Peace Will Reign

By Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Family Minister

Colossians 1:20 - "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."

There’s a moment of pure cinema in the Lord of the Rings films. If you’ve never seen them, they are worth your watch, even if you don’t really get fantasy. Faery Stories, as Tolkien calls them, have a worth and value to our understanding of truth. I digress, but trust me, it’s worth your time.

All the main characters are engaged in a council to decide what to do with this ring, this object infused with the evil and malice of an ancient enemy. As they consider, then debate, then argue, then stand and shout at each other, the camera zooms in on the ring, and in its shiny surface you see the reflection of the chaos surrounding it. 

Suddenly, the young hobbit Frodo stands up and calls out, “I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor!” They’ve been told that this is the one place the ring can be destroyed, but that anyone who takes it there faces darkness and danger, and likely torture and death. And it’s an unlikely, unlooked-for hero who says, “I will take the danger for everyone.”

At the moment he calls it out, the argument ceases. All voices are silenced. Peace reigns. And suddenly, all those who were debating and arguing suddenly align themselves behind this small hero.

When Paul says in Colossians 1:20 that in Christ God reconciled all things to himself, making peace through his blood shed on the cross, the richness and weight of the theology are staggering. It’s like going to a steakhouse and ordering that massive, seven-layer chocolate cake they call the Motherload, and insisting you’re going to eat the whole thing. It’s too much for one sitting. Or one devotion, as is the case here.

So I want you to have that picture in your mind - chaos and conflict, all wrapped within the unbreakable bands of a world shackled by sin and wickedness. All love abandoned. All agreement discarded. Only rage and selfishness and noise. This is creation under the curse of sin. 

And then stands an unlikely and unlooked-for hero. In our case, Jesus of Nazareth, a man whose hometown and family name seem completely insignificant. A man whose appearance and bearing are completely average. A man who no one would even notice if not for the fact that he stood up from the crowds and called out, “The kingdom of heaven has come.”

Now, if I were doing my normal thing of mirroring my devotions, I would say that at the moment Jesus called this out, all voices were silenced, all argument ceased, and peace reigned. But if you know the story, you know that wasn’t exactly how things went. Jesus’ ministry didn’t bring chaos, but it exposed the chaos of the sinful world. It drove his enemies from debate with him to argument with him to hatred for him to executing him. 

But this was the danger he faced by stepping into the world to make peace. He would have to take the danger for everyone. He would take the cross. He would shed his blood. And then there would be peace.

It might seem today like we’re still waiting for that peace. In the “already but not yet” of God’s redemptive work, we can say two things: We have peace with God, and that peace is greater than anything; and, we are still at war in this world until Jesus returns to bring his final peace. But the promise of Colossians 1:20, which closes the great Christ Hymn of Colossians, is that through the blood of Jesus shed on his cross, peace has already been made. We are already reconciled to God, and one day, Jesus will return. When he does, peace will reign over all creation forever.