“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.” (Colossians 1:19-20)
Jesus Christ had a crucial role in the creation of “all things,” both material and spiritual, on earth and in heaven. Unfortunately, all creation became estranged from God when we humans turned away from Him. But God wanted to change this. He wanted all things to be reconciled to Him again. This was made possible through “the blood of Christ’s cross.” That is a very short phrase with tremendous meaning. Jesus Christ was willing to die on a cross. He gave His blood, His life, as a sacrifice for our guilt before God. As a result, the power of sin was broken. Basically, the separation and enmity between the Creator and His creation has already ended. We will see the full effect of this when Jesus comes back to earth, making all things new.
When we think about sin and atonement, we almost always focus on us humans. Our relationship with God is skewed and needs to be repaired. But that is not the full story. All of creation suffers the consequences of sin, and Jesus also wants to reconcile all of creation back to God.
How wonderful the new world, completely in harmony with God, must be! How do you picture that?