Thank you for downloading this devotional from Truth Matters Church. This devotional is from our series in Colossians and is titled, Reconciled to God. In Colossians 1 verses 18-20, the Apostle Paul wrote, speaking of Jesus, And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. As we continue looking at Paul's discourse on the supremacy of Jesus Christ, we find an amazingly rich passage of scripture here. We first see that Jesus is the head of the body, the church. Paul referred to Christ several other times as being the head of the collective church, such as in Ephesians 1 verse 22 and chapter 5 verse 23. This is a very important doctrinal understanding of Christ's position of authority over every believer, because no human is in command of God's people. Pastors and elders have a defined leadership role in guiding and caring for God's flock, but they too are servants, and only Christ is and forever will be the final rule and power that believers must follow. What Jesus says goes. Period. Knowing this will help us avoid being led astray by false teachers and so-called prophets who claim to speak new revelations from God or to have some special place of authority over His church. Paul also reaffirmed that Christ is the firstborn from the dead. After Jesus died on the cross, the Father raised Him from the grave and glorified Him. Reference Mark 16 verse 19 and Ephesians 1 verse 20. Christ is the first who wore human flesh to have experienced this type of resurrection and glorification, which is why Paul said that in everything He might be preeminent, or put another way, be in first place. Just as He is the firstborn of creation, as it says in Colossians 1 verse 15, He is also the firstborn from the dead. And we too will one day experience this resurrection and glorification, and what an amazing promise we have to look forward to. We then read that in Him, Jesus, all the fullness of God, the Father, was pleased to dwell. This is a very profound statement, and it's impossible to unpack all of it here, but there's a critically important takeaway. We must never deny that Christ is God. Now, remember, Jesus Christ is not God the Father, but He is God the Son. And through His perfect obedience, the Father was pleased to have His Spirit fully dwell in the Son. This demonstrates the perfect unity of the Father and the Son. As we see when Jesus stated in John 10, verse 33, I and the Father are one. And again in John 14, 10, when He said, do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works." And again we see this affirmed by the writer of Hebrews when he wrote, He, being Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. That's Hebrews 1 verse 3. So, for all intents and purposes, when we see Jesus, we see the Father. See John 14 verse 9. And every word that the Son speaks, and every deed the Son does, is in the will of, and with the authority and power of, the Father. Reference Matthew 28 verse 18, John 10 verse 18, and John 17 verse 2. By this we are shown the full deity of Jesus Christ, and to make Him any less, like just a good teacher or a prophet, is to reject scripture and ultimately to blaspheme God's Holy Spirit. Paul closes out this paragraph in Colossians with, "...and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross." Now, because of the pronouns in this verse, this can be a little bit tricky, but here's how I read it. And through Him, Jesus, to reconcile to Himself, the Father, all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His, Jesus' cross. I believe this makes the most sense, especially when we consider what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, specifically verse 16, and Christ might reconcile us to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. When Jesus died on the cross in obedience to His Father, He fulfilled the required sacrifice for sins once and for all. See Hebrews 9 verse 26 and Romans 6 verse 10. By this act, He reconciled us, or stated another way, brought us back to a former state of harmony with the Father. This final and eternally enduring sacrifice brings us peace by the blood of His cross. God's law requiring a blood sacrifice for sins was completed and made whole through Jesus Christ bearing every one of our sins in his earthly body. We must also remember this includes the wrath of the father that Jesus suffered. So it is even more than the torture that the Romans inflicted. When Jesus cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In Matthew 27 verse 46, he was experiencing the wrath and separation from his father. I don't think we can even begin to comprehend what this was like for our Lord, but we should meditate on it as it will give us a greater appreciation for what the cross really means. We might be tempted sometimes to minimalize what Jesus went through to save us, but I do hope this serves as a powerful reminder that His sacrifice was heaven-shaking. Let's try never to take Jesus' work for granted and instead strive to live every day with an attitude of thanksgiving, praise, adoration, and worship of Jesus Christ our Lord for what He endured for us to be reconciled to the Father. I do hope you enjoyed this devotional from Truth Matters Church. You can find many more like this on our website truthmatterschurch.org or simply look us up on Sermon Audio. Have a blessed day.