Friday, January 2, 2015

All in All



A Picture of the Universe


All is a very big idea; a small word with a big reality. All means the whole thing. All means without reserve, give it all you've got! All means complete.

Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Since we do not understand the completeness of God's all, we struggle with the bad things that exist all around us.  If Jesus has all authority, why do evil things exist?  Why does Jesus allow ISIS to kill innocent women and children, and to cut off the heads of their prisoners and show it on Youtube?

When we look at the story of how things are, in the Bible, we learn that God intended for all people to have the opportunity to rebel against Him, and opportunity to be saved by Him. He put two trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Mankind was given the opportunity to choose life or death, and we all choose death, just like Eve.

Apostle Paul writes that God made His creation subject to futility,
"18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing 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 hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Yes, that is how He made us.  Subject to futility, created with the capacity for rebellion, creatures with free will. And we choose death and destruction because of our selfish will, our infinite curiosity, our raging passions, our failure to give our all to our Creator. 

But God has a plan from the beginning to give life to all who will give their all to Him. Yes, Jesus gave His all so that we who believe in Him can have life.  Jesus has the authority over death. He will raise all who believe in Him and give them glorified bodies on the last day.  Then He will return all authority to the Father, so that God may be all in all. 1 Cor 15:20 "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he deliversthe kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."

The authority of Jesus works through His word and through His people, and by the Spirit. Evil exists because we have not all committed our all in service to Him. But all who trust in Him have the hope of eternal life, and the glorification of our bodies. 

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Surrender All

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