JESUS, THE GREAT ACCOMPLISHER "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight." (Colossians 1:20-22) " . . . by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 17 of 32
Because man is prone to trace salvation to his own works, the Spirit labors a point which appears on the surface to be very obvious. Once men are reconciled to God, the devil goes to work to convince them the whole matter was of their own doing. If he can ever bring men to think in such a way, they will assign a lesser value to Christ than that which has been assigned to Him by God. Further, if that ever happens, the "power" required to save the person is withdrawn, for that power can only come through Jesus Christ.
All of this may seem painlessly simplistic, but that is not at all the case. From the very beginning the church has wrestled with the temptation to demote, as it was, the Lord Jesus, giving priority to other things. It is not uncommon to hear people assigning more preeminence to men, the church, a procedure, a work, or even to the Holy Spirit Himself, than to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this section of Colossians, the Spirit is laying down the foundation for sound spiritual thinking. He is establishing the borders of "spiritual understanding," and raising up the pillars of godly wisdom.
BY HIM I SAY
" . . . by Him, I say . . . " The "Him" is Jesus Christ. The One who is reconciling all things "by Him" is the Father – "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 11:31; Eph 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3).
It is as though the Spirit is assisting us to avoid focusing on the blessing instead of the Blesser, or on the work instead of the Worker, or upon the benefit rather than the Benefactor. The reconciliation has not been effected by us, but "by Him." It has not been made equipotent by a procedure, but "by Him."
Sometimes people trace their reconciliation to a point in time, ascribing the cause to a certain ordained response. Without demeaning any act of obedience, or any response of faith, the cause of salvation in all of its aspects is Christ Himself. It is He who caused the obedience to be effective, and response to bring the blessing. If God Himself is so particular about the role of Jesus, what possible reason can be adduced for men not doing the same?
Also, the role of Jesus is to be stated: i.e., "I say." It is not to be taken for granted, as though once a person knew this it is locked into the memory, never to be forgotten. Some people who seem to understand that once we are saved we are not always saved, appear to think that once we have heard we have always heard, or once we have believed we have always believed. Such suppositions are not always actually stated, yet are embraced by the mind. They are not true. The reiteration of truth is as necessary as its iteration.
The Spirit now elaborates on the "things" God has reconciled to Himself through Christ. He will limit the reconciliation to two domains: earth and heaven. He will not apply it to hell, or the lake of fire, or to things "under the earth" (Phil 2:10). The reconciliation will not reach into the "power of the air," which is occupied by Satanic forces. It will not remedy that heavenly defection in which a host of angels "left their own habitation," and therefore "kept not their first estate" (Jude 1:6). The sin that is remedied by the reconciliation came through Adam (Rom 5:12-19).
The Spirit does not assume that we know such things. Further, drawing this to the attention of our hearts will cause us to be the more thankful because we have been reconciled to God through Christ Jesus.
God has elsewhere stated that His purpose in Christ Jesus has to do with both heaven and earth, and the bringing of them together in a oneness that glorifies Him. "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him" (Eph 1:10).
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the reality of reconciliation.