All things
Colossians 1:15-23
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
This is an amazing statement about who Jesus is – there is so much going on here that it is impossible in a few words to pull out everything – what I want to highlight is the number of times “all things” or “everything” appears – I have highlighted them.
The “He” of verse 15 is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the first born of creation (vs., 15) and the first born by resurrection (vs. 18) so that he might be first – primary – supreme over all things (vs. 18). His being primary comes from three things – a. through him creation came into being (vs. 16) – not just human beings, but all things; b. he is the thing that holds the creation together, he brings the order to the chaos, preventing the whole form flying apart (vs. 17); and c. In Jesus God is reconciling all things (vs. 20) which includes the good news being preached to “every creature” (vs. 23), this is not just human beings, this is all things, all creatures are being reconciled.
Because the creation has been broken, and in Jesus Christ the suffering of the creation, its groans or waiting, are being answered and reconciliation is taking place. All of creation is being reconciled, restored – the whole creation came into being through Jesus Christ and he is reconciling all of it – not just humanity, but all of creation.
Our vision of what God is doing in the world is often too small, too focussed just on human beings – God in Jesus Christ is redeeming all things.
PRAYER:
O Lord, our vision of what reconciliation means is too small, too limited, open our minds and hearts to recognize the length and breadth, the height and depth of what you are doing through Jesus in the reconciliation of all things. In Jesus’ name. Amen.