Restoration

Colossians 1:19–20 “In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

As I continue through a small Bible study through he first chapter of Colossians, the next verses comes to the blessed reality of salvation by Christ for the payment of sin. The lesson stated that, regarding His divinity, the Son of God was sovereign over the universe before He came in the flesh (read John 1:1–18). It is interesting, then, that Scripture also says Christ became Lord in His resurrection. Jesus was declared the Son of God in power, elevated to the Father’s right hand, and secured preeminence in His exaltation, which began when He rose from the dead (conquering sin and the devil). Apparently, we are to understand that though He was always the great King of kings in His deity, Jesus as the God-man achieved a lordship that could also fully include His humanity through His perfect life and His victory over sin and Satan through His death on the cross.

Such was possible only because His deity guaranteed the success of His mission, making it right for us to view the whole Christ, not just His divine nature, as worthy of honor as Lord of all. Colossians 1:19–20 gives us one of the clearest revelations of Christ’s deity in the entire New Testament — God in His fullness was pleased to dwell in Jesus. Aside from indicating that humanity in its “unfallen” state is good, this passage tells us clearly that nothing of God’s essence is absent from Jesus in the incarnation. He is completely and absolutely the Almighty, and anyone who rejects this truth has no share in salvation, for the Lord Jesus said plainly in John 8:23-24, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Ambrose of Milan, the ancient bishop who discipled Augustine, writes, “The Son of God so possesses His own glory that the glory of the Father and Son is one: He is not, therefore, inferior in splendor, for the glory is one, nor lower in Godhead, for the fullness of the Godhead is in Christ”.

Because He is Lord of all, no part of the created order will escape the benefits of His work. In Christ, God will “reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven”. Paul is not advocating a universalism whereby all people will be saved. Instead, he is teaching that cosmic reconciliation is the final end of our Savior’s work. Adam’s fall brought death to mankind’s spirit and ruined humanity’s fellowship with our Creator, but it also “broke” the cosmos in sin. Christ’s work fixes all this as well, and creation will one day no longer groan for its rescue.

Perhaps an easier way to understand what the Bible says about cosmic reconciliation is to refer to it as cosmic restoration. Though our Lord’s work redeems His people from sin and death, His accomplishment was so great that no aspect of creation can go untouched by what happened on Calvary. All to God’s glory.