Colossians 1:20

_ _ The Greek order is, “And through Him (Christ) to reconcile again completely (see on Ephesians 2:16) all things (Greek, ‘the whole universe of things’) unto Himself (unto God the Father, 2 Corinthians 5:19), having made peace (God the Father having made peace) through the blood of His (Christ’s) cross,” that is, shed by Christ on the cross: the price and pledge of our reconciliation with God. The Scripture phrase, “God reconciles man to Himself,” implies that He takes away by the blood of Jesus the barrier which God’s justice interposes against man’s being in union with God (compare Note, see on Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18). So the Septuagint, 1 Samuel 29:4, “Wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master,” that is, reconcile his master unto him by appeasing his wrath. So Matthew 5:23, Matthew 5:24.

_ _ by him — “through Him” (the instrumental agent in the new creation, as in the original creation): emphatically repeated, to bring the person of Christ, as the Head of both creations alike, into prominence.

_ _ things in earth ... in heaven — Good angels, in one sense, do not need reconciliation to God; fallen angels are excluded from it (Jude 1:6). But probably redemption has effects on the world of spirits unknown to us. Of course, His reconciling us, and His reconciling them, must be by a different process, as He took not on Him the nature of angels, so as to offer a propitiation for them. But the effect of redemption on them, as He is their Head as well as ours, is that they are thereby brought nearer God, and so gain an increase of blessedness [Alford], and larger views of the love and wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). All creation subsists in Christ, all creation is therefore affected by His propitiation: sinful creation is strictly “reconciled” from its enmity; sinless creation, comparatively distant from His unapproachable purity (Job 4:18; Job 15:15; Job 25:5), is lifted into nearer participation of Him, and in this wider sense is reconciled. Doubtless, too, man’s fall, following on Satan’s fall, is a segment of a larger circle of evil, so that the remedy of the former affects the standing of angels, from among whom Satan and his host fell. Angels thereby having seen the magnitude of sin, and the infinite cost of redemption, and the exclusion of the fallen angels from it, and the inability of any creature to stand morally in his own strength, are now put beyond the reach of falling. Thus Bacon’s definition of Christ’s Headship holds good: “The Head of redemption to man; the Head of preservation to angels.” Some conjecture that Satan, when unfallen, ruled this earth and the pre-Adamic animal kingdom: hence his malice against man who succeeded to the lordship of this earth and its animals, and hence, too, his assumption of the form of a serpent, the subtlest of the animal tribes. Luke 19:38 states expressly “peace in heaven” as the result of finished redemption, as “peace on earth” was the result of its beginning at Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:14). Bengel explains the reconciliation to be that of not only God, but also angels, estranged from men because of man’s enmity against God. Ephesians 1:10 accords with this: This is true, but only part of the truth: so Alford’s view also is but part of the truth. An actual reconciliation or restoration of peace in heaven, as well as on earth, is expressed by Paul. As long as that blood of reconciliation was not actually shed, which is opposed (Zechariah 3:8, Zechariah 3:9) to the accusations of Satan, but was only in promise, Satan could plead his right against men before God day and night (Job 1:6; Revelation 12:10); hence he was in heaven till the ban on man was broken (compare Luke 10:18). So here; the world of earth and heaven owe to Christ alone the restoration of harmony after the conflict and the subjugation of all things under one Head (compare Hebrews 11:23). Sin introduced discord not only on earth, but also in heaven, by the fall of demons; it brought into the abodes of holy angels, though not positive, yet privative loss, a retardation of their highest and most perfect development, harmonious gradation, and perfect consummation. Angels were no more able than men by themselves to overcome the peace disturbers, and cast out the devils; it is only “by,” or “through HIM,” and “the blood of HIS cross,” that peace was restored even in heaven; it is only after Christ has obtained the victory fully and legally, that Michael (Revelation 12:7-10) and his angels can cast out of heaven Satan and his demons (compare Colossians 2:15). Thus the point of Paul’s argument against angel-worship is, that angels themselves, like men, wholly depend on Christ, the sole and true object of worship [Auberlen].