Balancing the Checkbook

August 11

Read: Colossians 1:18-23

Balancing The Checkbook

“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.” (v.19)

The first time I heard the word “reconcile” growing up was in reference to a checkbook. The idea of writing a check is familiar to everyone my age and older… and foreign to those people younger than me. We still have “checking accounts” at the bank, but very rarely do we stop at a register and fill out a check to pay for goods and services. To “reconcile” the checkbook meant matching up withdrawals and deposits, paying attention to what checks has been “cashed” or “cleared” and what payments were still outstanding. If everything was in order, the amount in your checkbook and the amount on your bank statement matched. If not… well then it was time to pour back over the numbers and details to see where the discrepancy was. It was a process that could be quick… or it could take hours depending on how much accounting was needed. The point being - the idea of “reconciling” something or someone is the process of matching two positions up… bringing back into agreement two parties… taking inventory and acknowledging the gains / deposits and the losses / withdrawals. To reconcile sometimes means receiving a credit and at other times it involves taking a loss… the removal of something. In the end, there is agreement… “oneness” between the two parties.

God is reconciling ALL THINGS to himself through Jesus Christ. There is a cosmic “balancing” that is taking place through the work of Jesus and his blood on the cross. This “reconciliation” stretches far beyond just us as humans. It is something that is take place “whether on earth or in heaven”. There are “heavenly” elements that need to be reconciled as much as there are those elements here on earth. How often do we boil down the work of God in this cosmos to simply his redemption of humans? It is “all things” that are impacted by Jesus and his death on the cross. There are proverbial checks that have been written, checks that have been cashed, deposits made, withdrawals taken… there is a cosmic balance and reckoning that is being worked out through Christ.

The “blood of the cross” is making peace between creation and God. This peace comes through the destruction and “binding” of all things which war against the Lord. It also comes through the restoration and “loosing” of all those who are called by God… “adopted sons and daughters”. (cf. Matt 16:17-19, Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:5, Eph. 1:5) Everything will be put back into its right relationship before God. There will be agreement and “oneness” again. Both “parties” (God and his creation) will be on the same page. The “check-book” of the cosmos will be balanced and right! What does this look like for us?

“…You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” There is only one option for those things that are “hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” = death. Whatever is “hostile” towards God and whatever is evil must be put to death. It must be destroyed. The cost of rebellion, hostility, and evil is death. Jesus’ death marked the “beginning” of something. Look at verse 18: “(Jesus) is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” The resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of something new… it was the beginning of the cosmic reconciling. This is taking place through Jesus “body”. Where is Jesus’ “body” now? Verse 18 again: “And (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church.” WE are the body of Christ, and he is our “head”… leading, guiding, directing, thinking… the people of God functioning as the body of Christ in this world. The cross reconciled us to God and makes us into the body of Christ. We are made “holy, blameless, and above reproach before him”. The “fullness of God” has always been pleased to dwell in “the body of Christ”. The fullness of God is dwelling in us as his sons and daughters… as the body of Christ in this world… and ones who were once alienated outsiders, hostile in mind, and evil in deeds. Christs death on the cross frees us from this!

So today, “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast”. (v.23) Christ has done this for you. You have been reconciled… put into agreement with… unified with… God through Jesus Christ. Jesus will deliver you “holy and blameless” as adopted sons and daughter of God. This is the good news of the Kingdom of God. You WILL dwell in a universe where everything is balanced and “made right”. We must never grow weary of hearing this truth… our hearts needs reminding so that we do not waver… so we are “not shifting from the hope of the gospel that (we have heard) heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, (Josh), became a minister.” (v.23) These turbulent times are nothing more than the churning of a cosmos that is being set right. It is all a part of the reconciling! May we rest in the “fullness of God” that is pleased to dwell in Christ… and therefore in US as his people and body. Amen! Love you guys. - JDP