure future. We have eternal salvation because we are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Because of that eternal security and the redemption of our past, we can live freely and confidently in the present. What is behind us can no longer hold us. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) We have the security of knowing our eternal future and the confidence that comes from God’s promise: "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." (Deut. 31:6) Jesus was forsaken on the cross; About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" (Matthew 27:46), He was forsaken so we will not be. Because our eternal salvation is secure we can, like the psalmist say:  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4) Even death is a mere shadow which holds no power over us, because we are redeemed in Christ.

The psalmist says: “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  The comfort and protection, the guidance we have because He is with us, is part of the reconciliation that we have in Christ. Reconciliation deals with our personal relationship with God. Under the old covenant, before the cross, man was separated from God because of sin. In Exodus 33:20, God tells Moses: "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" We now because of the finished work of the cross, are encouraged to: draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Because of the reconciliation we have through Christ, we can fellowship and commune with God. Ephesians 2:5-6 says:  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,    We have this access to God through Christ, in prayer, as we worship and even as we walk throughout our daily lives.

The restoration we have through the cross also deals with the present and the future. The future restoration of the finished work of the cross will be when Jesus Himself returns and establishes a new heaven and a new earth, the end of this age when God will restore all of creation to the way He originally intended. The present restoration that we have in Christ, is that we are restored to the position of authority and dominion which God intended from the beginning.  Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26) We see the restoration of this dominion given to the church in Matthew 16:16-20.  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”    Upon the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord and Savior, through the finished work of His cross, dominion has been restored to the church.

“It is finished” Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. Enable and empower me to live and walk in the fullness of the redemption, reconciliation and restoration of the finished work of the cross.   Amen.