LS-50-Reconciliation

Reconciliation For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell; and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. And you, being in times past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before Him.--Colossians 1:19-22.

If any of us has ever experienced the sense of alienation from God because of sin, the first thought that will come to us from this great passage is the wonder of our own personal reconciliation to God through Christ. That is a precious truth, and we must never lose sight of it. Even though the sense of alienation was never very powerful, because we have been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and have never known the desolating experience that may come to those who are lost in sin, we may yet be conscious that the fellowship we have with God is ours because of the reconciliation wrought for us in Christ. In Paul’s mind the work of individual reconciliation is but a small part of the blessing brought to the world through Him in whom all the fulness dwells. God has reconciled all things unto Himself, whether on earth or in heaven. Wherever there is disharmony in the universe of God, He has chosen Christ to put an end to it, and to bring in the blessing of peace.

We have been impressed by the coming together in delightful harmony, of thousands of scouts from many races and nations. They are united in the great principles of brotherhood and mutual helpfulness. Such a gathering helps to break down the walls of separation between the peoples of the earth. Now that is what Christ has done a thousand times. Recall how the apostle visualised this great achievement, when he spoke of the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile as broken down. Those who had been far off were made nigh by the sacrifice of Christ, and the enmity they had cherished towards each other was abolished in Him. But did you notice in the text that the apostle’s thought is lifted far beyond, even such a work of reconciliation as this? There are things, in heaven, as well as on earth, that are reconciled to God through Christ. Now we do not know exactly what Paul meant by that. We do not know what things in the unseen world may need to be reconciled to God. But the thought is clear. The consecration of Christ in sacrifice is so effective that it will ultimately, put an end to all the disharmonies in the universe. All forms of evil, wherever found, will be overcome, and wherever conscious beings have been at variance with God, they will be reconciled through Christ, and be presented holy and without blemish and unreproveable before Him.

Such is the work of Christ which it is our joy to celebrate today.