How are things in Heaven reconciled to Christ by the cross?

Great topic for a thread!! Thanks loDebar

19 For [a]it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the [b]fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in [c]heaven.

21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in [d]the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, [e]was made a [f]minister.

Footnotes:

1. Colossians 1:19 Or all the fullness was pleased to dwell
2. Colossians 1:19 I.e. fullness of deity
3. Colossians 1:20 Lit the heavens
4. Colossians 1:23 Or in faith
5. Colossians 1:23 Lit became
6. Colossians 1:23 Or servant

19) God chose to provide God incarnate to the world. In Him (Jesus the Christ) all the presence, power, agency, love and faithfulness of God dwelt.

20) God uses Christ to reconcile "all things" (the world of fallen mankind) to Himself, one sinner at a time. Everyone transferred into Christ is reconciled. When a person is transferred into Christ the undergo the "washing of regeneration" and the "circumcision of Christ." Jesus laid down His life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. When someone is put into Christ (His propitiatory shelter), they are made at peace with God, their sins forgiven and remembered no more forever. This capacity to reconcile individuals remains in full effect wherever the person may be located, however anyone in Hades will never be reconciled, as they face "eternal punishment."

21) All of us start out as "made sinners" hostile to God, spiritually separated from God, but not incapacitated such that we cannot hear and respond to the milk of the gospel.

22) "Now reconciled" indicates those being addressed have been transferred into Christ and are born anew believers, indwelt forever with the Holy Spirit. As new creations in Christ they have been made, (1) holy, (2) blameless for past, present and future sins, (3) righteous, and (4) perfect.

23) "Continue in the faith" addresses proof or evidence of salvation because those actually do continue in the faith, whereas lip-service professors of faith fall away like the second and third soil of Matthew 13.

 

A little more on the difficulty of "in heaven or in the heavens." Here is the link to the whole commentary:
http://www.lostpinesbiblechurch.com...ns_The_Preeminence_of_Christ.pdf?version=1694

 

There are two issues here:
(1) You are capitalizing "Heaven" when the translated scripture actually reads, "heaven." Heaven is a popular concept denoting a place of reward and the final destination of humankind. I do not think that's what Paul is writing about here.
(2) I think a big part of the confusion here is that the word translated "heaven" in Colossians 1:20 is actually poorly translated. The word in the Greek is plural, not singular, but most English translations will translate the plural "heavens" as "heaven" for theological, not grammatical reasons. It is a bit of translator bias that undermines a clear understanding of the various uses of "heavens" in the New Testament.

Therefore, Colossians 1:20 should be translated:

"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 the heavens."​

The heavens is essentially everything that is not the earth, from the atmosphere around us, to the sky above, and into outer space to the deepest reaches of outer space. What Jesus has done has reconciled everything in the universe to Himself.

Paul is essentially using a turn of phrase to describe all of the created order, everything from the earth below us to the most extreme distance in the sky.

 

I think the difficulty is we are not sure whether Paul was referring to the two created heavens (the atmosphere of earth, and space where the moon, sun, and stars are located) or did his reference include the third heaven, the abode of God and spiritual beings?