Thursday: To Reconcile All Things
Daily Lesson for Thursday 19th of February 2026
Read Colossians 1:19-20. What is this reconciliation that comes through the Cross, and how comprehensive is it?
Paul uses a very interesting expression in Greek to culminate his description of Jesus, obliquely pointing back to the Father, who was mentioned in Colossians 1:12. It is His fullness that the Father was pleased to have dwell in Jesus (compare Colossians 2:9). What is this “fullness”? John refers to it as being the Father’s glory, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
But, based on this passage, that “fullness” encompasses a lot. It embraces God’s eternity and self-existence and His power to create and re-create. Most important, it underscores His wisdom in conquering sin and death through the most unimaginable means—the Cross. And thus, He transformed that most inglorious object into a testimony of His eternal love for every created being. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The only way sin could really be defeated forever, and all things be reconciled that could be reconciled, is summed up in that one glorious truth: God loved—He loved the universe, and He loved us so much that He risked everything to save us through Christ’s death on the cross. The Greek word for “world” is kosmos, which can encompass the whole universe. Paul refers to this universal demonstration in the context of following Christ: “We have been made a spectacle to the world [kosmos, universe], both to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9, NKJV).
“Heaven viewed with grief and amazement Christ hanging upon the cross. . . . By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them. At the beginning of the great controversy, the angels did not understand this. . . .
“But not so when the great controversy shall be ended. Then, the plan of redemption having been completed, the character of God is revealed to all created intelligences. . . .
“Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked upon the Saviour’s cross. . . . Christ Himself fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, ‘It is finished.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Pages 760, 764.
The Cross of Jesus Christ is truly a mystery. A symbol of shame, violence, persecution, humiliation and alienation, and yet it acted as a mechanism through which peace in heaven and on the earth were achieved. How can a cursed instrument bring cosmic reconciliation? It is beyond human understanding how a rugged cross a symbol of pain made God the Father so pleased. This wooden cross possessed supreme power not by itself but because who was on it. The One who lay on it was He who created all things. He was the One who spoke life into existence. On the cross, He was once again giving life back which was lost through sin. It is not surprising to hear Paul describe the cross of Jesus as the power of God unto salvation (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Paul was truly in love with the cross of Jesus. To him, the cross is salvation in its purest form. His teachings and theology oscillate around the cross. The cross is not a foot note in Pauls 14 books that are attributed him in the New Testament. I have indulged myself in reading how powerfully Paul describes the Cross of Jesus. Please share my joy in reading the following:
1) “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God” – I Cor.1:18, NLT
2) “So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,[a] Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” – 1 Cor. 1:23-24, NLT
3) “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Gal.2:20,NLT
4) “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” – Colossians 2:15, NLT
5) “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” – Gal. 3:13, NLT
6) “He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” – Phil.2:8, NLT
7) “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.” – 1 Cor. 2:2, NLT
8) “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” – Eph. 2:14, NLT
I tried to meditate on the following texts today:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” – John 3:16
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” – 1John 3:1
And
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” – John 15:13
Now I have the feelings of being cherished and of high value to God beyond my imagination and that is because I’m His special design. Maybe the psalmist had the same feelings and exclaimed in
Psalms 139:14,17.
14. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
17. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
I believe that we cannot fully comprehend the mysteries of redemption now, but we can appreciate the sacrifices of redeeming love, by reconciling people to Christ through acts of kindness and love.
1 John 3:14-19 says,
14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
19. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
When we show love and care to people around us, we are making them to develop a sense of belonging to the family of God and cherished also irrespective of their condition.
Eternal benefits awaits us if we can get involved in bringing souls to Christ through acts of kindness and love.
At the very center of our salvation stands a story of love that reconciles us through the forgiveness of our sins. Reconciliation does not consist of denial of any wrongdoing or pretending that nothing ever happened. But rather, it is the bold act of facing the truth and allowing the grace of God to have the final word in the life of the sinner. What truly makes the difference is that resentment no longer leads; instead, peace—brought by Jesus Christ—reigns in our hearts. The Scripture says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul encourages us as new creatures to be ambassadors of Christ in our families, neighborhoods, churches, and local communities that have been fractured by pride and pain brought about by sin. God is working daily to restore and rebuild the relationship broken down and is slowly turning our hearts into living testimonies of His never-ending, redeeming love.
Thank you for your insightful, Spirit-driven words of encouragement and hope. May we continue daily to be His humble ambassadors of love, hope and kindness in this broken world. I needed to hear this today.
Reconciliation is not an easy fix. I know several couples who have reconciled after one of the parties has committed adultery, and it was much more than just one party saying, “I’m sorry!”, and the other party saying, “I forgive you!” And if you think that, since the aggrieved party is on the high moral ground, they are in a position to argue for a better deal in the future, then you have no idea what reconciliation is all about.
It is about rebuilding trust, and that is the work of a lifetime. This is where God is at in this reconciliation business:
That is the action of a reconciliator. We need to carry that action into our own reconciliations with one another. I don’t mean we should go after those who, by their actions, refuse to be reconciled. But, are there folk within the circle of our influence who are waiting for us to run down the road and welcome them back into the community of believers? Or have we built the walls too high?
Paul as the disciple of Jesus Christ,he received from Jesus the message of reconciliation. On his way to Damascus, he was reconciled with Jesus. He also demonstrated this when he had issues with JohnMark and Peter at some points.
He is now leaving to us what he received from Jesus. 1 Corinthians 11:1.
Today in our churches we have members who are not ready and willing to reconcile with those they have issues with. Let us welcome Jesus in our lives and He will make this reconciliation possible because He is the Chief reconciliator.
God longs to reconcile humanity to Him because He is love. Love makes all the difference. The problem is that to love others truly, we need to be reconciled ourselves, too. And this may take a lifetime’s work. Only through the contemplation of what the Son of God did for us can we be fully reconciled to our original purpose of existence.
Oh what wondrous love! No one but Christ, One with the Father could save us. Hallelujah! What a Saviour! Through the natural man it is hard to comprehend what Christ wrought for us sinners at the cross, but one of these days we wouldn’t be seeing through a glass darkly, we shall see Him as He is. Praise the Lord for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!
God reconciling everything to himself means restoring that harmony, confidence and assurance that existed between humans and God before the advent of sin. The cross has played a major role in achieving this. It is up to us with the power of the Holy spirit to reconcile with God.
Col.1:20 – ”…, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” “The blood of HIS Cross” – what is meant by that? Does it refer to the wooden cross, the torture it inflicted or the physical blood shed by Jesus when suffering the sin of the world? Or are these symbolic – pointing to ‘suffering’ experienced by picking up ones ‘cross’ and living by faith as Jesus Christ demonstrated?
Matt.16:24-26.
”Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.'”
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?'”
The Father acknowledged and honored His Son’s work – it was now finished! His Son, whom He had sent, demonstrated to man who their heavenly Father, their God, is and how to communicate with Him. Now, all who believe can be gathered and reunited to the Father in His Son’s Name – Jesus/Jeshua – “Yahweh saves”!
Was it the cross, the blood, His suffering, or was it His unwavering Faith and Love of His Father, demonstrated as He called on Him in prayer?
John 17:5-10 – verse 9-10 – ”I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And Glory has come to me through them.”
In this comment I am going to attempt to address both Thursday and Friday’s lesson study, or at least part of them.
In 1 Cor. 4:8 Paul writes that they are a spectacle (theaton, the transliteration is theater) to the world. [kosmos, universe], both to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9, NKJV).
Paul is actially saying that this earth is like a theater to the universe. In other words the entire universe is in some way watching this Great Controversy play out in real time. You have probably heard the expression, “All the world’s a stage!” It’s true. As Christ was being tortured and crucified by his very Creation, they watched in shock and horror what Jesus was enduring for this one lost sheep planet. How could he allow such horrific treatment to be done to him by a reprobate humanity? Certainly it would have been far easier to destroy this planet and start over again. Yet, as Christ hung on that cross the existence of the entire creation of God hung in the balance. The ultimate “cliffhanger” plays out as the onlooking men and angels, and even other worlds, wonder if the King of Glory will allow Satan to take his life. Would Christ stay on that cross and drink the last dregs of the bitter cup, or would he save himself? This was the last temptation of Christ. He couldn’t save both himself and the world, or the cosmos.
Have you ever asked yourself why and how did Jesus complete the rescue mission? I believe that the answer lies in the following verse. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 KJV) What was that joy that was set before him, that empowered him in his weakest moment to go all the way and subject himself to the most hideous, and ignominious death of the cross? It was the joy of knowing that by his sacrifice all of humanity could be saved, even all of creation. The Savior couldn’t see through the portals of the tomb, but he saw you, he saw me, he saw the multitudes that would be saved by him completing the mission. So, I see the Savior smiling through his pain telling Satan, “No, you can’t have them! I will die to save them from you!”
Amazing love indeed! John 3:16 takes on greater significance when we realize that same word “world” is translated just as it was in 1 Cor. 4:8, [kosmos, universe]. The sacrifice of Christ didn’t just benefit this earth. Let that work on your mind. It was an “aha” moment for me.
No wonder C.S. Lewis came to refer to the Gospel as a “True Myth.” His concept of “True Myth” is perhaps the most vital bridge between his academic life as a scholar and his personal journey from atheism toward Christianity.
”Before his conversion, Lewis viewed myths—like those of Baldur or Osiris—as beautiful but ultimately “lies breathed through silver.” His perspective shifted during a famous late-night walk with J.R.R. Tolkien, who argued that myth wasn’t a lie, but a way for humans to catch a glimpse of an underlying reality we can’t otherwise grasp. (almost like a parable)
For Lewis, “True Myth” was the idea that the Gospel story functions exactly like the great pagan myths, with one massive, history-altering difference: it actually happened.” (AI overview) It was true! It wasn’t a fable, or fantasy, but history. It was “His-Story!” A story so fantastical that only God could write it and make it to come true.
“He loved us so much that He risked everything to save us through Christ’s death on the cross.” Does God ever risk anything? He is omniscient, and He knows what will take place. To say that He risks anything is to imply that He is not omniscient
“The glory of Him who is love will destroy them.” What is this glory of God that has the power to destroy Satan and all who unite with him? Is it an entity that has a brain and the ability to kill people and angels? Does the Bible teach it anywhere?
Brother Cezary, what would happen to you if you were to walk into the containment building of a nuclear power plant and stood in the presence of a nuclear reactor without the proper safety and hazmat suit? The “glory” of the radiation emanating from that nuclear reactor would destroy you almost immediately.
That is how I can understand how the Glory of God’s presence can destroy those that are not in harmony with God. The Robe of Christ’s Righteousness covers our sinfulness and not only changes us, it protects us from the otherwise destructive power of God’s Glory emanating from the throne. I believe that our glorified bodies will be even molecularly different than our corruptible bodies. We will be “fireproof!”
First in describing what Christ did for us I want to give you the words of our doxology(a hymn praising God, thus glorifying God).
Praise God from whom all blessing flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
My brother’s and sisters: amen, amen, and amen. Hallelujah for what Christ has done for us. Bear with me I want to give you Ellen White’s definition also of reconciliation. Sounds much like the definition of redemption, though redemption can also be described by Christ coming also(as in my redemption draweth nigh).
“The highest angel in heaven had not the power to pay the ransom for one lost soul. Cherubim and seraphim have only the glory with which they are endowed by the Creator as his creatures, and the reconciliation of man to God could be accomplished only through a mediator who was equal with God, possessed of attributes that would dignify, and declare him worthy to treat with the Infinite God in man’s behalf, and also represent God to a fallen world. Man’s substitute and surety must have man’s nature, a connection with the human family whom he was to represent, and, as God’s ambassador, he must partake of the divine nature, have a connection with the Infinite, in order to manifest God to the world, and be a mediator between” RH December 22, 1891, par. 1
Sounds very much like the redemption story to me. Ya know, these qualifications were found alone in Christ. To get more of the story go to your free app Ellen Gould White Writings 2, and pull up the Review and Harold December 22, 1891, paragraph 1, of her article intitled No Caste In Christ.(Further moreover for the definition of caste, “he who is closely connected with Christ, is lifted above the prejudices of color and caste.” Volume 9 Testimonies For the Church. Page 209).
What a wonderfully faith in Jesus Christ we have as Seventh-day Adventist. “Doers of the Word of God not just hearers.” James 1:22.
The appropriate text is:
Romans 5:9-11. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life(I believe by His death also, putting this message in context with, 1 Peter 3:18). More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” 🙏🙏🙏.
Th goodness of God, the discussion of our lesson today maybe part of what God had shown Moses when he requested of God, “Show me Thy goodness.”
Good question, in beginning of lesson what is this fullness?????
“Wholesome” is what I think of….this reminds me of Grace and truth in a character of Christ, and someone I would strive to be more like…..
wholesome person or people is someone characterized by moral goodness, kindness, and sincerity, acting as a positive influence on those around them. They are generally honest, caring, and trustworthy individuals who promote well-being and maintain respectful, gentle behavior. They often have a warm, positive energy and avoid negative habits.
Moral & Ethical: They have strong moral principles and act with integrity.
Kind & Compassionate: They are genuinely caring, empathetic, and often helpful to others.
Positive Influence: Their presence brings comfort and joy, often described as having a warm energy.
Genuine & Honest: They are authentic and not deceptive, often seen as “true” and sincere.
Well-Behaved: They avoid scandalous or overly risky behavior, often exhibiting a calm, respectable demeanor.
Heartwarming
Upright
Decent
Sincere
Nurturing
In essence, a wholesome person is considered “good” in both character and influence, fostering a comfortable and safe environment for others.