Peace Through The Blood Of The Cross
July 2026
“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
Myer Pearlman, an early Pentecostal scholar, speaking of Christ’s death said, “The outstanding event and central doctrine of the New Testament may be summed up in the words, Christ died for our sins.”
Christianity is unlike any religion in the world as it regards the place it assigns to the death of its founder. The gospel of Christianity centers around the person of Jesus Christ, but even more specifically, His death and resurrection.
Only in Christianity do we have redemption from sin, being accomplished through the sacrificial substitutionary death of the Son of God Himself.
In Col. 1:20, the apostle Paul brings to our attention truths that we as believers must thoroughly understand.
The phrase, “And, having made peace” speaks of justifying peace, which means all enmity has been removed between God and the believing sinner. Justification is the act of a thrice holy God, declaring the believing sinner not guilty, innocent, and perfect as though he had never sinned. This can be done because our performance is not based on what we do but on the performance of the Son of God, who is perfect. We just provide the faith.
In the mind of God, the moment we place our faith in Christ, God the Father places us into Christ. We are baptized into His death, buried with Him, and resurrected unto newness of life—all through Christ.
In the Greek, “to make peace” means “to bind together.” On the cross by His death, a holy God and sinful man are spiritually bound together. We are at one with Him.
The phrase, “through the blood of His cross,” presents to us the means of this great work—the cross of Christ. It was on the cross that the shedding of His blood satisfied the just demands of the broken law—“by Him to reconcile all things unto himself.” This is the doctrine of reconciliation, bringing God and man back together as one for those who believe.
His blood made atonement for sin and was the means of making reconciliation between God and man. Reconciliation means the restoration of a broken relationship to peace and harmony. God,through the death of His Son on Calvary’s cross, removed the barrier of sin that separated man from God thereby turning enemies into friends and bringing humanity back into fellowship with Himself.
George Williams said, “By His atoning death it pleased God to reconcile both heaven and earth into Himself, for sin had estranged both; and so efficacious (effective) is that atonement that is places men before His throne, holy and unblameable and unreproveable, men who by nature were alienated and by conduct were wicked.”
Reconciliation between God and man is twofold. A holy God is reconciled in that justice has been satisfied at the cross, and sinful man is reconciled in that his attitude of enmity toward God is changed to one of friendship.
The phrase, “by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven,” refers to two things.
First of all, it means that the whole universe, material as well as spiritual, will one day be restored back to harmony with God, which Paul would address in I Corinthians 15.
Second, it refers to all believers being fully reconciled to the Lord.
In all of this, we see the great truth of the cross of Christ. Everything that Christianity stands for and proclaims is wrapped up in the cross of Christ.
In 1707, Isaac Watts wrote:
Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
