For in him [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself [God] all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his [Christ’s] cross.
Colossians 1:15-23
Jesus, as the Son of God, was sovereign over the universe before He became Incarnate. But, Scripture says Christ became Lord in His resurrection. Jesus, the Son of God, was declared Lord in power, elevated to the Father’s right hand, and secured preeminence in His exaltation, which began when He rose from the dead. However, we must understand that Jesus was always the great King in His deity. Jesus, as the God-man, was crowned with 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. Today’s passage is one of the clearest revelations of Christ’s deity in the New Testament, “in him [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” This passage tells us clearly that nothing of God’s essence is absent from Jesus in the Incarnation. He is completely and absolutely God Almighty, and anyone who rejects this truth has no share in salvation. 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 Jesus 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 teaching that cosmic reconciliation is the final end of our Savior’s work. Adam’s fall ruined humanity’s fellowship with our Creator, but it also “broke” the cosmos (universe). People began hating each other, animals were set against us and other animals, pests and disease entered the picture, and even nature was thrown into upheaval — weather, earthquakes, and more now cause death and destruction. Christ’s work fixes all this as well, and creation will one day no longer groan for its rescue. Another 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. At Christ’s return, what is now broken in nature will be fixed, the redeemed will be free of sin, evil and, pain. And, we will have true dominion, all to God’s glory.
Source: S C Ball February 21, 2024
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