19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Incarnation brought pleasure to God, there is no other way to see it. God becoming a man was not a burden but a delight. True, He was burdened for our sin, but it was done because of the “joy set before him” (Heb 12:2). Now, properly speaking, one could make the point that this does not refer to the incarnation, per se, but to the idea that the Father fully dwells in the Son, the second person of the trinity, apart from taking on human form. But notice the verse states clearly that it was the “fullness” of God that dwelt in Christ. Later, Paul clarifies this when he writes, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col 2:9). Clearly God becoming a man is in view.
Note also that the saying, “the fullness to dwell in Him” indicates the full deity of Jesus. There is nothing about God that is not true about Jesus. He is not just a man who was inspired by God, nor was He a man who became God. The fullness of God includes pre-existence, in fact, eternal pre-existence. Further, Jesus was no less God than God Himself. In other words, the verse (along with Colossians 2:9) presents very strong proof from Scripture that Jesus was fully God!
As God, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished restoration of our relationship with God. The passage describes this in two ways: 1) He reconciled us to God (see Romans 5:10), 2) He made peace between God and us. That was the whole point of the incarnation, and it results in great pleasure for God to do it.
Now about whom does Paul write? Reconciliation does not include things “under the earth,” that is, the demonic world. That realm will be subject to the Lord in the end (see Phil 2:10), but will not be reconciled. However, things “on earth or things in heaven” will be reconciled to God. As MacDonald says, His death is “sufficient” for mankind, but is “effective” only for those who believe.
This truth cuts across the false teaching influencing the Colossians. For us Christians, there is no striving to attain Absolute Truth or Holiness. The work has already been done. The Creator God of the Universe has personally interacted with the world to bring about human reconciliation. This work was not assigned to some created emanation far distant from God. God took great pleasure in making this happen through the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.
Lord, You are the great God of the Universe who was pleased to send Jesus to reconcile me to You. Thank You!
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