Col 1:21 | KingComments | STEP | In the previous verses the glory of the Son as Head is presented in two ways: 1. He is Head over the creation. 2. He is Head in the resurrection. You will see more glories which stand on the one side in connection with the old creation and on the other side with the new creation or resurrection. Similarly there are also two reconciliations: 1. One of the creation. 2. One of the believers (saints) who form the church ( ). Also there are two ministries which come from Him: 1. The ministry of the gospel that is preached to all creation. 2. The ministry to the church ( ). . First we read about the reconciliation of all things, namely the creation. Reconciliation is the bringing about of a relationship of peace where first there was enmity ( ). Enmity arose between man and God through sin. Man drew creation with him in his sin. Creation is still under the dominion of satan ( ). The Lord Jesus broke the power of satan through His work on the cross. The sin of the world will be taken away because of His once and for all accomplished work ( ; ). The results of His work will be seen when the Lord Jesus will publicly exercise His authority. Authority has already been given to Him in heaven and on earth ( ; ). Peace can come because all that caused disturbance is taken away. This peace was made on the cross and will be enjoyed in the kingdom of peace and for all eternity. That will mean a great relief for all that is now groaning in pain under the evil and corrupting power of sin under satan ( ). This peace is based on the “blood of His cross” which is the cross of Christ. The Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross. Peter calls it ‘the precious blood’ because it is the blood of a Lamb without blemish and without spot ( ). This basis is unassailable and holds its values for eternity. You can say this as follows: The basis of reconciliation is defined by the blood of the Lord Jesus, but the reconciliation of the things on earth and in heaven with God, still lies in the future. The reconciliation of all things of course does not mean the reconciliation of all unconverted people and of satan and his demons. They will not be reconciled but subjected to Christ ( ). It is all about the things on the earth and in the heavens, i.e. the material world. The doctrine of universal salvation is a gross heresy, a lie from satan. . The reconciliation of all things lies in the future. Nevertheless there are people who are already reconciled, including you. Praise the Lord for that. You have faith in the shed blood of Christ for your sins. Once you stood outside of reconciliation, you were alienated from it, and you were even hostile to it. This was expressed in the wicked works you did. . The Lord Jesus became Man in order that you could be reconciled. He bore your sins in “His own body on the cross” ( ). His death is the sure proof that He bore God’s judgment for your sins. Death, namely, is the wages of sin ( ). At the same time, however, reconciliation took place through Christ’s death. His death is the sure foundation on which rests the reconciliation. As a result you stand in the favor of God. He sees you as holy and perfect. Sin will no longer be counted against you. Nobody can bring a single accusation which can succeed against you. God, men and satan can find nothing on which they could lay their fingers. The death of Christ provided for everything. Christ stands before you as the perfect result of His perfect work in the perfect light of God, and indeed no flaw can any longer be found against this. The just claims of God have been fully complied with by the atoning work of Christ so that no question can be raised against its legality. . After the assurances faith offers, there comes an “if”. That seems to make the foregoing uncertain as though it depends on our commitment to have a part in it and to keep it. The power of this ‘if indeed’ however is that the chaff is separated from the wheat. The aim is to encourage faith and to condemn the self-confident nominal Christians. A nominal Christian professes with the mouth that he is a Christian. But he has never gone to God with a remorse for his sins. He had never accepted in faith the power of the blood of Christ for the remission of sins. You have part in the foregoing blessings only if your faith is true, and you truly belong to the Lord. You should say ‘Yes’ whole heartedly to this. You will provide evidence that you remain in the faith that came to you through the gospel which you accepted. What Paul says here is not to bring you eventually to doubt, but on the contrary to encourage you. You would certainly completely agree with Paul that faith is demonstrated by the fact that you are holding it, especially when resistance arises. With your faith you must deal with resistance, both by hostility from people and by the flattery of false teachers. If your faith is true you are “firmly established and steadfast” and you are “not moved away from the hope of the gospel”. If your faith is not true, that will show up. The hope of the gospel is not to be saved by the gospel but is Christ. The gospel is not a summary of a number of rules that you must keep; the content of the gospel is a Person. If you are connected to Him by faith you will not want to allow anything that obscures or hides your view of Him. This desire for Him is present in everyone who loves Him in truth. I do not doubt that it is so with you also. You have heard this gospel exactly as the Colossians heard it ( ). Paul became the minister of this gospel. The range of his ministry was the whole creation. The gospel is valid throughout the world and universally applicable ( ; ; ). His ministry was directed in a special way to all the nations that are under the heaven ( ), though he certainly did not exclude the Jews. In his love for them wherever he went he first preached to them from the Word of God ( ; ). But the gospel was not limited to the borders of Israel. It extended to the ends of the earth ( ). All creation under heaven was the range of Paul’s service. Here you notice the fact that Christ is the Head over creation. As you have read, it embraces all things in heaven and on earth. This, at the same time, is the distinguishing feature of the gospel. The words “under heaven” show that the gospel is not preached in heaven but on earth. The gospel is addressed to the people on earth and not to the angels in heaven. You saw the same distinguishing features by the two sides of reconciliation. The reconciliation of all things does not mean that all people will be reconciled. Only people who believe in the Lord Jesus will be reconciled. This happens at the very moment they confess their sins and believe that His blood covered their sins before God. Paul became a minister of this gospel. The Lord Jesus appointed him to this ministry ( ). Formerly he was a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church ( ). Now he is both a preacher and a teacher ( ). He preached the gospel to all people and instructed those who became members of the church by believing the gospel. His ministry to the church is mentioned in the verses following. Now read Colossians 1:20-23 again. Reflection: What do you learn about reconciliation in these verses?

‏ Colossians 1:21

Reconciliation and Ministry

In the previous verses the glory of the Son as Head is presented in two ways:

1. He is Head over the creation.

2. He is Head in the resurrection.

You will see more glories which stand on the one side in connection with the old creation and on the other side with the new creation or resurrection.

Similarly there are also two reconciliations:

1. One of the creation.

2. One of the believers (saints) who form the church (Col 1:20-22).

Also there are two ministries which come from Him:

1. The ministry of the gospel that is preached to all creation.

2. The ministry to the church (Col 1:23-25).

Col 1:20. First we read about the reconciliation of all things, namely the creation. Reconciliation is the bringing about of a relationship of peace where first there was enmity (Rom 5:10). Enmity arose between man and God through sin. Man drew creation with him in his sin. Creation is still under the dominion of satan (Jn 12:31).

The Lord Jesus broke the power of satan through His work on the cross. The sin of the world will be taken away because of His once and for all accomplished work (Jn 1:29; Heb 9:26). The results of His work will be seen when the Lord Jesus will publicly exercise His authority. Authority has already been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18; Heb 1:8-9).

Peace can come because all that caused disturbance is taken away. This peace was made on the cross and will be enjoyed in the kingdom of peace and for all eternity. That will mean a great relief for all that is now groaning in pain under the evil and corrupting power of sin under satan (Rom 8:22).

This peace is based on the “blood of His cross” which is the cross of Christ. The Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross. Peter calls it ‘the precious blood’ because it is the blood of a Lamb without blemish and without spot (1Pet 1:19). This basis is unassailable and holds its values for eternity. You can say this as follows: The basis of reconciliation is defined by the blood of the Lord Jesus, but the reconciliation of the things on earth and in heaven with God, still lies in the future.

The reconciliation of all things of course does not mean the reconciliation of all unconverted people and of satan and his demons. They will not be reconciled but subjected to Christ (Phil 2:10). It is all about the things on the earth and in the heavens, i.e. the material world. The doctrine of universal salvation is a gross heresy, a lie from satan.

Col 1:21. The reconciliation of all things lies in the future. Nevertheless there are people who are already reconciled, including you. Praise the Lord for that. You have faith in the shed blood of Christ for your sins. Once you stood outside of reconciliation, you were alienated from it, and you were even hostile to it. This was expressed in the wicked works you did.

Col 1:22. The Lord Jesus became Man in order that you could be reconciled. He bore your sins in “His own body on the cross” (1Pet 2:24). His death is the sure proof that He bore God’s judgment for your sins. Death, namely, is the wages of sin (Rom 6:23). At the same time, however, reconciliation took place through Christ’s death. His death is the sure foundation on which rests the reconciliation.

As a result you stand in the favor of God. He sees you as holy and perfect. Sin will no longer be counted against you. Nobody can bring a single accusation which can succeed against you. God, men and satan can find nothing on which they could lay their fingers. The death of Christ provided for everything.

Christ stands before you as the perfect result of His perfect work in the perfect light of God, and indeed no flaw can any longer be found against this. The just claims of God have been fully complied with by the atoning work of Christ so that no question can be raised against its legality.

Col 1:23. After the assurances faith offers, there comes an “if”. That seems to make the foregoing uncertain as though it depends on our commitment to have a part in it and to keep it. The power of this ‘if indeed’ however is that the chaff is separated from the wheat. The aim is to encourage faith and to condemn the self-confident nominal Christians.

A nominal Christian professes with the mouth that he is a Christian. But he has never gone to God with a remorse for his sins. He had never accepted in faith the power of the blood of Christ for the remission of sins. You have part in the foregoing blessings only if your faith is true, and you truly belong to the Lord. You should say ‘Yes’ whole heartedly to this. You will provide evidence that you remain in the faith that came to you through the gospel which you accepted.

What Paul says here is not to bring you eventually to doubt, but on the contrary to encourage you. You would certainly completely agree with Paul that faith is demonstrated by the fact that you are holding it, especially when resistance arises. With your faith you must deal with resistance, both by hostility from people and by the flattery of false teachers.

If your faith is true you are “firmly established and steadfast” and you are “not moved away from the hope of the gospel”. If your faith is not true, that will show up. The hope of the gospel is not to be saved by the gospel but is Christ. The gospel is not a summary of a number of rules that you must keep; the content of the gospel is a Person. If you are connected to Him by faith you will not want to allow anything that obscures or hides your view of Him. This desire for Him is present in everyone who loves Him in truth. I do not doubt that it is so with you also. You have heard this gospel exactly as the Colossians heard it (Col 1:6).

Paul became the minister of this gospel. The range of his ministry was the whole creation. The gospel is valid throughout the world and universally applicable (Mt 28:19; Mk 16:15; Acts 1:8). His ministry was directed in a special way to all the nations that are under the heaven (Gal 2:7), though he certainly did not exclude the Jews. In his love for them wherever he went he first preached to them from the Word of God (Acts 13:46; Rom 1:16). But the gospel was not limited to the borders of Israel. It extended to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

All creation under heaven was the range of Paul’s service. Here you notice the fact that Christ is the Head over creation. As you have read, it embraces all things in heaven and on earth. This, at the same time, is the distinguishing feature of the gospel. The words “under heaven” show that the gospel is not preached in heaven but on earth. The gospel is addressed to the people on earth and not to the angels in heaven.

You saw the same distinguishing features by the two sides of reconciliation. The reconciliation of all things does not mean that all people will be reconciled. Only people who believe in the Lord Jesus will be reconciled. This happens at the very moment they confess their sins and believe that His blood covered their sins before God.

Paul became a minister of this gospel. The Lord Jesus appointed him to this ministry (1Tim 1:12). Formerly he was a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church (1Tim 1:13). Now he is both a preacher and a teacher (1Tim 2:7). He preached the gospel to all people and instructed those who became members of the church by believing the gospel. His ministry to the church is mentioned in the verses following.

Now read Colossians 1:20-23 again.

Reflection: What do you learn about reconciliation in these verses?