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God's Purpose for All His Creation
God had a wonderful purpose in mind when He began to reveal His artistry and wisdom in the creation of the universe. When the consequences of sin and death became known to humanity, many questions about God arose in the hearts of men and women. Why did God plant the forbidden tree in the garden, why did He let the serpent enter the garden, what is the reason for all the pain and suffering humanity is experiencing, etc. In the contemplation of the answers to these questions it looks as though the devil is more than an equal match for God. But is he?
God always remains the winner! The answers continued to be a mystery until Christ came on the scene. After Christ’s death and resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the apostles (especially Paul) received revelation of God’s purpose for humanity and of the greatness of God’s salvation! In their writings we find the answers to the things that had formerly been a mystery to humanity!
In our search for answers we first need to know God’s reason for forming Adam from dust that could be corrupted, blowing His breath into him, giving him a wife, placing them in a garden, and letting death through sin enter this world and infect all humanity. When God said, “Let us make man in our image,” did He say that all the failures, all who did not meet the prescribed image, would be cast into a hell of no return? It may surprise us to learn that there is no mention of any failures. So let’s look at God’s purpose and plan.
In Ephesians 1:8-10 the apostle Paul gives us a rare insight into Gods’ wonderful plan, not only for humanity but for all creation. “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 fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.” The Concordant Literal Translation speaks of eras instead of times.
It is exciting to know that God has a plan and purpose for everyone and everything, including the past, present and future! These verses tell us that this plan has its source in God’s wisdom and kindness! This is difficult for us to contemplate because, even during our short span of life, we experience many hardships, sorrows and pain. We see so much evil and suffering! We have been inundated with teachings that intimate that Satan’s disobedience is greater than Christ’s obedience, so Satan will get all the failures - the greater percentage of humanity, to suffer with him in agony for all eternity. We have been told that only a precious few will make it to heaven. How can this fit in with God’s perfect kindness and wisdom? We agonize over the great dilemma we are in until God’s plan is revealed to us.
God’s will and plan for creation has been a mystery to us because we did not know the future. A mystery has a hidden answer, but it remains a mystery until the answer is revealed to us. Here we have the answer: ALL things will be summed up in Christ! What a glorious future! God has one plan for His creation, and that is that ALL, everything, will be summed up in Christ! All the ages are working toward the fulfillment of this great plan!
It is hard for us to comprehend this fantastic plan! It seems to be too good to be true, yet nothing is too good to be true. The good news is that this present evil, corrupt administration of government is to be replaced with a new type of administration – one that is suitable for a new era in which ALL is summed up in Christ!
God always has a good purpose for everything He does! It doesn’t always seem that way to us, and therefore we are called to live by faith – the obedience of faith as exemplified by Abraham! He did not know ahead of time that God would spare him from the actual deed of sacrificing his son, but he knew that God would keep His promises that were to come into being through his son Isaac! God did not disappoint Abraham, and He will not disappoint us – nor will He disappoint Christ!
Why do we say that God will not disappoint Christ? We find the answer in Col 1:16. “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.” Since all things were created through Christ and for Him, surely it would be a great disappointment to Him if He did not get what was His! It would prove that God did not have the power and ability to keep His promise, and therefore could not be trusted, and that the devil had the power to thwart God’s purpose and promises. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
The book of Job shows us that the devil cannot go beyond the boundaries that God has set for him. The revelation of God as given to us in the scriptures as well as in Christ shows us that the devil is a defeated foe, and that Christ is victorious! Therefore we can safely declare with Paul that ALL things will be summed up in Christ! This is good news! Everything was created for Christ, and everything will be summed up in Him! God is able to perform His will, and nothing can hinder Him or stop Him from reaching His goal!
Can you see how this truth judges the lie that proclaims eternal punishment? Some Christian leaders have interpreted certain scriptures according to their natural understanding instead of receiving spiritual understanding, and in so doing, they have created a false image of God. They have painted a picture of a God who is weak and unable to keep His promises. While they say He is sovereign, they also say that God’s sovereignty is curtailed, blocked, and limited by the free will God has given humanity. The pride that is in humanity is unbelievable! Do we really believe that our God is so naïve that He would hand over some of His sovereignty to the humanity that He has created, and that He knew would receive the serpent’s mindset? God’s great wisdom does not allow for any mistakes or failures. His plan to sum up all things in Christ will be achieved!
However, humanity is so naïve that it believes it has a free will, when in actuality it only has a will that opposes God’s will. It does not realize that a free will cannot be influenced. The very fact that the serpent could influence Adam and Eve proves that they were not immune to being influenced, and therefore they did NOT have a free will - and neither do we! The myth, that man has a free will is one of the lies of the enemy which humanity has accepted as truth! Nowhere do the scriptures say that we have a free will.
It is time that Christians everywhere recognize and accept the truth that no one has the power to stop God from achieving His will and reaching His goal! Although people proclaim that God is such a gentleman that He will not override man’s will, this idea is nullified by the scriptures. It is sheer folly, prideful ignorance and arrogance to think that humanity’s choices CAN overrule or override God’s sovereignty, and keep Him from fulfilling His promises!
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These myths and theories have been presented as truth. They have been publicized in books, preached in churches and on television, and made real in movies, thereby brainwashing the evangelical world into believing many lies about our great and glorious God! God’s salvation in Christ is great enough to bring EVERYONE to repentance, and to cause ALL things in heaven and on earth to be summed up in Christ.
The very essence of God reveals His love and unchangeableness! In 1 John 4:8 we read that God is love! Love is the very essence of His being! Since God does not change, His love can never be diminished. Therefore it is impossible for God to rejoice when His creation is writhing in the agony of an eternal, torturous flame? Could you be happy if you saw your child crying out in agony in a burning house, in flames that would last forever? Is your heart of compassion greater than God’s? Or are we misrepresenting God?
Instead of blindly believing man’s interpretations, let us take a look at what the scriptures actually teach. The word Hades, the abode of the dead, is wrongly translated as hell, while the word “hellfire” is not even in the Greek manuscripts. It has been wrongly inserted by the translators. In Hebrews 12:29 we read that God is a consuming fire. We need to recognize that when the word “fire” is used in the New Testament, it is usually speaking of God’s consuming spiritual fire that eradicates all our carnal thinking. The word “Gehenna” that is also translated as hell, speaks of the place near Jerusalem where garbage was burned.
We have already learned that all things were created for Christ. In 1 Cor. 15: 25-28 it says that ALL things will be subjected to Christ, and when ALL things are subjected to Him, He will hand it ALL back to the Father, “so that God may be all in all”! In Eph. 1:10 it says that ALL things on earth and ALL things in the heavens will be summed up in Him! In Phil. 2:10-11 we have a glorious promise! “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.” According to 1 Cor.12:3, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” A forced declaration would be a lie and an insult to the very essence of God! God wants everyone to function in truth!
These scriptures tell us that God will accomplish His will! God’s ability is not limited by the devil or any other being. God remains sovereign, and His purpose for humanity and for ALL creation will be achieved! What a glorious hope we have in Christ!
Since “end times” is such a popular theme at this time, the fact that Eph. 2:7declares that there are still ages to come needs special attention. It reads, “So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” According to Young’s Concordance, the Greek word “aion” that is translated “ages”, is only used two times in the New Testament - once in Eph. 2:7 and the other in Col. 1:26 . Does this word actually mean a period of time, or does it have a different meaning? Colossians 1:26 reads, “The mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints.” This verse clearly indicates that this word refers to periods of time. So we can safely conclude that it will be a long time before all things are summed up in Christ.
This knowledge excites us and captures our interest. What has to transpire before God’s promise is fulfilled and He reaches His goal and ALL things are summed up in Christ? Why are God’s ages so long? Paul tells us that we are the first fruit, and that was approximately 2000 years ago. According to Old Testament symbolism, after the first fruit comes the harvest, and then the gleaning, when that which was missed in the harvest, is picked up. Nothing shall be lost! Everything is to be harvested! In symbolism, we see that everyone is to be harvested. At present we seldom hear this truth being proclaimed.
It will be interesting to see how God turns the tables. At Christ’s crucifixion it looked as though all was lost, yet His death was included in God’s plan for victory! When we come to the end of ourselves, God does a new thing! Of one thing we can be sure - God ALWAYS keeps His promises! God’s ability is not diminished by humanity’s unbelief. In the fullness of the times, ALL things on earth and in the heavens will be summed up in Christ! All things were made for Christ, and He will receive what belongs to Him!
When all things are summed up in Christ there will be no sin and no corruption, for there is no sin and no corruption in Christ! Everything will be pure and undefiled! When the glory of the Christ in us, and the glory of God’s marvelous love and salvation, and the glory of His vast creation will be revealed to us, we will bow in humble adoration, and worship the Lamb that is worthy to receive all honor and glory, for He has revealed the Father to us! The glory awaiting us is beyond description! It is no wonder that the suffering and difficulties we experience at this present time will seem like nothing in comparison!