By saying “All Things” did Jesus mean all things?  

With this blog I am starting a short series on Kingdom Things to Remember. When it comes to having a sound understanding of the gospel of the Kingdom, there are a handful of non-negotiable truths that we need to keep in the front of our minds. It is the truths of scripture that set us free and it is the truth that brings us freedom and life.  

If you have you heard me from the platform, you would have heard these two Greek words: Ta Panta.  

I refer to them quite a bit. Those words are translated from the New Testament Greek as “The All” – meaning “Jesus the All!” I talk about it a lot and speak to it here in my things to remember series because I think that the doctrine of all things is a very important and misunderstood and underapplied doctrine. Because we do not understand the full unequaled and unrivaled authority of God and our place in His Kingdom, we are tempted to live lives marked by worry, disappointment, anxiety, irrational fears and irrational anger. We become negative and catastrophize our way through life. We say things like: “It probably won’t work out and things will most likely go wrong” and “This always happens, things never go right for me.”  

When we don’t fully know and fully trust the doctrine of Ta Panta, the joy of life is bleached out of us by the worries and cares of the world. We no longer feel His power nor do we have a sense of fruitfulness. We hold grudges over those who let us down or didn’t include us. We feel sad and mad and then we feel bad for feeling sad and mad. Unhappy, angry and purposeless is no way to go through the Christian life. And people don’t want to hang around people who live life in this manner. It certainly isn’t how the Bible describes how the fruit of our lives is to manifest Christ like behaviors: characteristics like love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  

Now before you go elbowing someone sitting close to you – be very careful. We are all prone to forget who God is and who we are. Are you prone to impatience, slow to forgive, quick to judge? We all swim in this pool of dirty water. You are not God and there is a reason that He does not check in with you before He makes decisions and acts. No, it is Christ who is supreme and in control of all things (Ta Panta):  

Colossians 1:13-20 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things , and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things , whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Let’s do our Greek study. The article ‘ta’ in Greek is equivalent to ‘the’ in English. The Greek word for ‘all’ is ‘pas,’and the accusative voice is ‘panta’(trust me on this, we are only going to have a Greek lesson today, English is way too hard!). The word ‘panta’ is found 269 times in the Greek New Testament, but in thirty-seven of these occurrences it is preceded by the definite article ta. This gives us ta panta, The all!  

Here is my first takeaway; God works all things according to his will. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:11: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

Let me say it again – “He works all things according to the counsel of his will.” When it says “all things” there is no reason to assume any exceptions here.  

When Paul says, “God, who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that would mean that it is arrogant to think we are in some way in control or that we should expect things to fall out according to our wishes. If you pray and God says “No” or “Not yet” do you conclude that he is not listening or perhaps he really isn’t there.  

Or rather, do you conclude that “He works all things according to the counsel of his will’ and “That all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  

Life is relentless and I am not in control of life’s circumstances. God alone is in control. When it says that “all things work together for good” it means good for God’s Kingdom plans – not our plans! It means good for God’s glory and not our glory.  

The Old Testament writer of Lamentations (3:37) says; “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?” In other words, the only explanation the biblical writer sees behind anything happening is that the Lord ultimately brought it to pass.  

This is where it gets tough isn’t it. Kidney disease and brain hemorrhages, that seems bad doesn’t it. Chronic neck pain and loved ones that find themselves in distress. Now it’s personal. Now my life is troubled. God apparently uses the broken things of this world, even the evil manifestations of our adversary to bring Himself ultimate glory.  

This may be hard for you to hear and it will perhaps demand some more time in the future (I’ll just set the plate for the time you log in to 100 Fold!) but let me say this:

• God is all knowing, God is all powerful, evil exists, and all things exist according to the counsel of his will, therefore even apparent evil exists according to the counsel of His will.

God doesn’t create evil, that is impossible, but in some mysterious way evil exists according the council of the will of the Godhead. Why would he do this? The Westminster catechism states:

God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass . . . so all that God decrees and providentially brings to pass is all to the praise of His glory (Westminster Catechism III:I

Here is an interesting story on this subject. Jesus says in Luke speaking to his disciple Simon Peter not long before Jesus’ betrayal and death:

Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Notice he does not say, “If you have turned again,” but “when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” In other words Jesus is saying to his very good friend Peter “I’m going to give Satan permission to sift you like wheat, and I know it’s going to involve three denials. I know you’re going to turn against me, (that all seems like permitted evil to me) and I know that the purpose of bringing you back according to my prayer is that you might strengthen your brothers.” As it turns our Christian brothers and sisters in the 21^st century see this account of Peter’s failing and Jesus’ forgiveness as a source of great hope. If Peter can be forgiven and released to great ministry after that terrible evil, maybe I can too.

In the past I have permitted my children/teens to do things that I did not believe would end well. I permitted something bad to happen. And on several occasions bad things indeed did happen. Permitting them did not change the fact that it was them who chose poorly. Human beings – all of us – are responsible, accountable – praiseworthy or blameworthy – for what they do. God’s sovereignty does not diminish human accountability.

In closing, here is what we know about the incomparable Jesus Christ by our passage in Colossians – we know two non-negotiable truths about Jesus and his authority over all things;

First, we know that Jesus is Lord over all creation. In Colossians we read;

Colossians 1:15-17 ¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Then the gospel writer John tells us;

John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Second, we know that Jesus is Supreme in all things. Also in Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae we read

Colossians 1:18-19   And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

Supreme over all thing especially the church.

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Then the people asked, “So what?”

So what? Well, here’s the dealio – life is relentless! The reason we have disappointment is that we continue to believe that, even though God is sovereign over all things and is in control of all things – we still somehow believe that our plan is better. Jesus instructs us out of this hell hole by commanding “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” Ask forgiveness for your pride and learn to manage your expectations. Better yet, learn to expect Him to manage your affairs. Your comfort and purpose and power are all found in Christ. By abiding in Him, by practicing His presence, by trusting and obeying, you can yield control of your life to the God who actually, does in fact, have control. Even when as Jesus predicted 200year ago that things will go bad . . . very bad.  

Matthew 24:12-14   Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

And by end I do not think Jesus means the end of the world – that there will only be death, destruction, turmoil and despair. We most likely will feel these things but what I think Christ is referring to is that Christ will come to claim His kingdom citizens, they will rule with Him from on High. The end will come . . .and it will mean the end of sadness and pain, tears and sorrow! All creation will be restored to its perfectly good status.  

Forgiveness will have its full effect – there will be grace and hope not guilt and shame. There will be purpose and intimate relationships not loneliness and purposeless. Sin and its consequence will be erased as far as the east is from the west. Every child will be esteemed and every senior will have purpose. His will will be perfectly manifest and obeyed on earth and it is in Heaven and oh the bliss of that glorious day.  

Friends, I share this good news with you this morning – So that you might find comfort, purpose and the power to persevere to the end!