For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20

Human beings are in need of a lot of reconciliation.  It’s is a beautiful and relief-giving concept that sees things being put back together again, made right.  Husbands and wives need reconciliation; siblings that haven’t spoken in decades need reconciliation. Beyond that, nations, communities, and peoples need this healing. Simply put, all creation groans to be put back together.

Our first and foremost need is to be reconciled to God.  Our sin, my sin, caused estrangement from God, a cutting off of relationship. But God still loved, He still wanted me and you and His fallen creation.  The Bible book of Colossians 1 tells us that all things, on earth or in heaven, are reconciled by peace through Jesus’ willingness to bleed to death on a wooden cross.

But there’s more.  The book of Ephesians says that Jesus reconciles divided peoples.  The cross, says Mark Roberts, “touches every kind of division among peoples, every kind of hostility that separates peoples into hostile factions. Because all human disharmony, including racial injustice and division, is a result of sin, Christ opened the way for reconciliation and peace among all peoples when he dealt with sin through the cross.”[1]

When we are willing to own and seek forgiveness for our own sin through Jesus, reconciliation can take place–with God and with each other, on every level.

Resource reading: Ephesians 2:13-18

 

[1] Roberts, M. D. (2019, December 12). Reconciliation Through the Cross. Retrieved March 10, 2021, from https://depree.org/reconciliation-through-the-cross/