And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

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A few years ago, one of my inquisitive daughters asked me, “Mommy, when Jesus comes back and makes everything right again, will we wear clothes?” After thinking for too long on that topic, I still have no idea, and now I am slightly terrified at the possibilities. While this question may make you chuckle, it also caused me to review what I know, and what I could not possibly understand about humanity’s pre-sin existence. Have you ever paused to think about just how broken the world is because of sin? Everything was affected by sin. It is a likely argument that natural disasters did not happen before the fall; so, we are talking even weather patterns were affected by sin. It is not likely that plants were poisonous, and animals were likely not carnivorous prior to sin either. Most notably, humans enjoyed an unbroken relationship with God and enjoyed him, rather than competing with him for power and praise. I cannot even fathom a world in which humanity does not have a propensity toward pride, selfish desires, and our lust for power, yet the beginning of Genesis indicates that this was so, until sin entered the world and everything broke.

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Fast forward to today, sin is the simplest and yet the hardest answer to the question of why terrible things happen. A basic understanding of sin’s impact on the entire world is the only way we can even begin to grasp the heart-wrenching reality of the carnage left by natural disasters, or wars or other heinous crimes humans inflict upon one another. Diseased, orphaned, hungry, sick, and lonely were not God’s plan for us. It is strange for us to imagine that even all that we consider normal is a broken version and not what God wanted for us. Yet, he is not surprised by our sinfulness, and he did not leave us to be alienated from him. He loved us and created a way for us to be with him even though we could not do anything to rectify our sinful situation ourselves. Jesus did what none of us could through his sacrifice.

In today’s scripture we see that Jesus reconciles all things to himself, but what does that mean? To reconcile is to restore harmony to alienated parties, or to no longer count offenses against someone. When sin entered the world, we were alienated from God, who is perfect and holy. There was so much wrapped up in that first sin: disobedience, deceit, and pride, just to name a few. In the first sin was also man’s rejection of God’s perfection, what God called good. The consequence was separation from him. Death. Sin would continue to pervert and widen the chasm between a Holy God and humanity with no way for us to fix it.

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If we think of all that is not right in the world, especially when we consider how much of the world openly rejects Jesus as Savior and King, it is incomprehensible that Jesus came to defeat sin and death and reconcile it all to himself. He willingly went to the cross, and through his blood, he brings peace. Peace through blood. This seems counter intuitive, doesn’t it? After all, peace is a state of harmony and tranquility characterized by the absence of violence, hostility, and fear. If there is bloodshed, that does not sound like absence of violence. In fact, we know that the death on a Roman cross was one of the most brutal and violent ways to die. If we look at all human history, in most every battle fought where peace was eventually obtained, there was first bloodshed. The path to peace is usually hard fought and blood is spilled. The war Jesus waged on sin and death, in this way, is no different. Jesus had to sacrifice his blood in order that the debt of our sin would be paid and satisfy the wrath of the Holy God who also desires that we would be saved.

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Jesus’ bloodshed is different from other wars fought because he did not win a dispute, a little land, or rights for something; he defeated sin, the thing that had broken the entire world. He died and rose again to reconcile it ALL to himself, satisfy God’s own wrath toward sin and bring peace to us in our brokenness. While death has been defeated, he is patient for those being reconciled. While I look forward to a completely restored Heaven and Earth, I am thankful for the reminder that he has and is reconciling us to himself today to give us victory over sin and death. Who do you know that needs to experience reconciliation and the peace only Jesus can give?

Jesus, you are peace, and you heal our brokenness. We do not deserve the reconciliation you offer. Thank you for your love and sacrifice. Help us to remember the chasm your cross spanned so we can be in relationship with you. Let the reminder of our own sin prompt us to share your love with the broken world around us so that they may know your peace too. Amen.