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Hi alanMolstad, look at the context of the passage.
Colossians 1:15-20
15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16. 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.17. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.18. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.19. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,20. and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven
It is universal in scope, the same all things that were made through Jesus, are to be reconciled to God through Jesus. God bless.
Smilers,
A few scriptures which present the eventual restoration of all to God:
Psalms 22:
27. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
28. For the kingdom is the LORD'S
And He rules over the nations.
29. All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive
Psalms 66
4. "All the earth will worship You,
And will sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name." Selah
Psalms 68:18
You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives;
You have received gifts among men,
Even among the rebellious also, that the LORD God may dwell there
Isaiah 25:6-8
The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8. He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 45:22-25
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23. "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.
24. "They will say of Me, `Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.'
Men will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25. "In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
Will be justified and will glory."
Zephaniah 3
8 "Therefore wait for Me," declares the LORD,
"For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My decision is to gather nations,
To assemble kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All My burning anger;
For all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of My zeal.
9. "For then I will give to the peoples purified lips,
That all of them may call on the name of the LORD,
To serve Him shoulder to shoulder
John 1:1-9
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2. He was in the beginning with God.3. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.4. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.5. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.6. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.7. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.8. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.9. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
John 12:27-32
27. "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, `Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.28. "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."29. So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him."30. Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.31. "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.32. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
Romans 8:18-22
18. 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.19. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.20. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope21. 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.22. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
1 Corinthians 15:16-28
16. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;17. and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.19. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.20. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.21. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.22. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.23. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,24. then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.25. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.26. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.27. 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.28. 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.
Colossians 1:15-20
15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16. 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.17. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.18. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.19. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,20. and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Ephesians 1: 5-10
"He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens, and things upon the earth."
Can you please give the scripture references that lead you to make these statements. Particularly concerning people waiting in a paradise after death, and also concerning hell not being eternal. Thanks
Its in Revelations. Also read the account of Lazzarus and the Rich Man. He went to Paradise.
When people die, we dont go to heaven or hell yet . We are in a holding place until Jesus comes back to earth.
"The wages of sin are death"- Hell is not eternal
" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. For so whoever believith in the Lord shall NOT perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16
Its right in there. Hell is not everlasting life. It is death.
.18. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, .
Jesus is the "head" of what?....
The context here is that we are talking about the position of Jesus and his role as "head" of the body...
What is this "body" that Jesus is the head of?
The answer is that he is the head of the church...
And that he also is called the Firstborn from the dead.
The dead what?
The answer is that Jesus is the first born from the dead "body"
He is the firstborn from the dead church ...For he truly did die.
Now all that seek life are drawn to him.
Drawn, not forced, not handcuffed...but we drawn.
Like we may be drawn down a hallway by the sound of music.
The sound pulls at you, the music is sweet to your ears...
You find yourself interested is seeking out this sound.
But the sound can force you to come....that would be silly.
But when we are drawn to something we have something inside us perk up and find interest in it...
The same is true when we are drawn to christ.
Jesus is a gentleman, he does not kick in the door and make us believe, force us to be saved.
Rather he stands at the door and knocks...
Only we can open that door for him...
But he has given his word that "if any man hears my voice and opens the door..."
You have to first hear
You have to open that door.
If not, then he is forever outside never to enter...
Now all that seek life are drawn to him.
Drawn, not forced, not handcuffed...but we drawn.
Like we may be drawn down a hallway by the sound of music.
The sound pulls at you, the music is sweet to your ears...
John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The greek word for drawn in that verse is halkuo..which means to literally drag. One only comes to Christ if it is the Father`s will.You can see from these verses that it is the Father that does the calling and choosing. First the Father drags you, then he gives you over to Christ. A person does nothing. It`s all about God.
John 6:37
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
So, once the Father DRAGS you,then he GIVES you over to Christ. Unfortunately, man wants to take credit for at least accepting something. But we can see from the scriptures above that man had nothing to do with it. Man is under the illusion that he took part in it of his own free will.
When you die...
The body goes into the grave..turns to dust, becomes part of the earth and becomes something else one day.
The soul goes to the Father.
At the return of Christ, all the Church in heaven comes with him and we rise up in new everlasting bodies of flesh and bone.
The damned also rise up in new everlasting bodies.
The Church goes up to heaven as Christ rose up to heaven in his body, and is with the Lord forever.
The damned enter their everlasting state of damnation...
Its in Revelations. Also read the account of Lazzarus and the Rich Man. He went to Paradise.
When people die, we dont go to heaven or hell yet . We are in a holding place until Jesus comes back to earth.
"The wages of sin are death"- Hell is not eternal
" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. For so whoever believith in the Lord shall NOT perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16
Its right in there. Hell is not everlasting life. It is death.
Ok but revelations says a lot, where exactly in Revelations, Ok, I know where to find Lazzarus, but where is the Rich man that went to paradise? I'm just asking because there are a few rich men mentioned in the Bible. there were a few. I'm not arguing this bit, just want your actual references, Book, Chapter and Verse so I can see your argument in the light of scripture.
So are you saying that those in hell are annihilated and cease to exist, or are you saying that those in Hell will eventually be restored to God?
The following is spoken by Christ:
Matthew 25:34-46
"34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
In this passage, Christ is clearly talking of the eternity of the righteous, no one denies that fact, but he also speaks of the eternity of the punishment of the Christ rejector. Why is it that people accept the theology of eternal life but reject the theology of eternal punishment when it is spoken of so clearly. The same Greek word is used in verses 41 and 46 to consider the duration of the punishment in fire as the duration of the life of the redeemed. To question one surely opens the other to question.
Shana, I'll respond to your verses hopefully in a day or two, I'm too busy to go through it all at the minute. I disagree with your interpretations but I appreciate that you actually give the scripture that you feel backs up your beliefs.
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