Day 22: Jesus Reconciles All Things

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

»  All things were made by Him, through Him, and for Him. Spend this day noticing how power is used, how relationships are navigated, and how money is spent. How would that be different if it was exercised by Him, through Him, and for Him?

»  How can you use power, time, and money today in ways that model the redeeming and renewing work of Jesus?

»  Pick one goal today, about power, humility, love, or money. How you will model that today?

»  Practice the memory verse.

QUOTE

“Through God’s gracious efforts, a people and indeed a whole creation are freed. They are now in the kingdom of the Son, a place of complete redemption and total renewal.”
- Vernon Pierre

SCRIPTURE

“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

DEVOTIONAL

Creation is broken and needs to be reconciled to God. Physical creation, the spirit world, governments and power structures, indeed all of creation, have been broken and now move from order to chaos as they exist apart from God.

Jesus is the supreme ruler over all creation. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17) Because of Jesus, creation itself will one day be liberated from its slavery and decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the Son of God.

This does two things for us:

1. It gives us hope for our eternal future. All around us we see evidence of the fall in things like unjust social systems, moral cultural decline, and terrible suffering. The gospel tells us not to despair, but to have a sure and certain hope that all such things will be wiped away and permanently replaced with peace, harmony, and the healing of the nations.

2. It gives us motivation for our place in the present. Creation has not been abandoned by God. Instead, through Jesus, it has been reclaimed by Him and will eventually be made brand new. It will one day be characterized by righteousness and beauty, rightly related to God.

We, the Church, are a prophetic expression of this new creation, and we model it for the world. We are not passive bystanders in this mess, biding our time until our Rescuer arrives. Instead, we are a community of people commissioned by God. Our faithful efforts in the world matter, as we proclaim and practice the power of the gospel to redeem and renew.