20 JUSTICE CREATION 2020 HOPE
WE DO NOT GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO BE WITH GOD ; GOD COMES TO EARTH TO BE WITH US – AS THE PSALMISTS AND PROPHETS HAD PROPHESIED AND PRAYED FOR .
But how will all this be accomplished ? In fact , it already has been ! We may not be able to imagine with our finite brains what the new creation will be like or ‘ how will God do it ?’ But Paul assures us that it is already guaranteed , accomplished in anticipation , through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ . For the accomplishment of the cross was not for us humans alone , but for the whole creation .
Reconciled to God through the cross and resurrection of Christ
Colossians 1:15-23 must be one of the most breathtaking passages Paul ever wrote about Jesus Christ . He paints in truly cosmic colours and dimensions . Five times he uses the phrase ‘ all things ’ ( ta panta ), and Paul makes it clear by the addition of the words , ‘ in heaven and earth and under the earth ’, that he means the whole of creation at every possible level . And he tells us that the whole creation :
• was created by Christ and for Christ
• is sustained in existence by Christ
• and has been reconciled to God by Christ – specifically ‘ by making peace through his blood shed on the cross ’.
That last phrase is vitally important . We must ‘ lift up our eyes ’ and see the truly cosmic scope of Christ ’ s death . Paul says that through the cross God has accomplished the reconciliation of creation . And it is within that vast context that Paul then goes on to add ‘ And you also …’ ( v . 21 ).
We tend to present the gospel the other way round . We start at the individual level ( Christ died to atone for your sins and offers you eternal life – wonderfully true , praise God ). Then we might go on to the ecclesial level ( all of us who are redeemed by Christ are part of the church , the people of God , the body of Christ , so make sure you join a church ). And just possibly we might go on to the rest of creation ( we have to live here on earth until Christ returns to ‘ take us home ’).
In this text , Paul moves in the exact opposite direction . He starts with Christ ’ s cosmic , creational Lordship over all creation ( which incidentally is where Jesus himself also starts in the so-called Great Commission , Matthew 28:18 ). Then he moves on to speak about the church of which Christ is the head . Then he returns to the redemption of all creation through the cross , and finally comes to individual believers who have heard the gospel and responded in faith . ‘ You believers in Colossae , you get to be part of this great story of cosmic creation and reconciliation when you came to believe “ this gospel ” – this good news for all creation .’ ‘ This is the gospel ,’ he says ( Colossians 1:23 ) – the biblical gospel that includes all creation within the redeeming , saving , reconciling plan of God , accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ .