5.
Restoring The Whole Creation
The
last chapter ended with this rendering of Paul’s vision of the secret of His
will.
He made known to us the
secret of His will. And this is in harmony with God’s merciful purpose for the government of the world when the
times are ripe for it—the purpose which He has cherished in His own mind of restoring
the whole creation to find its one Head in Christ; yes, things in
Heaven and things on earth, to find their one Head in Him. (Ephesians
1.9-10 WNT)
This
is a paraphrase of the Greek text, but it seems to capture the very heart of
the purpose and plan of God to head up all in His Son, all in the heavens and
all on the earth, so that God the Father may be All in all. Knowing that God has cherished in His own mind to restore
the whole creation to its Head is a glorious thought. Can you imagine how
wonderful it will be when the whole creation will find itself under one Head?
Is this not the meaning of all things in the heavens and on the earth? Whole means all!
Who
and what is to be excluded in the whole creation or all things in the heavens
and on the earth? We must conclude that nothing will be excluded in all
creation, both the animate and the inanimate, and the visible and the invisible.
Paul even tells us that we know that the whole creation groans and suffers
the pains of childbirth together until now (Romans 8.22 NASB).
I
want to be clear what I mean by stating that the whole animate creation will be
restored, for I realize that when it comes to mankind many people do not accept
the thought that the so-called lost or unrighteous one day will be restored as
well. The traditions of men are like hardened cement, for they are a mighty
hard thing to break up.
If
it is God’s purpose to restore the whole, then does it not follow that the
whole includes all mankind even if the process of restoration takes eons to
complete? Are we to exclude the lost or the ones who have never heard of Jesus?
Are we to condemn ones created to be in the image of God to an eternal torment
in a place called hell? How can this
possibly be so if all things are restored in Christ? Are we to condemn those
who God has told us that He hardened their hearts to bring about His purpose?
Where is the justice in this?
For
me, the answer is rather simple. Heading up all in the heavens and on the earth
covers the whole of God’s creation. In His Son, God will restore the whole
creation, including every single person into which God breathes the spirit of
life from the beginning to the consummation of the eons. I believe that
Scripture reveals this is God’s truth.
Now,
the purpose of this writing is to present the evidence that I see in Scripture
for the restoration, reconciliation and salvation of all mankind. Let it be
known right from the start that what follows is presented to prove that, through His Son, God will eventually
save every single human of Adam’s race that ever lived or will live on this
earth, and this is in accord with the purpose of God that He may become All in all.
I
strongly emphasize that God’s plan is only through His Son; there is no other
way, for Jesus is the only WAY!
So,
please do not confuse what follows with universalism or any other teaching that
says that there are many ways to God. There is only one way and His name is
Jesus! By the same token, please do understand that I am stating that, because
of the death and resurrection of God’s Son, all mankind will be included in the
All of God, not all at the same time,
or in the same eon, or even in the same manner, but all will finally come in at
the consummation of the eons in accord with the work of His Son to subject all
things unto Himself, so that the God and Father may be All in all.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under
His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER
HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is
evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then
the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to
Him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15.25-28 NASB)
Now,
this chapter is divided into two sections. The first section takes up the
topics of restoration, renascence, reconciliation, free will, predestination,
love and the cross. The second section takes up many Scriptures that support
the ultimate salvation of all mankind. Putting the two sections together should
give enough material in order to make an informed judgment on this vital
matter.
Before
proceeding, I have one confession. Much of what follows is presented throughout
other chapters of this book, even verbatim, and some of the same Scriptures are
repeated many times. This is by design. After all, as Paul said: To write the same things again is no
trouble to me, and it is a safeguard to you (Philippians 3.1 NASB).
To
begin, some commentators refer to the
restoration of all and others refer to the
reconciliation of all. At times, I might use the two terms as if they are
one and the same, but they are not exactly the same. There is a difference
between the two phrases, for restoration
deals with bringing things back to a certain state and reconciliation deals with bringing things into peace with God.
However, each compliments the other, as both speak of the glory that will come
when the Son subjects all to His Father at the consummation of the eons.
Restoration.
Restoration means “bringing back into a former, normal, or
unimpaired state.” The last part of this definition seems to be the most
appropriate meaning, for the whole creation as we know it today is obviously
not operating in what we could call an unimpaired state. Today, the whole creation
groans under the weight of the sin and corruption of the world. God’s plan is
to restore His creation to the glory it had in the beginning when He created
the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1.1), except perhaps it may be even more
glorious than at first. We know that in God’s
day all things will be made new.
And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for
these words are faithful and true.” (Revelation 21.5 NASB)
The
first mention of the restoration in the New Testament refers to what will be
come in the next eon.
In
speaking to the men of
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be
wiped away, in order that times of
refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send
Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things
about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
(Acts 3.19-21 NASB)
Yet what God
announces before through the mouth of all the prophets―the suffering of
His Christ―He thus fulfills. Repent, then, and turn about for the erasure
of your sins, so that seasons of
refreshing should be coming from the face of the Lord, and He should
dispatch the One fixed upon before for you, Christ Jesus, Whom heaven must
indeed receive until the times of
restoration of all which God speaks through the mouth of His holy prophets who
are from the eon. (Acts 3.18-21 CV)
This
was a very specific word to the men of
According
to Paul, it appears that the times of restoration begin with the revealing of
the children of God, which comes at the end of our present eon as the earth
enters the Tabernacles Age. Today, creation is impaired; it cannot operate in
the fullness as intended by God and neither can mankind. We could say that
creation itself is being held back from the glory of God because the glory of
the sons of God has not been revealed. This makes perfect sense because man was
created to have dominion over the earth, and since man lost this privilege in
the garden, the creation itself has lost the benefit of man’s dominion. In
other words, man and creation are intimately joined. When one suffers, the
other suffers. When one is impaired, the other is impaired. When one is in
glory, the other is in glory. This is the wisdom of God.
For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
For the anxious longing of the creation
waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was
subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in
hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to
corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groans and
suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but
also we ourselves, having the first
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly
for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have
been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he
already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait
eagerly for it. (Romans 8.18-25 NASB)
God Himself has
subjected His creation to futility or vanity. Another translation states: For the Creation fell into subjection
to failure and unreality (not of its own choice, but by the will of Him who so
subjected it) (Romans 8.20 WNT). In
other words, creation had no choice in the matter, for it was subjected to
failure, just as all mankind has been subjected to failure, for God locks up all together in stubbornness, that He
should be merciful to all (Romans 11.32 CV).
Note that creation is not only groaning but so are those
who have been given the firstfruits of the spirit, which means that they have
received an earnest of the spirit of God and are waiting for the time of
restoration when they will receive the full anointing of the spirit. When they
receive this anointing, they will enter the coming Tabernacles Age as the
anointed firstfruits of Christ, conformed to the body of His glory (Philippians
3.21 CV). However, do not lose sight of the fact that the term firstfruits implies that there is other
fruit to be harvested at some later time.
The
good news is that a new day is coming, and when it does come, one of the things
that will set creation free from its bondage will be the revealing of the sons
of God, the anointed firstfruits. Can you imagine that creation is waiting for
the glory to come that will be manifested in the sons of God, the first ones to
be conformed to the image of the Son of God? It may be difficult for some to
grasp, but it is true.
Consider
the way the Weymouth New Testament reads.
Yet there was always the hope that at last the Creation
itself would also be set free from the thraldom of decay so as to enjoy the
liberty that will attend the glory of the children of God. For we know that the
whole of Creation is groaning together in the pains of childbirth until this
hour. And more than that, we ourselves,
though we possess the Spirit as a foretaste and pledge of the glorious future,
yet we ourselves inwardly sigh, as we wait and long for open recognition as
sons through the deliverance of our bodies. (Romans 8.21-23 WNT)
Believers
of the Pentecostal Age have received the earnest of the spirit of God (2
Corinthians 1.22; Ephesians 1.13) as a foretaste of the future inheritance of
glorified bodies, and for this reason they groan within knowing and waiting
for the day of deliverance from their bodies of death.
For
all who believe on Jesus and have put their trust in Him, conquering in His
love, this is their hope. I believe that the sign of one who is a conqueror
destined for glory in the oncoming eons is one who is groaning within, groaning
along with creation to be set free from all the bondage of this present eon.
Have
you had days when you have had deep groanings within that you cannot explain?
Well, take heart; it is the spirit of God within you that is interceding on
your behalf.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we
do not know how to pray as we should, but the
Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He
who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He
intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8.26-27 NASB)
The
restoration of all things is coming, but it first starts with a people called
out to be the anointed firstfruits of God, the sons of God.
Renascence.
The
next word to consider is renascence, which means “new birth;
rebirth, revival; regeneration.” Applying the concordant method, this word is
discovered in two places.
In
speaking to His disciples about the coming of His kingdom, Jesus told them that
they will follow Him in the renascence, which He clearly identified as when He
will sit upon the throne of His glory.
Yet Jesus said to them, “Verily, I am saying to
you, that you who follow Me, in the renascence
whenever the Son of Mankind should be seated on the throne of His glory,
you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Thus,
Jesus was pointing to the day when He takes the scepter of the kingdom to rule
and reign over this earth. In that day, the earth will enter a new birth or a
rebirth. This is similar to the restoration of the whole creation when it will
be brought into an unimpaired state. It will be revived, which means that it
will most likely be like the restored or revived earth before Adam fell in
disobedience and the whole earth began to come into slavery to corruption.
The
next reference to renascence is found
in one of Paul’s epistles.
Yet when the kindness and fondness for humanity of
our Saviour, God, made its advent, not for works which are wrought in
righteousness which we do, but according to His mercy, He saves us, through the bath of renascence and renewal of holy
spirit, which He pours out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
that, being justified in that One’s grace, we may be becoming enjoyers, in
expectation, of the allotment of life eonian. (Titus 3.4-7 CV)
In
this case, the renascence refers to
salvation and being justified in grace in order to enter life in the oncoming
eons. We need a rebirth to be saved and go from corruption to incorruption,
just as creation needs a rebirth to go from corruption to the freedom of the
glory of the children of God.
Both
mankind and all creation need a renascence. The restoration and the renascence
commence when the sons of God are revealed and the Son of God is seated on His
throne of glory in His kingdom.
Reconciliation.
Now,
reconciliation is the third word in
this series, and its meaning is more expansive than both restoration and renascence,
for it has application in our present eon and extends throughout the eons of
the eons to the consummation of the eons.
Reconciliation means “to make friendly again or win over to a
friendly attitude; to bring two parties into harmony or peace with each other.”
Today,
it is common to hear people talk about being reconciled to one another, but
seldom do we hear that God is conciliating
the world to Himself, and that through Christ, He intends to reconcile all to Himself.
To
understand how conciliation and reconciliation are presented in
Scripture, we need to consider three Greek words.
Katallassō is translated into the verb conciliate; katallagê is
translated into the noun conciliation;
apokatallassō is translated into
the verb reconcile.
The
editor of the Concordant Version has pointed out that there is a difference in
these Greek words, and as such, they should not be translated uniformly as
reconcile or reconciliation as done in most all English versions.
Unfortunately, the words
conciliate and conciliation are probably foreign to most people. Seldom do we hear
them used in common conversation, but they are vital words in understanding
what God has done through His Son.
Conciliate means “to win over; soothe the anger of; make
friendly; placate” and “to gain by friendly acts.”
When two parties are at
war with each other they are enemies. If one party makes peace with the other,
then that party conciliates with the
other, and there is conciliation.
Thus, conciliation refers to one side
of a peace deal; that is, one party is at peace with another, but it does not
follow that the other party has made peace with the one that has made peace.
There is still enmity coming forth from one party. It is as if one waves the
white flag of truce, but the other continues shooting.
For a peace deal to be
of any value, it takes both parties to be at peace with each other. When both
parties have entered into peace with each other, it is called reconciliation. Thus, the word reconciliation means that both parties
are in harmony and at peace with one another. It is a mutual peace agreement. Each
party has to make peace (to be conciliated) with the other to come into a
mutual peace (to be reconciled).
These might appear to be
minor or subtle differences to some, but they are more than that, for they add
clarity to what transpired at the cross and to the message that believers are
to have written on their hearts.
To explain this, let us
consider mankind’s condition in relation to God and His Son’s death on the
cross.
There are many
references in Scripture about God having enemies. We know that the Son is sitting
at the right hand of His Father as God puts all His enemies under His feet
(e.g., Matthew 22.44). But we also know that, according to Paul, we all were
enemies of God: For if while we were enemies (Romans 5.10 NASB), and that there are many who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ (Philippians 3.18 NASB).
The good news is that
the conciliation starts with God, not with us. Can you imagine what it would be
like if mankind wanted to be at peace with God, but He did not want to be at
peace with mankind? It is a sad commentary on our day that many seem to project
our Heavenly Father as one who refuses to be at peace with most of mankind. God
is love and He demonstrates His love, for He first loved us!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. (Romans 5.8 NASB)
For if, being enemies, we were conciliated to God through the death
of His Son, much rather, being conciliated,
we shall be saved in His life. (Romans 5.10 CV)
These two verses confirm
that in the death of His Son, we, that is, all mankind, were conciliated to
God. There was enmity between God and mankind, but God has made peace with
mankind at the cross of
Now, some might protest
and declare that this cannot be true because God is only at peace with those
who believe. After all, God refuses to be at peace with the unsaved because
they have rejected His Son. If you believe this, then it is time for your eyes
to be opened to the truth.
Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving
us the dispensation of the conciliation,
how that God was in Christ, conciliating
the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in
us the word of the conciliation.
For Christ, then, are we ambassadors, as of God entreating through us. We are
beseeching for Christ’s sake, “Be conciliated
to God!” For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our
sakes that we may be becoming God’s righteousness in Him. (2 Corinthians
5.18-21 CV)
Notice that in Christ, God was conciliating the
world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them. A paraphrased version reads:
That is, that God was in Christ making peace between the world and
himself, not putting their sins to their account, and having given to us the
preaching of this news of peace (2 Corinthians 5.19 BBE). Here we
discover the very heart of conciliation, making peace, and this is the message
that we, as believers, are to be proclaiming to the world that remains an enemy
of the cross. God has made peace with the world because of His Son; because of JESUS!
Let us not think that
God has given up or that conciliation is a thing of the past, for it is an
ever-present peace agreement that will continue until the consummation of the
eons. In fact, it is God’s plan not only to conciliate the world to Himself,
but to reconcile all in the heavens and on the earth to Himself. Ultimately, there
will be a mutual peace with all in the heavens and on the earth. In other
words, God fully intends to be reconciled to all mankind. How do we know? Paul
tells us so.
And He is the Head of
the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that
in all He may be becoming first, for in Him the entire complement delights to
dwell, and through Him to reconcile
all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him,
whether those on the earth or those in the heavens. (Colossians
1.18-20 CV)
The blood of His cross
will be absolutely, 100% successful in reconciling all to God because peace has
been made through the blood of His cross. It doesn’t matter where one resides, whether
in the heavens or on the earth, for the blood of His cross reaches to every
corner of God’s creation and to every creature in His creation. This is the
greatest and the grandest peace deal that the world has ever known and will
ever know. It is in Christ Jesus, the One who is preeminent in all things.
Do you honestly believe
that peace through the blood of His cross will not reach out until it has won
the heart of every single human that has ever stepped foot on this earth, none
excepted. The word does not state that some are reconciled, or that all with
exceptions are reconciled, or that only those who believe in this day are
reconciled. It simply states that it is God’s delight through Him to reconcile
all to Him. We must not redefine all as
if it were not the whole. All has no exclusions.
Today, God continues to reach
out to mankind with a peace offer, as if to say: “Believe in My Son, be saved
by grace and then accept the peace that I offer and come into peace with Me.”
The only way to come
into reconciliation with God is through His Son. According to Scripture, it is
clear that all will not believe in Jesus in this eon, but as is shown through
other Scripture, all eventually will bow the knee to the Lord Jesus and be
reconciled to God.
Unfortunately, even today,
one can believe in Jesus but not be at peace with God. Are you at peace with
God? He is a loving Father and He beckons all to be at peace with Him. Be
conciliated to God! Do not delay!
Yet not only so, but we are glorying also in God,
through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through
Whom we now obtained the conciliation. (Romans 5.11 CV)
And you,
being once estranged and enemies in comprehension, by wicked acts, yet now He reconciles
by His body of flesh, through His death, to present you holy and flawless and
unimpeachable in His sight, since surely you are persisting in the faith,
grounded and settled and are not being removed from the expectation of the
evangel which you hear which is being heralded in the entire creation which is
under heaven of which I, Paul, became the dispenser. (Colossians 1.21-23 CV)
This is truly good news
for all. We are saved by grace, not by works, and we are brought into a
relationship of peace with God. We are no longer separated from God and are no
longer enemies of God. Those who believe in this day can glory in the
reconciliation of God knowing that one day all in the heavens and on the earth
will enter into the same peace in the eons to come.
Those
who are reconciled will be enjoyers of the restoration and the renascence of the
coming eon when Christ sits on His throne of glory.
Before
moving on, there are two more conciliation
references in Scripture.
For if their
casting away is the conciliation of the world, what will the taking
back be if not life from among the dead? (Romans 11.15 CV)
This refers to the nation
A wife is not to be
separated from her husband. Yet if she should be separated also, let her remain
unmarried or be conciliated
to her husband (1 Corinthians 7.11 CV).
This refers to a woman separated from her husband.
Even if the husband is not willing to be at peace, the woman is to be at peace
with her husband. In any relationship, it always takes one to start the peace
process, in hopes of winning the heart of an enemy. After all, Jesus gave us
the command to love our enemies (Matthew 5.44). Only in love is a heart truly
won. But God demonstrates His own love
toward us! Surely, we must follow His example.
So, let us not forget that God is not reckoning mankind’s offenses
to them. He has conciliated the world to Himself. Is the world only made up of
believers? Of course not! God is not mad nor is He angry. He has made peace
with all mankind and beckons all to come into His peace because God so loves the world.
Now, it is time to change gears a little and to tread on ground
that is not for the faint of heart. There are two major challenges for many in
accepting the truth that God will eventually reconcile all to Himself. These
challenges come through what is called free
will and predestination. Both
terms go hand-in-hand. Free will is
the counter argument to predestination. The argument is made that man has free
will; therefore, he is not predestined.
I
realize that free will and predestination have been argued and divided over down
through the centuries. In fact, it is one of the most divisive issues among
Christians, even today. In the end, each of us has to be convinced of the truth
by the spirit of God. I don’t desire to engage others in the controversy, but I
do desire to present the proof that I see in Scripture that has settled the
matter in my heart.
I
realize that philosophers and theologians would most likely pick apart some of
what follows as fodder to prove the ignorance of the uninformed, but then again
the Lord can speak through a donkey. Besides, the chosen disciples of Christ
were considered uneducated by the religious establishment, and yet, these men
turned the world upside down. By the way, they did it by the will of the One
who called them, not by their will.
Free
will.
What
is free will? To me, it is a strange term. Does it mean that our will comes
freely? Or, does it mean that man can make his own choices; he does whatever he
wills? I am sure there are different definitions of free will, but it seems
that it means that man is capable of freely choosing to do what he wants, that
is, of exercising his own will (volition). Some add to the definition that free
will requires that man exercise his will without any external influence. In
other words, man is like a free agent that is capable of making whatever choice
he wants without any influence from outside himself. He is even free from any
influence from his Creator. It is his right to reject the will of the Creator.
Before
proceeding further, let it be understood that in what follows I use the word will in a very comprehensive sense to
refer to all the decisions and choices we make all day long, big and small. I
realize that some make a distinction between will and choice, but I am not
doing that, for I don’t see it really changing the argument that I am making.
I
contend that if man’s will is truly free, that is, free from any and all
external influence, then man’s will must be absolute. Just in case one is not
sure of the definition of absolute,
it means “perfect, pure, not limited, not conditional, unrestricted, not
dependent on anything, considered without reference to anything else.” This
last part of the definition seems to capture the heart of this definition of free
will. It is a will not dependent on anything and has no reference to anything
else.
But
what is the will? In the case of free will, it must be the power of
self-direction or self-control. Putting these thoughts together we come up with
a concept of free will that says man is a free agent to self-direct all his
decisions and choices independent of everything and without any external
reference point.
I
will add one more thought to this definition. Free will means that whatever we
choose for ourselves it is the right and perfect choice for us. How could it be
anything other than this since there are no external reference points by which
to judge our exercise of free will? The concept of good or evil would not enter
into the picture, for what matters is what is right for us. In other words,
there is nothing outside of us that makes a difference. You could say that we
are on the top of the mountain, and everything else is below us. We are the
king of the mountain.
Interestingly,
I just read the following in our local newspaper in response to an article
someone had written: “My wife and children are my world, and other family
members are simply satellites around that world. If they refuse to recognize my
world, then to me, they’re just insignificant comets flying through my
universe.” This person’s worldview is obviously centered on self, and I would
imagine that this one believes in free will as well.
If
man has a free will as defined above, then I contend that man is God. Why?
Because only a god can make a choice apart from any external influence! Only a
god exercises his will according to what is right for him. Only a god has no
one higher than himself.
The
fact of the matter is that mankind, in general, seems to act and think this
way. Sadly, even Christians who hold so strongly to the concept of free will
have unwittingly bought into this lie as well.
This
whole notion of free will comes from the seed sown in the heart of man in the
day that Adam partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The seed
sown came from the serpent of old, and it has led to multitudes believing a big
lie and falling into a systematized scheme of deception based on a lie.
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(Genesis 3.4-5 NASB)
Man
believes the lie that he will be like God and that he will never die, even
though he will return to the soil of the earth. If we believe that we are like
God, then we believe we can make decisions in the same manner as God, that is, make
decisions independent of any influence. We can even make decisions over life
and death. Consequently, many believe that no one really dies but that they go
into another place in death, whether
heaven or hell. Unfortunately, this thinking is prevalent amongst Christians.
Further, billions of people who fear death, even hate it and desire above all
else to live forever, choose to die rather than to accept God’s offer to live
one day in immortality. I find something very strange in this line of thinking.
This is why I say that it comes from a seed of deception sown in the heart of
man that goes back 6,000 years.
Let
us get to the very heart of the matter. Do we really make any decisions independent
of any external reference point? Do we really and truly make decisions as if we
are gods unto ourselves? The answer to both questions is no we do not. Everything
we do or don’t do is based on some influence in our lives. In fact, our lives
are directed every which way we go or turn. Governments of today expend a great
deal of energy and money controlling the lives of its people. For example, I
cannot drive a car legally unless I am of age and have a driver’s license. I
cannot own my one car and drive it legally unless I have insurance, pay taxes
and have it inspected once a year. I might choose not to do any of these things,
but then I would be a law breaker and eventually my actions would lead to
trouble.
I
can hear some at this point proclaiming that I am proving that man has free
will in regard to his salvation, for my example is proof positive. After all,
one who refuses to believe on Jesus is exercising free will and this will lead
to big trouble. But this misses the point that there are external influences
that direct our wills or choices every single day and every single second of
the day. None of us make decisions independent of some external influence.
There is always something that comes to bear in the exercise of our will.
The
news article referenced above makes the point. The one who wrote the article
thinks that he reigns in his own world or universe, but as much as many would
like to think it so, it is a big lie. We are dictated to all day long by
innumerable influences on our lives. So the concept of free will as presented
is just not valid.
For
me, the question is not whether we exercise our will in making choices every
day, for we most certainly do make choices all day long.
The
question, which I hear few asking, is whether God’s will trumps our will when
it comes to believing in His Son. Another way of asking the question is this:
Does God’s will come to bear on our will to save us, or is salvation totally up
to our will?
Some
will say that God does not want robots, so He will not interfere with our will
in the matter of salvation. And yet, our wills are influenced all day long by
our spouses, our children, our parents, society and, most of all, by our government
and its laws under which we live. None of us live in some protected bubble free
of external influence. So why is it that so many believe that our very Creator
has no direct influence on us? Why is it that so many seem to hold that God’s
love cannot and does not woo our hearts to His Son? Of course, love is another
matter entirely; but isn’t love a powerful external influence?
For
a moment let us consider Jesus’ will when He walked on this earth 2,000 years
ago. In regards to the purpose of God, Jesus executed God’s will perfectly, never
executing His own will. While on earth, He was under the will of an external
source, the will of His Father in heaven.
The
Son of God did not come to this earth to exercise His will. He came to do the
will of the Father. He had no intention of coming to do what He wanted to do.
“For I have come down from heaven, not
to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6.38
NASB; also Matthew 26.39; John 8.28)
It
was designated beforehand that the Son would come to this earth in the form of
man, not to exercise His own will but to do the will of His Father in going to
the cross to die for all mankind. Even His second coming is in the will of His
Father.
Now, concerning
that day and hour no one is aware, neither the messengers of the heavens, nor the Son; except the Father only. (Matthew
24.36 CV)
The
Son cannot decide on His own that He is tired of waiting, so He is going to
return to earth and seize His kingdom. The Father and the Son know the day and
the hour, but the Son cannot change the appointed time fixed by His Father’s
authority (Acts 1.7).
Consider
Paul the apostle. I use him often as an example of one who was apprehended by
Christ (Philippians 3.12). On the road to
Grateful am I to Him Who invigorates me, Christ
Jesus, our Lord, for He deems me faithful, assigning me a service, I, who
formerly was a calumniator and a persecutor and an outrager: but I was shown
mercy, seeing that I do it being
ignorant, in unbelief. Yet the grace
of our Lord overwhelms, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Faithful
is the saying, and worthy of all welcome, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, foremost of whom am I.
But therefore was I shown mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ should
be displaying all His patience, for a pattern of those who are about to be
believing on Him for life eonian. (1 Timothy 1.12-16 CV)
By
his own admission, Paul was in ignorance and unbelief. It was like a great mountain
in his life that was immovable. Nothing could blast this huge stumbling block
from his life. Even worse, Paul never knew that it was a stumbling block until
the Lord Jesus met him and blinded him on that dusty road. But what overcame
Paul’s ignorance and unbelief? Was it Paul’s will that all of a sudden decided
to accept Christ apart from any external influence? Hardly! A light blinding
him out of heaven is a mighty powerful influence on one in unbelief. So what
changed Paul’s mind in that split second when Jesus spoke out of heaven? Paul
tells us what did it. Yet the grace of
our Lord overwhelms, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
It
was the grace of our Lord that met him on that road and overwhelmed his
ignorance and unbelief with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Don’t miss the
truth that Paul has left us. It was grace that overwhelmed him with faith and
love. It was not Paul’s grace; it was not Paul’s faith; and it was not Paul’s
love. It was all from the Lord Jesus. When he wrote his epistle to the
Galatians, Paul declared that it was not his faith; it was the faith of the Son
of God.
With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living;
no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which I am now living in
flesh, I am living in faith that is of
the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me. (Galatians 2.20 CV)
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2.20 KJV)
I
can testify that it was neither my will nor my faith that led me to believe in
Jesus. One day as I was in unbelief and ignorance, Jesus broke into my life,
and by His grace gave me the faith to believe, and He saved me. My boast is in
Him alone, for I did nothing to save myself; I had no faith of my own to
believe; and my will was overwhelmed with the grace of God, so that I bowed the
knee to Jesus. Was my will exercised when Jesus met me? It most certainly was.
But did I make a choice independent of any external influence? Absolutely not!
Then what happened to my will? God came in and trumped my will with faith and
love and brought my will into conformance with His will.
Does
this make me or anyone else who believes in Jesus into robots for God? Absolutely
not! We continue to make choices all day long, but now we are free to make
right choices for God and His kingdom under the influence and guidance of the spirit of God.
This
leads to one other point regarding man’s will.
As
You will.
When
people are first saved we tell them that they must obey the Lord and this comes
by reading His word, knowing His will for us and obeying what He speaks to our
hearts to do. We might even teach new believers that in the
Now,
this poses a question: If for believers, the spirit is willing, but the flesh
is weak, then how does an unbeliever, whose spirit is dead to God and whose
flesh is in control, exert his or her will to believe in Jesus? Stated another
way: If believers face challenges to do the will of God, and they have an
earnest of the spirit of God, then how do unbelievers break through these same
barriers on their own without the spirit of God? The answer is that unbelievers
cannot break through, for they have no means within them to do so; their flesh
is in control and the flesh profits nothing (John 6.63). Simply, doing the will
of God that leads to salvation is impossible for an unbeliever. Sinners need
the grace of God and the faith of Jesus to break through the barrier of
unbelief, and this requires the spirit of God to move upon their hearts of
unbelief.
The
more I read Scripture free of the traditions of men, the more I see that God
alone works out His purpose of the eons through His Son. There is no other way
because God designated it all beforehand in His Son. To accomplish His purpose,
God has not entrusted the plan to any man other than the Second Man. Let us not
rob God of His glory but give all the praise and glory for His marvelous
purpose and plan.
Now,
this leads to the matter of predestination.
Predestination.
I have heard it taught that predestination refers to what
a person receives once he or she believes and has nothing to do with God
choosing the person for salvation ahead of time or beforehand. This goes
hand-in-hand with believing that the same person made a free will choice to
believe in Jesus. For example, according to this line of thinking, a person who
believes is predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. It is as if God
determined before He created man that once a person crossed the threshold of
belief, the person would be called, justified and glorified, but it is totally
up to the person to cross the threshold on his (or her) own. I have also heard it
taught that predestination means that a person is chosen because God, who is
all-knowing, knew beforehand that the person would believe in Jesus; that is,
the person would make the right free will choice.
But, is this the proper way to view predestination? I
don’t think so.
The
Greek word proorizō appears in
Greek Scripture six times and is most often translated as predestined or foreordained.
The Concordant Version uses the phrase designates
beforehand. The thought conveyed in this word is that God has made a
determination beforehand regarding a matter or a people.
Let
us consider the verses in which this phrase is used.
The
verse that sets the stage for understanding designates
beforehand is the first usage in the New Testament.
For of a truth, in this city were gathered against
Thy holy Boy Jesus, Whom Thou dost anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
together with the nations and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel designates beforehand [proorizō] to occur. (Acts 4.27-28 CV)
This
is part of a declaration made by Peter and John, along with their companions,
after the two were released by the Jewish leaders of that day. In the name of
the One that the Jewish rulers and the nations raged against and crucified,
Peter and John had healed a sick man. What did God designate beforehand? He
designated that His Son would be crucified at the hand of
In
his epistle to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that the death of God’s Son was
God’s wisdom in a secret that God designated before the eons.
Yet wisdom are we speaking among the mature, yet a
wisdom not of this eon, neither of the chief men of this eon, who are being
discarded, but we are speaking God’s wisdom
in a secret, wisdom which has been concealed, which God designates before [proorizō]–before
the eons, for our glory, which not
one of the chief men of this eon knows, for if they know, they would not
crucify the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2.6-8 CV)
The
point that needs to be understood is that Christ’s death was determined in the
counsel of God before the eons were even set in motion by the Son. But there is
one other essential point that is so obvious that it is hardly necessary to
state; nevertheless, it needs to be stated: the Son was known by the Father
before the eons, and He sent Him to this earth the first time with the sole
purpose to die for the sin of the world. God’s foreknowledge was not that He
looked ahead and saw that His Son would not fail, as if there could be some
doubt. No; His Son came with this purpose in mind and set out to complete the
task.
This
distinction is vital for understanding the other verses, because it is often
taught that God looks ahead in time and sees who will be faithful by applying
their free will, and on this basis alone, they are predestined to become sons
of God in the eons to come. In other words, for many people, predestination
simply means that God has predetermined that the reward for those who exercise
their free will and believe in Jesus will be glorification. The process of
salvation is left up to man and the ones that exercise their will and make the
right choice are predestined to sonship. Since God is all-knowing, and He knows
the future, He also knows who will make it. Do you see the danger in such
thinking? At this point, I hope so!
Now,
here is the key to our understanding. The Son of God did not come to this earth
to exercise His free will. He came to do the will of the Father. He had no
intention of coming to do what He wanted to do. The Father didn’t send Him to
this earth because He looked out to the future and saw that He would be
obedient to the point of death on a cross. Yes; He knew He would go the full
mile, but He sent Him because He came to do His Father’s will.
“For I have come down from heaven,
not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6.38
NASB; also Matthew 26.39; John 8.28)
It
was designated beforehand that the Son would come to this earth in the form of
man, not to exercise His own will, but to do the will of His Father in going to
the cross to die for all mankind (Philippians 2.5-11).
As
such, designated beforehand has
nothing to do with man’s free will, but has everything to do with the exercise
of God’s absolute will. God designates beforehand His purpose and how it will
be worked out to His own glory. How can it be to the glory of God if the
outcome of His purpose and plan is dependent on man’s will and not His? Truly,
this is not the example left us by Jesus. Besides, has man’s collective will
since the fall produced anything with any eternal value?
It is time for God’s
people to stop holding to a god that seems limited by the frailty of man and to
believe in the God who has designated
all things beforehand, including who will come into glory first and who will
follow later, even at the consummation of the eons. As Paul wrote to Timothy: Now in a
large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of
wood and of earthenware, and some to
honor and some to dishonor (2 Timothy 2.20 NASB).
Besides, for from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 11.36 NASB).
The challenge to the predestination of some that precede
the salvation of all comes into sharper focus if we see that all will come into
glory, but not all at the same time. And, during the eons, God’s purpose and
plan is worked out through vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor, just as it
is worked out through good and evil, and through a host of adversaries among
the celestials.
Now, let us look at the verses that
apply to those designated beforehand.
Now we are aware that God is working all together
for the good of those who are loving God, who
are called according to the purpose that, whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand [proorizō], also, to be conformed
to the image of His Son, for Him to be Firstborn among many brethren. Now
whom He designates beforehand [proorizō], these He calls also, and whom He calls, these He
justifies also; now whom He justifies, these He glorifies also. (Romans 8.28-30
CV)
Some
are called according to the purpose of sonship in the eons to come and some are
not. We might not like this, but God has not given us a vote on the matter. I
think Paul was well-aware of the protest that would come forth from what he
saw, and he addressed it later in his epistle.
You will
say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’ On
the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded
will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does
not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one
vessel for honorable use and another for common use? (Romans
9.19-21 NASB)
In
bringing about His purpose in His Son, God not only designated beforehand the
plan (calling, justification, glorification), but He also foreknew who He was going
to call and choose to be on the leading edge of His plan. Simply, He alone, by
His will, calls who He has chosen according to His purpose. HE IS GOD!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing among the celestials, in
Christ, according as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world,
we to be holy and flawless in His sight, in
love designating us beforehand [proorizō] for the
place of a son for Him through Christ Jesus; in accord with the delight of His
will, for the laud of the glory of His grace, which graces us in the Beloved: in Whom we are having the deliverance through His
blood, the forgiveness of offenses in accord with the riches of His grace,
which He lavishes on us; in all wisdom and prudence making known to us the secret of His will (in accord with His
delight, which He purposed in Him) to have an administration of the
complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ–both that in the heavens
and that on the earth–in Him in Whom our
lot was cast also, being designated beforehand [proorizō] according
to the purpose of the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of
His will, that we should be for the laud of His glory, who are pre-expectant in the Christ. (Ephesians
1.3-12 CV)
For those who are called and chosen in this eon, these
words penned by Paul are the most encouraging in all Scripture. In love, God
the Father has designated beforehand those who will be placed as sons in the
coming kingdom. This is His delight and according to His grace. These are
chosen beforehand according to the purpose of God who operates all in accord with
the counsel of His will. Did you catch that? According to HIS WILL! It does not state that it is according to man’s will or
even the will of the ones chosen. It is by God’s will alone, so that He alone
should receive the praise of His glory.
This is all in the secret of His will in accord with what
He has purposed in His Son.
Consider
Paul’s testimony.
But when
God, who had set me apart even
from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal
His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…. (Galatians
1.15-16 NASB)
Notice
how Paul was set apart from his mother’s womb. This surely does not sound like
free will. How can a baby exercise any will on such a matter? God alone set
Paul apart and then called him through His grace. It was God’s pleasure to
reveal His Son in Paul. In other words, Paul lays no claim to his calling. Do
you see Paul’s will being exercised in his testimony? Of course not!
Consider
what John recorded in his gospel.
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not
receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1.11-13 NASB)
Some might read this and think that those who received Him
were ones who exercised their free will to believe, but this is not how John
concludes the matter. They were born not of the will of man, but of God! It seems to me that this is
a very emphatic statement that rules out man’s will.
Or,
consider some verses telling us that God moves on hearts, even to harden them
in order to fulfill His purpose.
What then? What
“But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass
through his land; for the LORD your God
hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.”
(Deuteronomy 2.30 NASB)
Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all
those signs came about on that day. (1 Samuel 10.9 NASB)
Or,
consider the fact that the Lord fashions hearts.
The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; from
His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He
who understands all their works. (Psalm 33.13-15 NASB)
Or, as
previously cited, consider the fact that creation itself is subjected to
futility by the Lord.
For the creation was
subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it,
in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to
corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8.20-21
NASB)
Just
these few verses indicate that the Lord is in charge of the destiny of man and
of creation. He hardens hearts as He chooses in order to work out His plan in
the eons. How can it be any other way? Is He not the Creator of all? Is He not
the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1.15) and the firstborn among many
brethren (Romans 8.29)? Does He not uphold all things by the word of His power
(Hebrews 1.3)?
And we know that
God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [proorizō] to become conformed to the image of His Son,
so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined [proorizō], He also called; and these whom He called,
He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans
8.28-30 NASB)
Some
might say that these verses do not support predestination as I see it in
Scripture. After all, the verses apply to those who love God, as if the ones
called according to His purpose worked up love on their own. But where does
love come from?
The love
of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was
given to us. (Romans 5.5 NASB)
Love
starts with God, not with man. It is His love that is returned to Him. Those
who have received His love are called according to His purpose. They are predestined,
designated beforehand, because it is God’s will that they are called and chosen
for glory.
Their
destiny in Christ has been set by God. In other words, they were predestined to
be a son of God, to be conformed to the image of His Son. Ultimately, I believe
that all mankind will come into this place of justified and glorified because
this is the absolute success of the work of the cross, for in Christ shall all be made alive. And yet, there are some who are predestined
to precede most of humanity in being glorified.
Someone
once argued that if predestination is true, then God’s justice demands that He
save all mankind. Amen! Unfortunately, the same person rejected his own
argument. Nevertheless, I would add that if God hardens hearts to fulfill His
purpose, which Scripture clearly reveals, then God’s justice also demands that
He save all mankind. Perhaps, the best way to view predestination is to see
that all mankind, without exception, is predestined to be saved, but not all
are predestined at the same time; salvation comes for some at the end of our
present eon, some at the end of the next eon, and some (many) either during God’s day or at the end of it.
Well,
I believe Scripture teaches predestination, the salvation of all mankind and
the restoration and reconciliation of all IN
CHRIST. It is the most glorious good news that anyone should want to hear.
It explains the full depth of God is
love.
Love
never fails.
Why
does it seem that so many Christians today desire a god that is vengeful and hell-bent
on destroying most of mankind, and they believe that God’s love will fail to
reach the most hardened heart, even the hearts that He purposely hardened?
Let
it be shouted from the rooftops that the love of God never fails, for God loves the world! This is the
very heart and foundation of the good news of Christ.
The
restoration and reconciliation of the whole creation is about a love relationship,
the love relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father’s love desires
that His Son be all in all and the Son’s love desires that the Father be All in all.
“Father, those whom Thou hast given Me, I will
that, where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may be beholding My glory
which Thou has given Me, for Thou lovest Me before the disruption of the
world.” … “And I make known to them Thy name, and I shall make it known, that
the love with which Thou lovest Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17.24,
26 CV)
This
love is not merely between the Father and the Son, for it must have an
expression outside of the Deity. This is where mankind and all creation come
into the picture, for God is love, and He must express love to all mankind and
creation. In return, God desires a love relationship with mankind. His purpose
is to fill all with His love.
I
purposely repeat the same lines about the love of God throughout my writings
because I believe the fact that God is
love is rejected or relegated to a lesser importance by many, especially by
those who hold to the heaven-hell doctrine. Again, love begins with God. God is
love; He first loved us (1 John 4.16, 19); and He expresses His love in and
through His Son.
By this
the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten
Son into the world so that we might live through Him. (1 John 4.9 NASB)
We know
love by this, that He laid down His life for us…. (1 John
3.16 NASB)
But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to
His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit….
(Titus 3.4-5 NASB)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were
dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you
have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might
show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
(Ephesians 2.4-7 NASB)
But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. (Romans 5.8 NASB)
Some
might argue that each of these verses applies to specific groups of people,
such as the disciples and the body of Christ, and not to all mankind. It is
true that only those who believe in Jesus in this eon will enjoy life (eonian
life) in the next eon. However, does it follow that the rest of mankind will be
forever excluded from this love affair? Is God’s love so shallow that it will
not reach out and continue to reach out to lost humanity until He has won the
heart of every soul that was created to be in the image of His Son? Do you
honestly think that God did not make provision for His love to win every heart
He created to be in His image? The divine will of God for mankind eventually will
be fulfilled at the consummation. God’s will is greater than man’s will, and
all will be conquered by His love and through His Son.
Beloved
in Christ, Paul experienced the very love of Christ, and he willingly died
daily that others might know this love. Paul asked: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8.35)? He
declared: Love never fails (1
Corinthians 13.8). If love never fails, and we know that God is love, then how
can we say that His love will not save all mankind and reach out into His
entire creation? If it does not, then Paul is a liar, and we cannot trust his
word. But Paul testified: I am telling
the truth, I am not lying.
This
leads to the most important point that I could stress in this entire matter.
The
absolute success of the Cross.
How
could Paul state that love never fails? He could because he knew that the love
of God manifested through the cross was an absolute, 100% success in undoing
what the first Adam brought upon his race.
Just
consider the following points, which will be backed up with Scripture in the
second section of this chapter.
Adam
successfully caused death and sin to enter through into all mankind. There is
no exception for any born of Adam’s race, which includes all mankind. In other
words, Adam’s one transgression was an absolute success in bringing death and
sin unto all mankind, and those born of Adam’s race have no choice in the matter.
If they are born of man, they must die as man. Most every student of Scripture
would have to agree that this is true. In fact, even the unbeliever would have
to agree that all die, for it is an indisputable fact that all die, and we have
a countless numbers of graves in the earth to prove it.
However,
when it comes to Christ’s one act of righteousness, many believers hold an entirely
different view. They see Christ’s one act of righteousness potentially leading to life for all, but not all will attain to it
because it is only possible if one
believes on his own volition (free will). In other words, mankind has a choice
in the matter, and unfortunately, most will not make the choice while in the
body, so they will die in their sin and be lost forever. By some accounts there
are perhaps upward of 50 billion humans now being tormented in hell.
Is
there something odd about this reasoning? Mankind has no choice in the matter
of death and sin, but now must make a choice in the matter of life. Mankind had
no free will in becoming a sinner and ultimately facing death, but now has a
free will to determine his destiny in heaven or hell. Does this make any sense
to you? Isn’t it rather strange that billions upon billions of people who had
the spirit of life breathed into them made a free will choice to die and have
rejected God’s promise of life? Why is it that the majority of mankind (not the
minority) has chosen, according to their own free will, not to go the way of
life? Isn’t it far more logical that if man’s free will were operative in the
matter of salvation that most of all mankind would choose to live? After all,
most of mankind seem to fear death. When we fear something, we generally desire
to stay away from that thing. Think about it!
Consider
this question: Why is Adam’s one transgression more successful (in a bad sense)
than Christ’s one righteous act (in a good sense)? Has God ultimately failed?
Is God not able to save all mankind? Did He make the ultimate sacrifice knowing
that billions of His creatures, made to be perfected into His own image, are
going to be cast into a fiery lake to be tortured forever and ever and ever?
God is the Supreme, and all comes out of Him, through Him and for Him is all (CV). Are we to conclude that it is His will that there are exceptions to
His all?
If
it is true, then we must conclude that God will fail to achieve His purpose,
and the cross was not able to undo all that Adam did. Without doubt, some will
argue that it is man’s failure, not God’s. But this cannot be so, for if man
fails to reach God’s end, it is God who fails, not man. Man did not establish
God’s purpose, God did! Man was nowhere to be found before times eonian when
God set His purpose and plan according to the counsel of His will.
Man is helpless in his sin, so why do
we make man a hero in his own salvation, as if he can save himself?
Let
it be shouted from the rooftops and the pulpits of every so-called “church”
building that bears the name of Christ: The
death of God’s Son on the cross is an absolute, unequivocal 100% success
according to the counsel of God’s will!
We
need to be continually reminded that it is God’s will that is being worked out
in the eons, not man’s will, and that God will accomplish all that He wills.
All things come forth through God. We need to stop holding to a small, impotent
god created in our own image and embrace the God of All who will be All in
all.
Declaring the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and
I will accomplish all My good pleasure’…. (Isaiah 46.10 NASB)
According to the
purpose of the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His
will…. (Ephesians 1.11 CV)
Because of Him and
through Him and to Him [are] all [things]; to Him [be] the glory into the ages! So
be it! (Romans 11.36 ALT)
Seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him
is all: to Him be the glory for
the eons! Amen! (Romans 11.36 CV)
I
pray right now that you will meditate on these verses and the many to follow, and
may the spirit of God enlighten the eyes of your heart.
Well,
this completes the first section of this chapter.
Now,
let us consider some Scripture that supports what has been presented so far
regarding the restoration and reconciliation of all, especially all mankind.
“[There] is not a righteous
[person], not even one. [There] is not
[one] understanding; there is not
[one] diligently seeking after God. All turned aside, together they became
unprofitable; [there] is not [one] doing kindness [or, what is right], [there]
is not so much as one.” [Psalm 14.1-3; 53.1-3; Ecclesiastes 7.20] (Romans
3.10-12 ALT)
If
no one is a seeker of God, then how is anyone saved unless God touches their
heart to believe?
And you were dead in your
trespasses and sins…. (Ephesians 2.1 NASB)
If
we were all dead in our trespasses and sins, then how could we possibly become
alive again unless someone outside of ourselves gives us life? The dead have no
ability to change their condition, for they are DEAD! Unless the dead are
raised from the dead by a force outside their control they will remain dead.
Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into
the world, and through sin death, and thus death
passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned…. (Romans 5.12 CV)
Death
passed through to every single human born after Adam. Because we are born to
die we are also born to sin because sin reigns in death.
For God
locks up all together in stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all. (Romans 11.32 CV)
God is going to shower His mercy on all because He has shut up or locked up all. Whom do you want to exclude from this all?
But the scripture
locks up all together under sin, that the promise out of Jesus Christ’s faith
may be given to those who are believing. (Galatians 3.22 CV)
The word of God locks up all together under sin, so that each (in
its own era) may be released by faith. Today, the promise is for those who believe. But if God locks up all together
in stubbornness, and Scripture locks up all together under sin, then how does
one come to believe unless God gives the faith to believe.
And from this we learn that everything
is dependent not on man’s will or endeavour, but upon God who has mercy. (Romans 9.16 WNT)
Why
do we think that our will enters into the equation when everything is dependent
on God who has mercy? But God! Man’s
will is against God; therefore, man is totally dependent on God who wills.
Our Savior, God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a
realization of the truth. (1 Timothy 2.4 CV)
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men
to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2.3-4 KJV)
God our Savior Who will have all men to be saved is a
mighty powerful affirmation of God’s will. Unfortunately, many translations use
the words wishes, desires and wants, as if God is begging mankind to be saved. This is gross
interpretative bias to maintain the doctrine that man has a free will in the
matter of his salvation.
Do you think that God sent His Son to this earth to die on
a wish, a want or a desire to save mankind? It is as if God said to His Son:
“Well, Son, I am not sure this plan is going to work, but I desire for it to
work. At any rate, You go down there and be totally humiliated and suffer an
agonizing death and let’s see what happens. Perhaps mankind will respond to our
gesture of love.” What kind of Savior would He be if His vicarious death were
not an absolute, perfect success to save all mankind? Let us keep in mind that
it is God who devised this plan of salvation, not man. If we devised it, at
best, it would be a wish or a desire. But for God it is an entirely different
matter. Do we not think that God’s will can and will trump man’s will. Why?
Because He sent the Savior of the world to die for all the sin of the world!
Why? Because God loves the world! Why? Because God wills that all mankind
eventually will be conformed to the image of His Son.
We rely on the
living God, Who is the Savior of all
mankind, especially of believers. (1 Timothy 4.10 CV)
Scripture
does not state that God is the Savior of believers only. He is the Savior
especially of believers in this eon, for they are the ones who are called out
to enjoy a celestial allotment. However, it does not state that they are the
only ones who ultimately will be saved. All
mankind is included. There are no omissions, exclusions or deletions in the
work of the living God to save all mankind.
God
wills, not man, not preachers. Who will cancel out God’s will? Will man cancel
it out? Will man reverse God’s will? If God wills it, then how can we say that
it will not happen? It must happen because it is in God’s will that all be saved.
The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, “Look, that is the Lamb of God who is to
take away the sin of the world!” (John 1.29 WNT)
Christ
took away the sin of the world. John did not proclaim that Jesus left some sin
behind. He took it all away. Recently, I was listening to a pastor on the radio,
and he said the one sin that will be held against the unbeliever is that he did
not believe. In other words, Christ took away all sin but one, the sin of
unbelief. This is contrary to Paul’s word to the Romans: For God hath concluded [locks up] them all in unbelief that he
might have mercy upon all (Romans 11.32 KJV [CV]). Consider how Paul explained the matter to
Timothy, his son in the faith.
I, who formerly was a calumniator and
a persecutor and an outrager: but I was shown mercy, seeing that I do it being
ignorant, in unbelief. Yet the grace of our Lord overwhelms, with faith and
love in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy
1.13-14 CV)
By
his own admission, Paul was in unbelief. He had no way out of his unbelief until
the grace of the Lord overwhelmed him with faith and love in Christ Jesus. After
all, he was locked up in unbelief. In other words, grace was a power outside of
Paul that came in and overwhelmed his ignorance and unbelief. Paul had no
choice in the matter; it was all of grace that was lavished on him.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [faith] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God…. (Ephesians
2.8 KJV)
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me. (Galatians 2.20 KJV)
Faith
in Christ does not come naturally for us; it is something that we must receive
as a gift of God. In other words, God must give us the faith to believe on His
Son. This is what it means to be saved by grace through faith. If God does not
do it, then we will not be saved. He must overwhelm the unbelief of all through
His grace.
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man
attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed
through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know―this Man, delivered over by the predetermined
plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the
hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it
was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2.22-24 NASB)
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. (1 Timothy 1.15 NASB)
For while we were still helpless, at
the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a
righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans
5.6-8 NASB)
Christ
came to save sinners not to condemn them to an eternal torture chamber. Notice
that He saved while all were yet sinners.
But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not
know what kind of spirit you are of; for the
Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] (Luke 9.55-56
NASB)
Many
teach as if Christ will destroy many lives by casting them into an eternal oven
called hell. Of course, this is countered by the same ones that it is man who
placed himself there, not God. But let us be reminded that all things are worked out according to the counsel of God’s will. Are we to exclude the
eternal destiny of man from God’s counsel? Hardly! Christ came to save not to
destroy.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His
benefits; Who pardons all your
iniquities, Who heals all your diseases…. (Psalm 103.2-3 NASB)
O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is
lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He
carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and
afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the
chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us
all to fall on Him. (Isaiah 53.4-6 NASB)
For I will
be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more. (Hebrews
8.12 ASV)
Under the new covenant God remembers sin no more. Whose sin will
He retain?
“All was
given up to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the
Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and whomsoever the Son may be
intending to unveil Him.” (Luke 10.22 CV)
And this
is the will of him that has sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up
in the last day. (John 6.39 DNT)
“And I, if I should be exalted out of the earth,
shall be drawing all to Myself.”
(John 12.32 CV)
“And I, if I am lifted
up from the earth [death on the cross], I
will draw [or, drag] all to Myself.” (John 12.32 ALT)
All
has been given to the Son; the Son will lose nothing; and the Son shall draw
all to Himself. Can Scripture make it any clearer? This is love!
The
Son of God will gather all in heaven and on earth to Himself. He is like a
magnet that will draw everything to Himself. He is like the mother hen that
broods over her chicks. As He brooded over
Was
Christ exalted, which refers to the manner of His death? Of course, He was.
Then what are we to conclude? There is only one conclusion; He will draw all to Himself. It does not say that He
will draw all at the same time, but He will draw all eventually. It also does
not state that He will draw only all mankind. It states that He will draw all,
which is an all-encompassing drawing that has to include all of mankind, all of
the messengers and all of God’s
creation. Nothing is left out of this drawing. It is universal!
Further, the Greek word for draw
literally means “to drag” as if Jesus literally will drag all unto Himself.
He is before all things, and in
Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1.17 NASB)
For by Him all
things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities―all things have been created through
Him and for Him. He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together.
(Colossians 1.16-17 NASB)
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us
in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the world. (Hebrews 1.1-2 NASB)
If
Christ holds all things together, then He also must be holding the unbelieving
sinner together as well. How can one single person be excluded from the One who
holds all things together? Either in Christ all things hold together or they do
not. There is no room for exclusions, omissions or deletions in all things.
Further,
all things are created in Christ, and He is the heir of all things. What are we
to exclude from this all?
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact
representation of His nature, and upholds
all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins,
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…. (Hebrews 1.3 NASB)
Christ
upholds all things by the word of His power. ALL THINGS!
For there is one
God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, Who is giving
Himself a correspondent Ransom
for all (the testimony in its own eras)…. (1 Timothy 2.5-6 CV)
Christ
is giving Himself as a correspondent Ransom for all—not some, not a few, but all.
But notice that it is not all at the
same time. The testimony is in its own eras, which means that all will not
benefit from this at the same time, but all
will eventually benefit, even if from the first to the last of the recipients
of God’s mercy and grace there are 2,000 years or more.
And He is [the] propitiation
[or, appeasing sacrifice] concerning our sins, but not concerning ours
only, but also concerning the whole
world’s! (1 John 2.2 ALT)
John
included the whole world in the appeasing sacrifice of Christ. It wasn’t just
for John and his believing Jewish brethren, and it is not just for us who
believe in this day. Christ is the propitiation concerning the sins of the
whole world.
Nor yet is it that
He may be offering Himself often, even as the chief priest is entering into the
holies of holies year by year by the blood of others, since then He must often
be suffering from the disruption of the world, yet now, once, at the conclusion
of the eons, for the repudiation
of sin through His sacrifice, is He manifest. (Hebrews 9.25-26 CV)
At
the conclusion of the eons, Christ repudiates sin, which means that He will put
away or cancel out sin altogether. Now, if most of mankind is lost forever in
man’s so-called eternal hell, then how can Christ repudiate or put away sin at
the consummation of the eons or ages? If billions of people remain in this
so-called torture chamber called hell, then are they not still in their sin?
Then how does Christ cancel out all sin if it continues beyond the eons? It
cannot continue, and it will not continue because once sin and death are put
away for good all mankind must be the beneficiary of this repudiation.
He brightly reflects God’s glory and is the exact representation of
His being, and upholds the universe by His all-powerful word. After securing man’s purification from sin
He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high…. (Hebrews 1.3 WNT)
This
is another one of those absolute statements that can be easily passed over.
Christ secured man’s purification from sin. Do you see any omission or
exclusions in this statement? If He secured man’s purification from sin, then
does it not follow that one day all mankind will enter into the good of this
purification? Purification refers to
washing off sin or purging of sin. Do we not think that God’s fiery law can
purify even the most hardened sinner? The person might have to spend many years
under the discipline of God’s righteous law in the spiritual lake of fire
during God’s day, but God is love, and His heart is to purge
such a one, so that he can enter glory one day.
Through one offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also… through one just
award for all mankind for life’s
justifying [justification of life] (Romans 5.18 CV)
Who will not receive life’s justifying? One offense led to
condemnation for all mankind, and one
just award will result in life for all
mankind. How can anyone refute God’s use of the word all?
But not as the offense, thus also the grace. For
if, by the offense of the one, the
many died, much rather the grace of God and the gratuity in grace, which is of the One Man, Jesus
Christ, to the many superabounds.
(Romans 5.15 CV)
For even as, through the disobedience of the one
man, the many were constituted
sinners, thus also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted just. (Romans 5.19 CV)
Because of the offense of one, the many died. Through the grace of
God through one, the many shall be justified. Now, some will argue that the
many does not include all. However, Adam plus the many equals all mankind, and
Christ plus the many equals all mankind. Adam and Christ stand out as unique
among mankind; therefore, they are one and the rest are many. Further, Paul
went on to define the many as all mankind.
This word was not unique to Paul, for Isaiah the prophet spoke of
the many as well.
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and
be satisfied; by His knowledge the
Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their
iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will
divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and
was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and
interceded for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53.11-12 NASB)
Who is excluded from the many? Did not the Righteous One bear the
iniquities of all mankind? Notice that Isaiah identifies the ones for whom
Christ will bear their iniquities as the many. Thus, the many encompasses all
mankind.
For even as, in
Adam, all are dying, thus also, in
Christ, shall all be vivified. (1 Corinthians 15.22 CV)
Who can argue that in Adam all are dying? Look around you; who is
not dying? Do believers never experience death? Of course not, for we all die.
But notice that in Christ shall all
be made alive. Now, some will argue that this means once you believe, you are
in Christ and then you are made alive. But this is not what this states. As he
did in his Roman’s epistle, Paul was contrasting the two positions of mankind.
All mankind, including believers, find themselves in Adam in relation to death,
for all die. Consequently, all mankind, including unbelievers, must ultimately
find themselves in Christ, for shall all be vivified. The wording is very important.
Paul revealed the truth that all are dying and shall all be made alive. Death came through Adam to all; life will come
through Christ to all.
Do not be deceived; there is only one way for all mankind to be
saved and to be made alive, and that is through Christ; He is the only way.
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He
died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for
themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians
5.14-15 NASB)
If
Christ died for all and therefore all died, then who has the ability to come
back into life? No one does! Since no
one can come back to life on his own, then he must be absolutely dependent on
the One who took him into death in the first place.
Now,
some will say that this is true; but they will also say that it now depends on
man to believe, so that he can benefit from what Christ did for him through His
death. Does it seem strange logic to you that we all have been taken into
death with Christ, not by our own
choice but by God’s own doing, and yet many teach that it is up to us to live? The dead know nothing whatsoever
(Ecclesiastes 9.5). How could any of us come into life unless the Lord Himself gives
us life?
Through Him to reconcile all
to Him, making peace through the
blood of His cross. (Colossians 1.20 CV)
The
blood of His cross has brought peace to all, which includes not only mankind
but all God’s creatures, including His messengers. Who of mankind is excluded
from this peace? Do we exclude the vilest sinner, as if Christ’s blood could
not reconcile such a one to God? Again, it does not say that all are reconciled
at the same time, just that all are reconciled.
If
you don’t believe that the vilest sinner can and will be saved according to the
will of God and not the will of man, then consider Paul, the foremost among
sinners who became our apostle. By his own account, Paul was the chief among
sinners. He was not trying to be humble but was stating a fact. He was the
worst of the worst. He persecuted the risen Christ, the Son of God. How do we
know this? Because Jesus declared so as He blinded Paul on the road to
And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto
me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord?
And he said unto me, I am Jesus of
Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners; of whom I am chief…. (1 Timothy 1.15 ASV)
For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the
Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I
persecuted the
I persecuted
to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them
into prison…. (Acts 22.4 WNT) [But Saul, yet breathing
threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest…. (Acts 9.1 ASV)]
And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being
exceedingly mad against them, I
persecuted them even unto strange cities. (Acts 26.11 KJV)
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted
the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15.9 KJV)
This was not a man who was trying to gloss over his
accountability for his actions. No; this was a man who was rightly judging
himself. Persecuting the ecclesia of God was persecuting the risen Christ
Himself. Can you imagine that Paul compelled people to blaspheme? This was a
most serious and egregious offense. No wonder Paul saw himself as the chief
among sinners and the least of the apostles. Yet, the Lord chose this
persecutor and overwhelmed his ignorance and unbelief, and not only saved him,
but put him into the most glorious service anyone has ever been given in the
ecclesia of God. Paul alone is proof that God will save the vilest sinner, not
because of his free will choice but because God wills it so.
For I am not willing for you to be ignorant of this
secret, brethren, lest you may be passing for prudent among yourselves, that
callousness, in part, on Israel has come, until the complement of the nations
may be entering. And thus all
Paul
grieved over the rejection of Messiah by his brethren by blood, but by faith He
could proclaim that eventually all
But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU
REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? YOU HAVE
MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH
GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE
PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not
subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But
we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely,
Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that
by the grace of God He might taste death
for everyone. (Hebrews 2.6-9 NASB)
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is
death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN
SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in
subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection
to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be
subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians
15.25-28 NASB)
Christ
suffered death for all and now is crowned with glory and honor. Because He has
been crowned, all things are subjected to Him; there is nothing that is not
subject to Christ. He tasted death for everyone.
Again, people will say that this is true, but to benefit from it sinners must
believe in this age; otherwise, they will be forever lost in an eternal
hellhole. But if all things have been subjected under His feet and He has
tasted death for everyone, then does it not follow that one day all sinners
will come out of death and into life? After all, Christ will reign until He has
put all things in subjection, so that God may be All in all.
And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that
dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by
thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family: After that he is sold he may be
redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his
uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family
may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon
with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of
his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of
a hired servant shall it be with him. If there be yet many years behind,
according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the
money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall
count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price
of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the
other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the
year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him. (Leviticus 25.47-54 KJV)
Even
the law of God as seen in the jubilee makes provision for the redemption of one
sold into servitude. According to God’s law, there is a limit to how long one
must remain in bondage. In the year of jubilee such a one shall be set free. Is
this not a beautiful picture of the grand jubilee that will occur at the
consummation of the eons when all mankind is brought into the family of God?
Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord,
how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven
times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not
say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew
18.21-22 NASB)
Here
we see the principle of jubilee as well. Seventy times seven represents ten
jubilees. Jesus laid down the principle that in the jubilee all debts are
forgiven. Sin is a debt; therefore, all the debts of every sinner must
eventually be forgiven.
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that
curseth thee: and in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12.3 KJV)
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from
whom every family in heaven and on earth
derives its name…. (Ephesians 3.14-15 NASB)
Through
Abraham, the father of a multitude of nations, all the families of the earth
will be blessed. There is no distinction made over their condition before God.
It is as if Paul picked up on this same theme and was caught up with the
thought that all the families of the earth and in heaven are named. Receiving a
name from God is clearly an indication that one is in the family of God. But
notice that for Abraham it was all
families, and for Paul it was every
family.
The last
enemy that will be abolished is death. (1 Corinthians 15.26 NASB)
But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not
read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF
ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not
the God of the dead but of the living.” (Matthew 22.31-32 NASB)
Our
God is the God of the living. How can He be the God of the dead and death
remain a power in His creation? Death must be abolished, and so it will be at
the consummation of the eons. In that day, no one can remain in any state of
death; all must come out of death.
“And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of
every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion
which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. (Daniel
7.14 NASB)
Notice
that the kingdom is about all peoples, nations and men of every language.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed
on Him the name which is above every
name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY
KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2.9-11 NASB)
“Turn to Me and be
saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have
sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and
will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will
swear allegiance. (Isaiah 45.22-23 NASB)
Notice
that every knee will bow willingly and every tongue will confess willingly.
Paul merely picked up this truth through Isaiah the prophet. This is God’s
will.
In
1849, E. Manford wrote an article entitled 150
Reasons For Believing In The Final Salvation of All Mankind. Given this
number, what I have presented is a drop in the bucket. Nevertheless, my prayer
is that the spirit of God will take what has been presented and open the eyes
of your heart, so that this will serve as a springboard to see other Scripture
that reveals the glory of salvation through
God’s Son, our Lord Jesus. God wills that all mankind be saved, and this is
discovered in the restoration of the whole creation. Praise God!