Having made peace through the blood of His cross

Colossians 1:18-2:7 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

He is also the 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, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹ And although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh 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 shifting 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.

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am supplementing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of His body, which is the church. ²⁵ I was made a minister of this church according to the commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶ that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints, ²⁷ to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me.

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. ⁵ For even though I am absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly manner and the stability of your faith in Christ.

⁶ Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Perhaps the greatest need of people today, regardless of ethnicity or social-economic status is peace. Fear, stress and anxiety are no respecters of any human condition or position. They affect and inflict people of every race, gender, ethnicity, age and social standing, and surely as we see the conditions around the world and in our cities and communities, there is much to be anxious about. The pharmaceutical industry pushes its millions of pills to ease anxiety. Other people self-medicate in countless ways.  Today’s text says:  He (Christ) is also the 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. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. True peace has no human solution. It is found in Christ. In John 14:27 Jesus says: “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.” In John 16:33 He says: “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  There may be no way to escape or avoid the difficulties and the circumstances of the world we live in, but in Christ we overcome them. Being separated from and opposed to God is the root of all fear, anxiety and tribulation. In Christ we are reconciled to God, and not only us, but all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

The text says: although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven… Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.  We need to walk in Christ and continue in faith, firmly established and steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel. We need to be yoked to Him and rooted and built up in Him. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need to be overflowing with gratitude.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says: In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  It is God’s will that we would be grateful, but also as we have a heart of gratitude, God will cause the circumstances we face to align with His will for our good. Romans 8:28-30 says: We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Even more, verse 31 says: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

May the rest of Romans 8 be our declaration and prayer as we walk in Christ and continue in faith:  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.