Colossians Bible Studies

The phrase all things is the same phrase used in v. 16b. However, caution is needed here, and we need to take into account the context and the rest of the New Testament. In v. 16, all things was not only comprehensive in scope, but comprehensive in depth as well. Absolutely everything was created through Christ. But in this verse, all things is probably comprehensive in scope, but not necessarily comprehensive in depth. This means, as we see from the rest of the New Testament, that not absolutely everything will be reconciled to God. The devil will not be reconciled. Not all people will be reconciled. There are some things that will forever be under God's wrath. So, when Paul wrote that God reconciled all things in Christ, he probably intended to say all categories of things, not necessarily every item in every category. Christ reconciled all creation, but not necessarily every created things. He reconciled all categories of humanity, but not necessarily every human. He reconciled Jews and Gentiles, short people and tall, blondes, brunettes, readheads, greyheads, and baldheads, but not every person in these categories. Remember that in this context, Paul is concentrating on the new creation. So, everything that is or will be part of the new creation is reconciled to God by Christ. but some things, and some people will be excluded from the new creation. We need to keep this distinction in mind, so that we don't misunderstand what Paul was saying here.
And reconcile is a very important theological word in the NT. It occurs in Rom. 5:10-11, 11:15, 2 Cor. 5:18-20, Eph. 2:16, here and v. 22 of this chapter.
It means the restoration of interpersonal relations after they have been broken. It includes the following ideas: 1. Friendly relations have been broken. 2. Steps have been taken to remove and/or heal the problem/offense that caused the relationship to break, and 3. Restoration of the relationship.
In the context of human relationship with God, reconciliation involves: 1. Our broken relationship with God because of sins, making us subject to God's righteous wrath. 2. Christ paid the penalty for our sin, thus removing the judicial penalty against us, and the cause of enmity, and 3. A restoration of the relationship between God and humans who are in Christ.
Here Paul expanded this concept to include, not just humanity, but all parts of creation. Just as creation is experiencing death and decay because of the presence of sin in the world, so, Christ is bringing, and will soon complete, the restoration of creation, and will make it even better in the new creation (Rom. 8:19-21).

With this proposition, Paul made clear the means by which God removes the enmity between God and humanity, and thereby makes reconciliation.
The phrase making peace is synonymous to reconciling. It speaks of restoring broken relationship by removing the cause of enmity. The term reconciliation concentrates more on the process of restoring the relationship. And making peace concentrates more on the resulting fact of the restored, peaceful relationship.
And Paul emphasized that it is through Christ's violent death on the cross. Blood is figurative for the totality of violent sacrificial death as the judicial penalty for sin. Christ stands in as a substitute, paying the judicial penalty instead of the person deserving death, as prefigured in the Old Testament sacrificial system.

The reconciliation which Christ accomplished, was done by means of the death of His physical body. This is obviously referring to the cross and all that He accomplished as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, thus freeing us from our deserved punishment.