Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
(Colossians 1:20)

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
(Hebrews 9:23-24)

Christ's work of reconciliation and purification is not limited to us, or to earthly things and people, but also involved a purifying of things in heaven, and/or heaven itself.

So, does anyone have any ideas about what that involves?

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

.....now to appear in the presence of God for us.


I think both passages are generally speaking about Christ interceding in heaven to God for us, instead of temporary sacrifices made for us.

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

....The types/patterns of the sacrifices are finished/purified.




It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these....

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

Sean,

Your missing the point.

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified


It is speaking of patterns, not things.

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

Define heaven in this context...

Heaven is just the spiritual realm.

Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

Well, in terms of reconciliation, we know that humanity was at enmity with God, as God was not reconciled to us until Christ died, so perhaps the "things" in heaven that needed to be reconciled at least included, if not limited to, God Himself.

As far as the patterns of things being purified, I do not know. In Revelation I believe we read that there is an ark there, perhaps the ark of the testimony, at least it's pattern, which received the blood of Christ when he entered into the heavenlies, so maybe something to do with that. That's just a guess, though.

I guess it depends on what the patterns were and what the things were, as well. Solve for that, and the rest probably comes naturally.

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

I would think that if God was not reconciled to us He wouldn't have provided Christ as the offering for sin? I do not know of any verse saying that the cross reconciled God to us?

In any event, it speaks of things in heaven being "reconciled to God".

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

I did not quote any verses from the Apocalypse, I quoted from Paul's writings. Heaven is where Jesus went, it's where God "is". And it includes things (and beings?) that were reconciled to God and purified. So I'm trying to figure out what those things are.

Re: Reconciling and purifying Heaven?
 

I would offer just the opposite, saying that because God was not reconciled to us, He provided Christ as the offering for sin, so He could become reconciled.

We have the ministry of reconciliation, right? Or at least Paul did. It's part of the royal priesthood, I think, that we, as ministers, help people find reconciliation with God.

Consider Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Ephesians 2:16,

I read it differently:

Colossians 1:12-22,

These three verses show it's the Father at work, making redemption possible through the blood of His Son.

A most famous passage speaking to the Majesty and Wonder of our Lord Jesus.

Back to the Father...

I read verse 20 like this:

And, [the Father, from verse 19] having made peace through the blood of his cross [that is, through the blood of His Son's cross], by him [that is, by Jesus] to reconcile all things unto himself [this "himself" is a referent to the Father]; by him [a referent to Jesus], I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

So, because of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary, things both in the earth and in heaven, can be reconciled to God the Father. The cross is the nexus and locus of total, divine reconciliation. It makes all things possible.

That is, the Father has reconciled these former alienated enemies in Colossae, through His Son and His Son's cross, meaning His death.

The Father has reconciled these believers in the body of Christ's flesh that was crucified, so that the Father may present these believers as holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His, that is, the Father's sight.

In this way, if I am reading and exegeting the passage properly (think so, hope so!), it would appear that Jesus, while on earth, through His death on the cross, was able to provide His Father the means of finding reconciliation with humanity. This occurred, I believe, because 1.) Christ's death wrought atonement for sins, meaning His blood covers, and so, takes away, the sins of the world, and 2.) Christ's death propitiated the Father, or brought about in the Father a desire to forgive and not punish, so that, all who were enemies and aliens to God, could find their way back to Him, that is, the Father "who art in heaven" hallowed be His name.