Larry Reynolds, Denton, TX

Colossians 2:19-20a - "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross..."

• “. ..in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...”  - The word translated fullness is pleroma. It carries the idea of completeness. There is nothing left out. He is the full and final revelation of God, and nothing more is necessary.
• “reconcile” – The word means to return to the original owner or to bridge the gap. The initiative of reconciliation was with God. We have been reconciled to God, not vice versa. God never moved; humanity did!
• "the blood of the cross” - It is the death of God’s Son on the cross which brought us back to God. The cross is the proof that there is no length to which the love of God will refuse to go. 
•  “all things” - Reconciliation extends not only to all persons, but to all creation, animate and inanimate. God’s love did something for every part of the universe. No doubt Paul was thinking of the Gnostics who were teaching that the world was incurably evil. The phrase does not mean that every person is reconciled (universalism), but the potential for reconciliation is available to all people.

(For more detailed notes on Colossians go to http://www.larryreynolds.org-a.googlepages.com/home)