THE GLORY OF CHRIST - Restoring All Things
THE GLORY OF CHRIST --- Restoring All Things
Ephesians 1:10
Sunday, March 8, 2015, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sin has caused devastation in the world. Sin has brought disharmony and disunity to the nations of the world. God in his wisdom and sovereign pleasure has appointed his Son, Jesus Christ, as the means of restoring all things. It is His work to bring all things into unity and harmony in himself.
Ephesians 1:10: “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.”
God has all existence in Himself. He calls Himself “I AM”. All things existed in Him before He spoke them into existence. So “all things are of him, and through Him, and to him to whom be glory for ever.” (Ro. 11:36)
His existence is goodness itself. In his goodness the Lord communicates the effects of his goodness to us. The first act of faith is that we know God is an infinite Being existing together with goodness in a nature which is both intelligent and self-existent. (Heb. 11:6)
Before he called anything into existence by his wisdom and power, God was eternally in himself all that he will be and can be for ever and ever. For where there is infinite Being and infinite goodness, there is infinite blessedness and happiness. Nothing can be added to make him more blessed and happy.
God is always the same. Psalm 102:7: “You are the same. Your years shall have no end.”
In God’s Being there are three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In their love and fellowship together lie all the happiness and blessedness of God. Before there was any revelation of God in creation, He was eternally blessed in the existence in the three distinct persons of the Godhead.
The Lord created all things and gave them being and existence out of nothing. He is the same today. He can still speak, create and bring into existence all things out of nothing.
In creation infinite goodness, wisdom and power are gloriously revealed.
James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
All created things depend on the grace, perseverance and power of God. Their continued depending on God is by virtue of the principle that they would fulfill the purpose for which they were made.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He created for himself two distinct entities. Both entities, heaven and earth were dependent on Him in obedience to a moral law whose purpose was to bring glory to Him.
The earth he created for man, giving him dominion over it enabling him to fulfill the purpose of his creation which was to give glory to God. He created heaven for angels for the purpose of their existence which was also to glorify God.
Scripture does not support the idea that there are other intelligent creatures besides angels and men. That idea misrepresents the glory of God and the whole purpose of his wisdom and grace declared in Scripture. The existence of other intellectual creatures is the fanciful imaginations of sinful men who have lost all semblance of wisdom.
The order of things was “exceedingly good”. Both angels and men lived in dependence on God. Nothing was communicated to them except what they received from God himself. However, this union and fellowship was contingent that they all obey the Lord.
As we know from scripture, this union between heaven and earth was disturbed and dissolved by sin. Part of the angels and the entire earthly family of God ceased to be depending on Him. Mankind that is not centered on Christ as their head is in disunity and disharmony. They fell out with each other and lived in enmity among themselves.
God cursed the earth (Genesis 3). However, He did not curse the heavens because only some of them rebelled against God. The rest of the angels who did not rebel continued to live in their heavenly state.
The angels that sinned against God were utterly rejected forever. But the whole human race, God would not cast off. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ that through His Blood and the election of grace, that all curses are broken. We are received into eternity by receiving Him as our Lord and Savior.
But through Christ, God will not restore them to their former state of two distinct entities, of heaven and earth. Instead, he will gather them both into one, under a new head, by whom the angels would be kept from sinning and the elect chosen from the human race are delivered from the curse. The two in Christ are one family.
Eph. 3:15: “for this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”
This is what Paul teaches in Ephesians 1:10: “…In the dispensation of the fullness of the times, God will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him.”
Colossians 1:20 tells us that God will reconcile all things to Himself, by Him (Christ), whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
This new head, in whom God purposed to gather up all things in heaven and earth into one family, and on whom all things were to depend and by whom they would be held together, is Jesus Christ the Son of God incarnate. (Eph. 1: 22-23)
This glory was reserved for Jesus Christ. There was no other good enough or fit enough for this glorious work (Col. 1: 17-19).
“He is before all things and by Him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.”
All power in heaven and earth, all fullness of grace and glory were given to him. God now communicates with his new family only through our new head, Jesus Christ. In him this new family is held together. All the members of this new family depend on Jesus. In our relation to him lie all peace, union, and agreement among the family in heaven and earth. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
This is what Paul means by God reconciling or gathering all things together in and by Christ.
Each part of the new family is dealt with separately by Christ. Mankind needs redemption and grace. The good angels are confirmed in glory.
Christ took our nature into union with his own in order that he might redeem it so that once again we can live to glorify God. But he did not take upon himself the nature of angels.
Hebrews 2: 14-16: “…the children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also Himself took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he did not take on Himself the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.”
He unites us to himself by his Holy Spirit which exalts us to dignity and honor making us fit to have fellowship with the angels in one family.
As the head of this new family which includes both angels and the redeemed, Christ is exceedingly glorious—far about our understanding.
Christ’s glory is that He alone could bear the weight of this glory as the head of this new family. No creature was fit to be made the head of God’s new creation, and have all things depending on him so that there should be no communication between God and the creature except by and through Christ alone.
The Holy Spirit assigns the glory to Christ. He describes him as the “brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3)
The glory of his person is such that the blessedness of all creatures depends on their being centered on him in his glorious office as head of the new family in heaven and earth.
What did God purpose by the incomprehensible work of his wisdom love and power through the incarnation of Christ?
- Redeem the church by the sacrifice of His Son.
- Gather all things into one in Christ. The whole creation, especially that which is to be eternally blessed has a new head given to it---from him all graces flow into this new family and from this new family worship, praise and gratitude flow back to him. All communications from God to this new family is through Christ. The union and communion between angels and men. The order of the whole family in heaven and earth, the communication of life, grace, power, mercy and comfort to the church. This glory God purposed for his incarnate Son. It was the greatest, the highest glory that could be given to him.
God beautifully ordered all things to live and move in dependence on God. But sin destroyed this order and harmony. All is restored, repaired and made up in our new head, Jesus Christ. Divine creation is made more beautiful than it was before. All creation groans as it longs for this glorious restoration of all things.
By the Lord’s restoration of all things under one head, the manifold, unsearchable wisdom of God is made known to the angels themselves. Eph. 3:10: “To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. To the intent that now to the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
Everything that belongs to this new creation , including every believer in the world, as well as the angels in heaven, gathering together under this one head are all infallibly “established, strengthened and settled” forever (1 Pet. 5:10).
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. I entered into the labors of Rev. John Owen (1616-1683) “The Glory of Christ”. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Rev. Own.