The Gospel of The Restoration of All Things - Tim Hodge

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but the Bible clearly teaches that death is destroyed.

       ‘The last enemy to be destroyed is death’

      (1 Cor 15 v 26)

       ‘He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces’

      (Isaiah 25 v 8)

       ‘There shall be no more death nor sorrow, nor crying’

      (Rev 21 v 4)

      The only way that death can be destroyed is if all are brought to newness of life and this is what will happen when all are made alive in Christ. And Paul concludes the 1 Cor 15 passage by saying that:

       ‘God may be all in all’

      (1 Cor 15 v 28)

      Not ‘all in some’ that Evangelicals would have us believe.

      It is important, at this stage, to point out that some Calvinist Christians make a distinction between different uses of the word ‘all’.

      They say that there is a difference between ‘all without distinction’ and ‘all without exception’. They would say that when the Bible says that Christ died for all, it means ‘all without distinction’, meaning ‘all kinds of people’, not just Jews but Gentiles as well, but that does not mean ‘all without exception’, meaning every single individual.

      So they would say ‘all mankind’ means some French, some British, some Russians and so on, but not every individual in those nations, as with the phrase ‘all nations’.

      The problem with this view is that there are many passages in scripture where the word ‘all’ is used, and even the Calvinists agree that the word ‘all’ in one part of the verse means ‘all without exception’ meaning every individual, it’s very rare in scripture for a word to change its meaning in the middle of a verse.

      For example, the passage we’ve just been looking at says:

       ‘As in Adam all die.’

      Does that mean ‘all without exception’ or ‘all without distinction’?

      Does Paul mean that ‘some of mankind’ have died in Adam or every single individual? Even Calvinists believe that every individual died in Adam.

      So clearly ‘all’ here means ‘all without exception’ so ‘in Christ shall all be made alive’ also means ‘all without exception’.

      Paul does not mean:

       ‘As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall some be made alive.’

      All means all, and God being ‘all in all’ means all will be saved.

      In Isaiah 53 v 6, it says:

       ‘All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’

      (Isaiah 53 v 6)

      Here again, the word all is used twice. Does ‘all we like sheep have gone astray’ mean ‘all without exception’ or ‘all without distinction’?

      Does Isaiah mean some of us have gone astray or every single individual of mankind?

      Similarly:

       ‘The Lord has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.’

      Also means the same as at the beginning of the verse: ‘all without exception.’

      To show that the second part of the verse applies to all without exception, meaning every individual of mankind, including all unbelievers, let us look at 2 Cor 5 v 19:

       ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not counting their sins against them and has committed to us the message of reconciliation.’

      (2 Cor 5 v 19 NIV)

      Notice the difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’. ‘Not counting their sins against them’ meaning non-Christians because he calls Christians ‘us’ to whom is committed the message of reconciliation.

      In the King James Version it says that ‘God is not imputing their trespasses to them’ and why not? Because in 1 John 2 v 2 it says that:

       ‘Christ is the propitiation for our sins (Christian’s sins) and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.’

      (1 John 2 v 2)

      So whenever the word ‘all’ is used and means ‘all without exception’ if the word is repeated in the same passage or verse it still means all without exception, so:

      ‘As in Adam all die (means every single individual) even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ (Also means every single individual.)

      Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians about the resurrection of the dead, that the body is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption, it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory, it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body and this is the destiny of all who die in Adam, when they are made alive in Christ!

      In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul describes the blessedness of being ‘in Christ’ and from verse 3 to verse 9 he talks about those in the church and all the blessings that are ours and he uses the word ‘us’ six times. Then in verse 10 he says that the whole purpose of having a blessed firstfruits company is this:

       ‘That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on the earth in Him.’

      (Eph 1 v 10)

      And he is going to be using us, who are already in Christ, to help bring in the rest of mankind to gather them into Christ as well, so they can experience the same blessings.

      This echoes the same promises repeated throughout the book of Genesis, that in the seed of Abraham (who is Christ) shall all the families, all the nations, all the kindred’s, and all the people of earth be blessed.

      So that ‘in the dispensation of the fullness of the times’, which means when all the ages of earth’s history are finished, everyone will be saved.

      Here we have the phrase ‘all things’, again meaning ‘all beings’, whether it be things in heaven (all angels) or things on earth (all humans) one day being gathered into Christ!

      Someone once criticized this teaching by saying to me that only those ‘in Christ’ would be gathered into Christ. I responded by saying if they were already in Christ they don’t need to be gathered into Christ.

      Paul is saying that we are already in Christ but the day will come when all will be gathered into Christ - in other words, all will be saved.

      In Colossians 1, it says:

       ‘For it pleased the Father that ‘in Him’ all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the blood of his cross.’

      (Col 1 v 20)

      So again ‘all things’ will be reconciled to God because Christ died for all beings, whether angels or humans.

      Paul describes his ministry:

       ‘Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ.’

      (Col 1 v 28)

      The word ‘everyman’ means ‘every man’ and every man must be presented perfect in Christ’ and to be ‘in Christ’ is to be saved. So far we have been analysing Paul’s letters and we haven’t yet found any mention of hell but simply all things being reconciled to God and gathered into Christ. In other words:

       ‘The Gospel

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