Purpose of the Ages

“In accord with the purpose of the ages, which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).

“Purpose” means that God has a plan concerning the outcome of creation. The ages were made by and for Christ, and they are unfolding according to the plan of God. Mankind's so called “freewill” will not deter the purpose of God. God is the God of certainty and not of chance, and He made up His mind what He wanted to do and then created the ages to work out His plan.

At the close of the ages God will be "All in all" of His creation.

"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive...When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:22-28)

In our troubled world I am glad God has a plan to save His creation.  Faith in that plan gives me "peace".

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

Capital Punishment

God is a strong advocate of capital punishment.

"The wages of sin is death...

But let's be clear. Death by capital punishment comes to a swift end. God is not an advocate of cruel and unusual punishment like the doctrine of eternal conscious torment. God loves His enemies and after the death penalty is administered, He intends to give them eternal life.

...but the free gift of God is eternal life..." (Romans 6:23)

This "free gift" was one of the mysteries revealed by God to the Apostle Paul.

"When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations..."(Ephesians 3:5)

Down through the years only a few people have tortured others. Much of the torturing was done by political or religious leaders in their wrath against "infidels." But that behavior is how wicked men treat their enemies, not God. When God's wrath is poured out on wicked men it is swift and always ends in the death of its object (i.e. capital punishment). But death is not the end for its objects. Paul tell us...

"I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." (Acts 24:14-15)

God and religion differ on what happens to the righteous and the wicked after they are resurrected? Religion teaches the righteous go to heaven and the wicked to hell. God's plan, however, is to reconcile and save all mankind by His grace, both Jew and Gentile.

"For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly... This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel...To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church..." (Ephesians 3:1-9)

The "church" long ago ceased teaching this "manifold wisdom". It has become another religion teaching that the righteous go to heaven and the wicked to hell. But if you want to read a summary of God's plan, the good news that the church was intended to proclaim, it is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 where it is revealed that "all die", and "all will be made alive" so that God ends up "all in all".

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive...so that God may be all in all."

Capital punishment is good - it removes the wicked from society. Religion adds eternal torment to their sentence which is bad, but the mystery of God's grace is that He will raise both the "righteous and the wicked" up as a rehabilitated new creation, and give us all the "free gift" of eternal life.

"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)

Ignorant People - Not Who You Think

"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery..that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved...God has shut up ALL in disobedience so that He may show mercy to ALL." (Romans 11:25-32)

The mystery was that ALL Israel would be saved, but not until the FULLNESS of the Gentiles has come into a knowledge of their Salvation. It was God who made ALL mankind disobedient so that He can show his MERCY to all.

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!...For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory...Therefore... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, so that you may PROVE WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 11:33-12:2)

It is God's will to "show mercy to all" .  How?  By saving "all mankind".

"...trust in the living God who is the Savior of all mankind, especially believers" (1 Timothy 4:9-11)

That is totally different from present church doctrine which would only bestow salvation on those who make a free will decision to be saved. Those who believe in limited salvation are not the "believers" Paul is referring to above.  I only know a small number of these "believers".

Paul says we need to have a "RENEWING" of our minds, and see things from God's perspective. By doing so we will see that it is the "will" of God to reconcile and save "ALL mankind" by "GRACE" through Christ Jesus his Son.

"...in accordance with the riches of God’s GRACE he made known to us the mystery of his will... to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ…according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:7-11)

His will is to save sinners and unify all mankind in Christ.  That is His "plan" and "purpose" - who is going to stop it?  So pray and be thankful for "all mankind"...

"I exhort therefore, that...prayers...and giving of thanks, be made for ALL mankind...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. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself A RANSOM FOR ALL, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not; a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity" (1 Timothy 2:1-7)

Few Christians believe the above "truth", but it is still the truth. One only has to seek the "renewing of your mind" and then conform it to the mind of Christ rather than the doctrines of religion.  Place your faith in God and reject the traditions of any Church that denies the "truth" because in the final analysis what you believe will be "manifested" at the "dais of Christ".  Failure to believe that God is showing His "mercy to all" by being the "the Savior of all mankind" and that Christ Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all" will be three of those "bad" things put into "practice through the body" by remaining "ignorant of this mystery".

"...God has shut up ALL in disobedience so that He may show mercy to ALL ...we must be manifested in front of the dais of Christ, that each should be requited for that which he puts into practice through the body...whether good or bad" (Romans 11:32; 2 Corinthians 5:10 CLNT)

Everlasting Mercy

“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. So he said to them…I will not believe." (John 20:24-25)

Thomas is called "doubting Thomas" because he refused to believe until he saw Jesus himself. Actually, that was true of all of the disciples. None of them believed until they saw him after his resurrection. Such is the case for the majority of people who live in this world. They will not believe until they see him.

"And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came… and said be not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered…My Lord and my God!" (John 20:26-28)

When Jesus returns to raise the dead, all will see him and all will confess him as Lord, just as Thomas did...

"...every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

Those who believe in this life are "blessed" with the hope of their salvation. They are the few who are given faith to believe in Jesus in this life even though we have not seen him.

"Jesus said to him, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:29)

People are saved by the grace of God.  They are blessed when they believe. But all will "confess" him, "give thanks", and be "blessed" when they see Jesus and enter the Kingdom, not punished forever in the hell of religions.

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all....O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." (Romans 11:32; Psalm 136:1)

God is love and although He has determined that all are to be disobedient in one way or another in this life, He does so to demonstrate His "mercy", which will endure "forever".

Astonishing

"What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me...You then, my son, be strong in the GRACE that is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 1:13-2:1)

Just because a church is mainstream, fills pews, has clergy, stained glass windows, baptisms, and worship teams doesn't mean it proclaims Paul's message. Paul was shocked that some of his converts were departing from his message of the all inclusive "grace of Christ". We should remember that grace means unmerited favor, and be "astonished" that most churches preach a "different gospel" - at best a gospel of grace mixed with free will and works - which is "really no gospel at all".

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the GRACE of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all." (Galatians 1:6-7)

Paul "certified" that the gospel he preached was not made up by men.

"For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not devised by man."(Galatians 1:11)

He did not "peddle the word of God for profit" like "many others" were doing.

"For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God." (2 Corinthians 2:17)

Why did the Galatians, and most Christians, accept "another gospel" and "desert" the "sound teaching" of Paul?  Because they tend to accept the teaching about Jesus of the "polished" speakers considered "super-apostles". They should return to the "teaching" of the apostle that was actually "sent from God" "free of charge".

"For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily. I consider myself in no way inferior to those super-apostles. Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible. Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?" (2 Corinthians 5:4-7)

Adam and Jesus - The Prototypes

All Scripture quoted today will be from the Concordant Literal New Testament and Old Testament Versions, the most accurate version I know of and can be read in its entirety by clicking on the right side of this post entitled Best Bible Translation. I use other translations most of the time because they are more familiar to you – but they always should be compared to the Concordant Version for accuracy.

“Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22 CLNT)

ADAM WAS THE PROTOTYPE of our bodies in its present condition. It is “out of soil from the ground”. When God joined His “breath of life” with this “soilish” body, Adam became the first human “living soul” of “flesh and blood”. However, this prototype “is not able to enjoy an allotment in the Kingdom of God” – it must “be dying once”.

“Yahweh Elohim formed the human out of soil from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life; and the human became a living soul…the first man was out of the earth, soilish…we wear the image of the soilish…flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the Kingdom of God...it is reserved to the men to be dying once” (Genesis 2:7 CLOT; 1 Corinthians 15:47, 49, 50; Hebrews 9:27 CLNT)

JESUS IS THE PROTOTYPE of the “new creation” composed of all “SOILISH” bodies “in Adam” who have died and been “roused” into “SPIRITUAL” bodies which will then be “wearing the image of the Celestial”. This “new creation in Christ Jesus” is what will “enjoy an allotment in the Kingdom of God” AFTER our resurrection.

“So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!...We, THEN, who were entombed together with Him through baptism into death, that even as Christ was roused from among the dead through the glory of the Father, thus we also SHOULD be walking in newness of life. For if we have become planted together in the likeness of his death, nevertheless we shall be of the resurrection also…Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is roused in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is roused in glory. It is sown in infirmity; it is roused in power; It is sown a soulish body, it is roused a SPIRITUAL body…the first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam a vivifying Spirit. The first man was out of the earth, soilish; the second Man is the Lord out of heaven…and according as we wear the image of the soilish, we should be wearing the image also of the Celestial.” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4-6; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 CLNT)

The “soul” is not immortal, regardless of how many times institutional Christianity tell you it is. A “soulish body” is what we have in this age and it cannot “perceive” or be “entering” the Kingdom of God.  We have to be “begotten of water AND Spirit". When begotten of  "Spirit" we will be a "NEW creation" with an immortal “Spiritual Body”  “walking in newness of life”.  We are not there yet, regardless of how spiritual we may "perceive" ourself.  We do not "enter" or "see" the Kingdom by faithfulness to the Church, but by being "begotten by the Spirit" - which is what being born again means.

“Jesus answered and said to them…If anyone should not be begotten anew, he can not perceive the Kingdom of God…If anyone should not be begotten of water and spirit, he can not be entering into the Kingdom of God…you must be begotten anew.” (John 3:3-7 CLNT)

Those Who "BELONG" are "IN"

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

When does a sinner become “in Christ"? The above Scripture implies that it is when he becomes "a new creation".

And when will sinners become "a new creation"?  The above Scripture implies that it is after "old things have passed away".

Old things have NOT passed away in this "present evil age". In this age, Jesus came to "save sinners" and he has done so, all of us.  We have now been RANSOMED, and God is at peace us so He no longer counts our "trespasses" against us. But we still sin and suffer its consequences from time to time, some more often than others. And eventually we die. We need to be RESCUED from that death - and we will be.

"This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE SINNERS...there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a RANSOM for all...Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to RESCUE us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father... (1 Timothy 1:15, 2:5-6; Galatians 1:3-4)

But as far as actually being "in Christ" and "a new creation", it is our expectation, not our reality. We will have to wait until the return of Christ who will resurrect us to immortal life. Now we "belong to Christ" but are still "in Adam" who passed sin and death on to us. When we are "made alive" we will then be "in Christ" and become part of the "new creation".

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have FALLEN ASLEEP. For since death came through a man, the RESURRECTION of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, then at his coming those who BELONG to Christ... and just as we have born the image of the earthly man, so SHALL we bear the image of the heavenly man..." (1 Corinthians 15:22-49)

And who are the ones who "belong to Christ"?  Those he saved - sinners - all of us.  For now we must "believe" in order to have this expectation ("hope"), but then all will believe - "old things" will have passed away.

"...we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things." (1 Timothy 4:10-11)

Yep, we all "belong to Christ" so we're going to be "in Christ".