08.03 Reconciling All Things

8 - Reconciliation; Section 3 RECONCILING ALL THINGS

"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. 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 has He reconciled" (Colossians 1:16-17; Colossians 1:20-21). "And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to US the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given unto US the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

It is utterly impossible for any man or any creature on earth or in heaven to exclude himself from this most precious ministry - the ministry of reconciliation. Before the reader can shut himself, or any other man or being out from the application of this grace, he must prove that he does not belong to either the earth or heaven, or that he is not a part of the "all things" that were created by and in the Christ in the beginning, and that therefore he is excluded from being reconciled, since he has no identification with any of the "all things" that were created and that are being reconciled into the Christ. This he cannot do, and hence he must see that God is beseeching him and all to be reconciled! Every foot of this earth and every man upon this earth belongs to Christ, for He made the earth and He made every man. On that wonderful day when God created "all things" in earth and in heaven He also said, "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." Christ made every man and tasted death for every man, and therefore every foot of the earth and every man on the earth belongs to Christ my Lord, first by right of creation, and second by right of redemption. This leads us to look, for a moment, at the features which characterize this glorious ministry of reconciliation. First, let us mark God’s attitude. He is beseeching sinners. What a thought! It seems too much for the heart to conceive. The words "to sin" in either Hebrew or Greek mean, TO ERR, TO MISS THE MARK. It speaks of that which turns away from the true course, causing a separation by its own selfhood course. "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his OWN WAY" (Isaiah 53:6). Only think, precious friend of mine, of the Most High and Mighty God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, think of HIM as beseeching and praying you to be friends with Him! And more than that, to be unified with Him, made one in His life! It is not a question of your desiring to be like Him and your praying to Him and His hearing. No: but the very reverse - HE is praying you! He simply asks you to be unified into Him because He has made the provision at the cost of His own Son. Think of this. He spared not His only begotten and well beloved Son, but met the demand of divine law, made HIM to be a sin-offering for you, judged your sin in the person of His Son, opened up the fountain of the life-giving stream of His incorruptible life, in order that He might be able to reconcile you. And now He stretches forth His arms and opens His heart to you, and prays you to be reconciled - to be unified in Him. Surpassing grace! It really seems to me as though human language can only tend to weaken and impoverish this grand reality.

I would further suggest that the force of verse 20 is greatly weakened by the word "you," which, as the reader will observe, is in italics, showing that it does not appear in the original text but is supplied by the translators. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be reconciled to God." What an inexcusable error! The inserted "you" makes it as though God through Paul was beseeching the saints, NEW CREATION MEN for whom old things had passed away and all things had become new to now be "reconciled" to God! What an unmitigated absurdity! The word "you" doesn’t belong in the text at all. It makes it appear as though the apostle were beseeching the Corinthian SAINTS to be reconciled, whereas he is only setting forth the terms and the style adopted by all "ambassadors" for Christ wherever they would go through the whole wide world - the language in which they were to address "every creature" under heaven. It is not, "Do this or that" or "Give this or that," it was not law or ritual or ceremony or creed; but simply, "Be reconciled." The message, "Be reconciled" is not for saints, but for THE WORLD, for "God was in Christ reconciling T-H-E W-O-R-L-D unto Himself, not imputing THEIR (not our) trespasses unto THEM (not us); and has committed unto US (the saints, now) the ministry of reconciliation." The next verse, purged of the erroneous "you," then declares, "Now then WE are ambassadors for Christ, as though GOD DID BESEECH BY US: WE PRAY IN CHRIST’S STEAD, BE (the world) reconciled to God."

Consider now Colossians 1:16 from the Emphatic Diaglott: "Because IN Him were created ALL THINGS, those in the heavens and those on the earth; the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships, or governments, or authorities; ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM." The King James version says that all things were created BY Him, but the more literal Diaglott says that all things were created IN HIM. Paul is here speaking of God as the Creator and as creating everything IN THE SON.

I must emphasize that God is the Creator of ALL THINGS. Notice the things that the inspired apostle includes in creation. ALL things in the heavens, or all things that are in and constitute the RULING ELEMENT - "the heavens do rule" (Daniel 4:26). ALL the things on the earth, or all things that are in or constitute those elements which are ruled, or under authority. ALL things that are visible, or that are discernible to the physical senses - ALL that the eyes can see, ALL that the ears can hear, ALL that we can touch, feel, taste or smell - has been created by God. ALL things that are invisible were created by our God - ALL the wisdom, ALL the knowledge, yea, even that which has not yet been tapped or conceived of by the mind of man - GOD CREATED. ALL of the myriad machines and devices that shall yet come out of the mind of man, were created by God. ALL of the vast forces and powers and universal laws that science has not yet discovered, were created by God. ALL the thrones, and the glory and the power of those who occupy them, were created by God. ALL the dominions or lordships, the mastery and the supremacy, were created by God. ALL the principalities and powers, angels, intelligences, chief ones, in heaven and in earth, were created by God. And it is not just the fact that all of these were created by God that startles us the most, but it goes on to say that BY THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS ALL THESE THINGS ARE RECONCILED TO GOD IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. This implies that the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms needed reconciling and are reconciled by the blood of God’s Son. This is why the redeemer was both a HEAVENLY BEING and an EARTHLY BEING. He was the Word from heaven made flesh upon earth, heaven and earth blended into one, so that the Son could say, "No man has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13). Praise God, even the principalities and powers IN THE HEAVENS are included in the glorious reconciliation and peace secured by the blood of His cross, the Man who was from heaven, born on earth, reconciling both realms into one IN HIMSELF. Glory!

If God be the Creator of ALL THINGS, then it must of necessity follow that GOD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL THINGS. We read in Romans 11:36, from the Diaglott, "Because OUT of HIM, and THROUGH HIM, and FOR HIM are ALL THINGS, to Him be the glory for the ages, Amen." All things are out of God, all things are through Him, all things are for Him, and all things are unto Him, ending in Him. The clearest possible rendering is given by Goodspeed, "For from Him everything comes; through Him everything exists; and in Him everything ends! Glory to Him for ever! Amen." The Amplified Bible also expresses it beautifully, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. - For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to CONSUMMATE AND TO END IN HIM. To Him be glory for ever! Amen - so be it."

Some misguided individuals have argued that the reconciliation of all "things" does not mean men or beings. But, pray tell me, what "things" in the whole vast universe, apart from men and other creatures, are described in the Word of God as "enemies" of God, "alienated" from God, "blasphemers" of God, "haters" of God, etc. in need of reconciliation? These are not mere "offices" or "governmental positions" for they carry the qualities of personality and being. And it is an important and incontrovertible fact that the Colossians were themselves part of the "all things" to be reconciled! "... by Him to reconcile all things to Himself ... and YOU, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked words, YET N-O-W has He reconciled" (Colossians 1:20-21). The internal evidence within these verses demonstrates beyond question that the "all things" to be reconciled are LIVING CREATURES. That persons is meant is clear to all except those who do always resist the Holy Ghost, ever searching for some excuse not to embrace the all-inclusive scope of God’s reconciliation. To say that "things" is not persons, or that "all things" does not include all persons is to violate the whole testimony of the Scriptures. Of course ALL THINGS includes ALL PEOPLE! Numerous passages could be cited, but I share only two briefly, to establish the point. "Therefore let no man glory in men. For ALL THINGS are yours; whether PAUL, or APOLLOS, or CEPHAS, or THE WORLD, or LIFE, or DEATH, or THINGS PRESENT, or THINGS TO COME; ALL are yours" (1 Corinthians 3:21-22). It should be clear to anyone that people - Paul, Apollos, and Cephas - are among the ALL THINGS that Paul enumerates as belonging to the saints. Such other items as "the world" and "life" and "death" are included with them as "things." No less illustrious a personage than our blessed Lord Jesus Christ is called in Scripture a "thing." "The angel answered and said unto her ... that HOLY THING which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). It is deceitful to say that "all things" is something other than people! Paul was teaching us and all who have ears to hear that there is coming a time of UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION in which all things - all men, and every created spirit, whether they be in heaven or on earth, whether they be visible or invisible - shall abide in the conscious awareness of having been wonderfully and gloriously CONCILIATED TO GOD!