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By these three prepositions Paul ascribes the universe (ta panta) with all the phenomena concerning creation, redemption, providence to God as the…
Ex= The Source
Di= The Agent
Eiv= The Goal
The Koine, ta pavnte, is the strongest word for all in the Scriptures; it literally means the all.
ta pavnte/ ta panta, “in the absolute sense of the whole of creation, the all things, the universe, and, everything in heaven and earth that is in need of uniting and redeeming.”
**It is not in the limited sense of “nearly all”, “pavnte” minus “ta”
The final preposition [eiv) reveals the ultimate goal of all that is. What has been provided in Christ is a re-turn, a re-storation, a re-newing, a re-demption, a re-concilation, a re-surrection, a re-stitution.
The prefix “re” means back again, again, anew–and all the words with this prefix speak of something that left its place and has now made its circuit and come back to the point of its beginning.
"In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down;… down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him." -C.S. Lewis
Imperfections, problems, flaws, defects, blunders, and difficult conditions hound us all. Yet, God is sovereign - fully aware and completely able to alter any of these situations. Therefore, these must be perfect imperfections.
These may result in disasters, cancer, tsunamis, misery and death - but the resurrection of all (Acts 24:15) and the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21) will result in our ability to recognize and appreciate God’s relentless love and mercy forever.
Perhaps it could be - the ONLY WAY for us to really see these amazing and beautiful attributes of our creator was for us to experience these perfectly orchestrated imperfections for ourselves. Temporary discomforts and even horrible tragedies are choreographed to set the backdrop for us to clearly see Him when we enter the resurrected life.
Lamentations 3:38 - “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill goes forth?”
Isaiah 45:7 - “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.”
Are our broadest hopes broad enough? Shall there be a nook or abyss, in all the universe of God, finally unlightened by the Cross? Shall there be a sin, or sorrow, or pain unhealed? Is the very universe, is creation in all its extent, a field wide enough for the Son of God?
Please don’t be offended by me having a little fun with the title of this article. I’m not at all implying that my readers are “dummies.” I’m just using a contemporary rhetorical device to get your attention, and emphasize how profoundly simple, and simply profound, is the relational dynamic within Godness—conventionally translated as “Godhead.” If I was conducting a class the assigned reading would be the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, to be read several times, meditated over, and spiritually chewed slowly and thoroughly in preparation for such digestion that will be spiritually health-building.
Keep in mind as you read, that the Holy Spirit has graciously recorded, and seen to the preservation of, Jesus’ most intimate pourings out of His heart to His—and in union with Him, our—Father God, and that He faces what the writer of Hebrews records as, “so great a death.” In that seventeenth chapter, there is no element of Jesus speaking in a way that includes making any concession to a listener’s ignorance and/or interpreting the Lord’s words within a false or faulty religious paradigm.
"....I've observed more and more believers coming to the understanding that the Lord Jesus' death is not an instead-of death, but an all-inclusive death. His death covers the whole of humanity's experience of death."
To say that sin, assuming it to be opposed to God, has the power of creating a world antagonistic to God as everlasting as He is, attributes to it a power equal at least to His; since according to this view, souls whom God willed to be saved, and for whom Christ died, are held in bondage under the power of sin for ever; and all this in opposition to the Word of God, which says that God’s Son was “manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil…” -Andrew Jukes, The Restitution of all Things-
I believe that finally every created soul will be drawn, not forced, to choose to seek, and when he chooses to seek will be helped to find eternal life. I have no knowledge of place or time. I have the great hope. I will condense into a narrow space a few reasons for this hope.
1. I base this belief - for my belief and hope are one -on the attributes of God as admitted by all Christians. Infinite Wisdom knows the end from the beginning, and will not in the beginning create what will defeat the end. Infinite Power is able to control all things toward a desired end.
2. I base my hope on the office and character of Jesus Christ. I see in his life no clumsy mechanical device of vicarious atonement. He did not shed blood to appease an angry Deity.
3. I base my hope on the trend of Scripture... scattered through the Bible, its writers looked into the future, and spoke of the great consummation...a great song of joy, a great shout of triumph...
"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. . . . And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all " (I Cor. 15: 24-28).
4. I base my hope on the Word of God speaking in the best heart and conscience of the race -the Word heard in the best poems and songs, the best prayers and hopes of humanity. The ages have been darkest when this hope was lowest. It cannot be successfully controverted that out of the six theological schools of the Early Church four taught the doctrines of Universalism, only one annihilation of the wicked, and one their endless punishment.
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
plan b-
If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw [some] of mankind unto Myself.
I will drag off with power [some] of mankind.
I will try to lead off all of mankind, but will fail.
"As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive"
plan b minus=
As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall [some] be made alive
"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…"
plan b-
[Some] have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…
"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life…"
plan b minus=
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came [upon some] men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came [upon some] men unto justification of life.
“We all must die and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again, but the Lord does not take away life, instead He devises ways for the banished to be restored.”
Restoration by way of repair to the rightful owner.
Imagine a car enthusiast setting his car on fire because it broke down instead of fixing it. This is what traditional Christianity has taught for almost 2,000 years now. God punishes, not to correct a person but to inflict pain ... kind of like getting the death sentence for a speeding ticket. To our annihilator believers on this forum, JWs too....no, He doesn't snuff us out either. If God is ALL POWERFUL...think about that for a second...wouldn't it make sense He fixes things instead of destroying them? What He does destroy is our old sinful nature and all things not pleasing to the Father but never us, NEVER! God is love...take that to the bank. Bet your life on it.
Restoration by way of repair to the rightful owner.
Imagine a car enthusiast setting his car on fire because it broke down instead of fixing it. This is what traditional Christianity has taught for almost 2,000 years now. God punishes, not to correct a person but to inflict pain ... kind of like getting the death sentence for a speeding ticket. To our annihilator believers on this forum, JWs too....no, He doesn't snuff us out either. If God is ALL POWERFUL...think about that for a second...wouldn't it make sense He fixes things instead of destroying them? What He does destroy is our old sinful nature and all things not pleasing to the Father but never us, NEVER! God is love...take that to the bank. Bet your life on it.
Our Father, whose essence is Love, brings into alignment the "many made sinners" in Adam1, returning that identical "many" thru a major repair in the Last Adam, the Master of reconciliation back to their rightful Owner!
Zero: I will head to the Bank with you!
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Nothing ! ! !
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