In our time there is so much moral confusion, political tension, fear of environmental ruin, and financial uncertainty. As the people of Christ, we should not let our perspective on such things be shaped by the endless and often pessimistic news commentary. We have no reason to despair but every reason for hope. For we know that this is our Saviour’s world. It is his to rule, and it is his to restore, through his blood shed once on the cross.

Why did Jesus die on the cross?

We often take a highly individualized view of Christ’s work: “He died for my sins.” In these terms, a sinner thinks of Jesus as his personal Saviour, his Lord and Friend. And all these beautiful things are true.

Yet Scripture gives a far wider and deeper view of why Jesus died. Colossians 1:17 says that in Christ that “all things hold together.” Christ is much more than the redeemer of sinners. He is the ruler and sustainer of the entire universe.

When Christ died on the cross, He was establishing a cosmic peace. The reconciliation that He achieved is not just between God and a world of individual sinners. It is between God and his broken creation.

It says a few verses later in Colossians 1 that God purposed “through Christ to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (v. 20). All things!