I can't speak to the original intent (it was 13 years before I was born), but I have always understood it to be about bringing things back into balance. That the phrase to reconcile and make new meant that we were brought back to our original state of holiness and sacredness, just as an inanimate object like a car or a piece of art is returned to its original state. If, as I do, you believe that we are products of a Creator, then we are an extension of that Creator. We are imbued with holiness, sacredness, and life because of that Creator. Jesus came and restored in us the awareness of that holiness and sacredness.

Does that help at all?