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Why Did Heaven Need to be Reconciled?

Sabbath School Net Posted on by avatar

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20 NLT

The Sacrifice on the Cross

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Why did God need to make peace with heaven? This verse right here may help us understand just how real the war in heaven was. Even after Lucifer was cast out, those who remained may have still had their doubts. Did God really love them, or did Lucifer have some good points about God just being a tyrant?

On earth Eve was convinced God did not care for her and she needed to eat the fruit and disobey, if she really wanted to be happy.

While all this was going on, is it possible some of the remaining angels in heaven still had some questions? Have you ever been loyal to a boss not because you thought he was fair, but because you did not see any way out? So out of fear you remained loyal to him, still wishing you weren’t in that situation? If so, what did it take for you to reconcile the situation so you could have peace at work and not just conformity?

When the Son of God died on the cross He was not just atoning for Eve taking a piece of fruit she was told not to. Eve’s disobedience was a symptom of her doubts. The Cross of Christ did not just take care of the symptoms of sin. The Cross took care of sin itself! The Cross removed all doubt about God’s love. All questions in heaven and earth are answered at the cross! There can be conformity while rebellion is still in the heart. The cross goes way beyond bringing us into conformity and outward obedience. The cross replaces our thoughts of rebellion with peaceful thoughts towards God.

That which alone can effectually restrain from sin in this world of darkness, will prevent sin in heaven. The significance of the death of Christ will be seen by saints and angels. Fallen men could not have a home in the paradise of God without the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Shall we not then exalt the cross of Christ? The angels ascribe honor and glory to Christ, for even they are not secure except by looking to the sufferings of the Son of God. It is through the efficacy of the cross that the angels of heaven are guarded from apostasy. Without the cross they would be no more secure against evil than were the angels before the fall of Satan. Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss. All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God.-Ellen White, Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889

Some have the idea that once we get to heaven, God will flip a little switch in the back of our heads that makes us stop sinning. After all, we will be in heaven and so we automatically won’t sin, right?

Wait. Where did sin begin? Heaven!

The reason why humans and angels will not sin, is the same reason why God reconciled both heaven and earth to Himself. The cross of Jesus. The cross cures the root cause of sin which is doubting God’s love. The reason there will be no sin in heaven is not due to a mechanical correction that the flip of a switch will fix. The reason there will be no sin in heaven will be because the cross will cure humans and angels alike from ever doubting God’s love, and thinking we need anything God has not given us. There will be no reason to rebel.

Rules without relationship causes rebellion. The love of Christ on the cross removes our fear of God, so we are not afraid to have an intimate relationship with Him. With our relationship cured, we will have no reason to rebel. We won’t be conformists. We will be free-thinking moral agents who are at peace with God because God is love.

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Comments

Why Did Heaven Need to be Reconciled? — 12 Comments

  1. Didn’t Adam have free will? And did he not have enough intelligence to make his own decisions?

    Shall we blame Eve for “wandering off,” but not Adam for failing to stay with Eve or keep her by his side?

    It doesn’t seem like that’s the way God evaluated the situation. He confronted Adam directly about his sin. Adam blamed Eve. But remember that this blame game was inspired by Satan. How quickly sin changes people!

    After God spoke to Adam and foretold the consequences of his sin, He spoke to Eve and foretold the consequences of her sin. And then He gave to Eve the promise of a Savior. She became the human forebear of Christ.

    It also occurs to me that blaming the woman for the state of humanity, would make it very difficult for men to follow the counsel of Paul to love a wife as Christ loved the church.

    Paul makes it very clear that men and women are mutually dependent on each other and are to relate to each other in the mutual submission of love. (Eph. 5:21-25) It was through absolute submission in love that Christ won the victory over the ruler of this world. And I conclude that that is the only path to victory over the same enemy for us.

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  2. Taken in isolation, your indignant comments concerning Eve might be hard to counter. Sin doesn’t make sense. There isn’t the slightest excuse for it. However, this righteous indignation, if applied fairly and reasonably, could equally be directed against the course of action of anyone who has ever sinned, including Adam, and yes, including you and me.

    The glorious truth is that pardon, full and free, is accorded to every penitent sinner, through the cross of Christ. As one who even dimly appreciates the cost involved in this, and the egregious character of my own sin, I can only hope that the grace of God, manifested in this incredible sacrifice, was able to prevail in transforming a repentant Eve, and a repentant Adam, back into a true son and daughter of God — and that it will not be lost on you and me.

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  3. Because we do not adequately appreciate it. We are so inherently depraved that only a miracle of divine grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can save us. If we really want heaven, and if we manifest an interest proportionate to its value, then God will come through by doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

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  4. Good question Joe. I have wondered this many times myself after my many fallings. I totally agree with R.G. White’s reply. I also see the Holy Spirit working in me making me more and more like Jesus every day. I know I will overcome because of the cross, because Revelation 12:11 says they overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb. Meanwhile I am very thankful for God’s continual forgiveness while He works on my character.

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    • I agree with R.G. White’s comment that we cannot appreciate what God has done for us and that we need for Him to do a work for us that we cannot do ourselves. We cannot by ourselves change our very nature. I think this means that for us, there is a “switch flipping” that must be done. God is doing that for us now through His Spirit. I wish it could be a little more automatic, but He seems to work more by growth than sudden change. This indicates to me that we need more than Christ’s death on the cross to complete our transformation. Paul says in 1 Cor 15:17 that if Christ were not risen, we would still be in our sins. We need not only Christ’s death (and life) but also His resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

      But for those children of God who have not fallen, I believe that the Cross is sufficient to answer any question of God’s love for us and His willingness to give all for us.

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      • I completely agree Joe. The “switch flipping” is not automatic but a process illustrated for us throughout the sanctuary service. That is actually what I originally meant by using the term “switch flipping.” It is not just automatic. It is a process. The plan of salvation does not stop at the cross, just like the plan of salvation does not stop in the courtyard of the sanctuary. It continues into the Most Holy Place. The cross is where that process begins. Thank you for reminding us about the importance of the sanctuary service as we celebrate Adventist heritage month here in October.

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  5. Thank you my brother for this insightful post. We thank God for reconciling us unto himself. There is another post you once wrote about appeasing an angry God, may you please share the link if you have.

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  6. Thank-you William. Your article makes what God the Father did for us and the universe so clear, without a doubt, what Christ death on the cross did. More convincing to me that we not only clinging to the Cross of Christ here and now by looking unto Jesus sinless is He, we will cling to Christ cross throughout eternity, with glory, honor, and praise, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of life.
    Ephesians 2:13.
    Colossians 1:20.
    Hebrews 12:2.

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  7. When the Bible talks about reconciliation, it is always we who need to be reconciled to God, not God who needs to be reconciled to us. As you say in this blog, we need to be reconciled to God because of our false idea of what God is like. Christ came to give us a true picture of God. God does not need to be reconciled to us even though He clearly sees what we are really like, and it is not a pretty picture.

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