God has a magnificent, wonderful plan for humanity. This plan, once the ages of time run their course, ends with God being ALL IN ALL: PERFECTING EVERY MAN, WOMAN, CHILD AND CREATURE THAT HE CREATED! However, a process of time and ages must pass in order for this plan to become complete. FIRST, let’s begin with who God put in charge of creating His creatures and the one in charge of completing the process of perfection: SPOILER ALERT—IT IS HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST!
Who is the Image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature, for in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him, and He is before All, and all has its cohesion in Him.
And He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may becoming first, for in Him the entire complement delights to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on earth or those in the heavens.
- Colossians 1: 15-20
These verses clearly explain that through Jesus Christ all was created and that through Jesus Christ, all will be reconciled by Jesus Christ. These verses are amazing because an explanation is given about the entire creation and the one responsible for this creation. If that wasn’t enough, these verses explain exactly what creation is. Paul, in this letter to the Colossians, tells that through Jesus, all was created and all will be reconciled. Then, goes on to explain exactly what this ALL includes.
Sooooooooo………scripture says that all was created and all will be reconciled by Jesus. Does this mean that everyone that has ever walked the face of the earth will be with God in the end? That kind of goes against the teachings of every religion in the world. Well, the TRUTH always goes against what religion teaches. Let’s look at the ‘ALL’ described in these verses. Colossians says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature, for in Him is all created. What does every creature and all really include? This is answered immediately if you continue reading this passage. Paul continues to describe the ALL as that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities. Okay, let’s divert to Ephesians 6:12 now to settle what exactly this means:
…For it is not ours to wrestle with blood and flesh, but with the sovereignties, with the authorities, with the world-mights of this darkness, with the spiritual forces of wickedness among the celestials.
- Ephesians 6:12
Paul explains that not only did God create all humanity and benevolent beings through Jesus Christ, but He also created Satan, demons, and all wicked things whether seen or unseen. He created evil and the beings that will carry this evil out. In fact, evil and good exist together in the order and relationship that God has determined as they have cohesion in Jesus Christ. Now, please notice that these wicked creations are in heaven, as scripture says these spiritual forces are among the celestials. They are not contained in hell which is a clearly fictitious teaching if scriptures are translated properly.
NOW HERE’S THE KIKKER: Scripture says that all of creation, including the wicked, will be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ! Through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on earth or those in the heavens. So, Colossians 1:15-20 actually says that through Jesus all was created. Then, goes on to explain exactly what that all is: All people, spiritual entities, animals and everything else. Then, when it is all said and done, Jesus will reconcile all to God. That means that every man, women, child, spirit, animal, demon, and yes, even Satan will be reconciled to God. However, each in their own order. This order is explained in the New Testament letter to the Corinthians:
For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be made alive. Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ’s in His presence; thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to his God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy is being abolished: death. For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in All.
- 1 Corinthians 15: 22-28
So 1 timothy 4:10 says that God will save all men, especially those who believe. The word especially means that believers will come in to everlasting life before unbelievers and enjoy ages of glory while others remain dead. However, Jesus will save the rest at a later time. Let’s breakdown this order in the scriptures from Corinthians:
Before the order is announced, verse 22 says that in Adam, all are dying, thus also in Christ, shall all be made alive. Notice that this verse says that in Adam, all die and in Christ, all shall be made alive. It does not say that only those in Christ will be made alive, it says because of Christ, all will be made alive. That is a big difference! Christians want to mar this sentence by implying that only a select few will have Christ’s accomplishment apply to them. However, these words clearly mean that through Christ, all creation will be made alive. We all know that because of Adam’s sin, death spreads to all humanity. We have no choice in the matter; it applies to all humans without any action of our own. No human is immortal! In the same way, Christ’s death and resurrection applies to all humans without any action of our own. Every human will one day put on immortality when Jesus makes them alive. Some will have this life before others. It is important to understand that salvation is for all and completely apart from any human effort or belief. Therefore, the question is never if a person will be saved and given new life but instead, when a person will be saved and given new life. Those that God chooses to give faith will be saved first; the rest will be saved later. So now, the order by which this will happen:
This first letter to the Corinthians lays out the plan and end game for God, through His Son, to reconcile all creation. However, this process is not completed over night. It takes the fullness of time (all ages) for Christ’s death and resurrection to apply to all of creation. Believers, those that God has given the grace to believe the truth, will be resurrected at Christ’s return to enjoy the 1,000 year (Millennial reign of Christ) kingdom. Unbelievers will remain in the dead state for this period of time. The bible says that the dead know nothing while they are dead. They are in a state of sleep, unconscious and unaware of any sensations or passage of time. They are not in hell or in any other fairy tale place, they are dead.
Then, after the 1,000 year kingdom ends, the believers that enjoyed the 1,000 years will take their immortality into the next age of time, the new heavens and the new earth. We do not know how long this lasts. After the 1,000 years, the dead unbelievers will be raised to face the Great White Throne Judgement. The rest of the dead do not live until the thousand years should be finished (Revelations 20:5). The following scripture in revelations describes the climate at the Great White Throne:
And I perceived a great white throne, and Him Who is sitting upon it, from Whose face earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.
And I perceived the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And scrolls were opened. And another scroll was opened which is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged by that which is written in the scrolls in accord with their acts.
And the sea gives up the dead in it, and death and the unseen give up the dead in them. And they were condemned, each in accord with their acts. And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire. And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
- Revelations 20: 11-15
The people at the Great White Throne are being judged. Remember, scripture teaches that judgement is corrective and for the benefit of the person being judged. When your judgements come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9). During this judgement, people that did not accept what Jesus did as their full justification, will be judged according to their acts, their good deeds and their evil ones. I don’t know how long this judgement takes but God will correct each individual. I’m sure some will take longer than others. These people rejected the full sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover their sins and now rely on their acts in front of the Almighty God. All people fall short without Christ Jesus and will be corrected at the Great White Throne. However, once corrected, these people will experience the second death or lake of fire as it is not their time to live. Again, no sensation will be felt by these people while in the death state. They will not feel a passage of time; they will be asleep until they are raised at the consummation. It will feel like an instant but these people will be dead during the new heavens and the new earth.
Now, I am not sure, based on individual judgement, whether some people will come out of the death state and enjoy some of the new heavens and the new earth, but, it is my understanding that these people will be dead until the consummation or the end of the ages. At the consummation, as Corinthians states, death will be destroyed and all will be made alive as the bible proclaims God will be all in all.
Basically, those that are given belief by God are given immortality early, before the rest. Why do some people get in early and given the faith and grace to believe? Simply, God decided and predestined certain people for this purpose. Others, He did not. These people did nothing of themselves to earn this, it is all of God and He is sovereign. This does not mean that God loves the chosen people more than others as we have no idea what it will be like when individual people are raised at the consummation. I believe God puts together the greatest, unimaginable plan of redemption for each individual during the consummation just like that of the chosen believers. There will be no spoiled brats in heaven; we will all have gone through the ringer of sin and death. In the end, unending glory with God for every single man, woman and child that has ever walked the face of the earth.
| THE FIRSTFRUIT (1 CORINTHIANS 15:23) |
| Jesus is the first one to be raised from the dead to live beyond the reach of death. |
| THOSE WHO ARE CHRIST’S IN HIS PRESENCE (1 CORINTHIANS 15: 23) |
| The next group to be raised is those believers in Jesus that have died as well as those still alive during His return (1 Thessalonians 4: 13 -18). This includes those that have come to a realization that Christ Jesus accomplished 100% of salvation on the cross. |
| THE REST OF HUMANITY, CONSUMMATION (1 CORINTHIANS 15: 24) |
| All those that did not believe will be made alive when Jesus destroys death after the 1,000 year kingdom and the new heavens and the new earth. Everyone will enjoy being with God for all eternity at this point. |
Therefore, the summary of God’s complete plan for the ages. For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). Adam’s sin and death spread to all humanity and humanity has no choice in the matter. In the same way as scripture declares, Christ’s death and resurrection spread to all humanity and humanity had no choice in the matter. Consequently, then, as it was through one offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also it is through one just award for all mankind for life’s justification. For even as, through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, thus also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted just (Romans 5: 18-19). All humanity will be given salvation and live forever with God. Now on to the order presented in 1 Corinthians 15: 23-28: Jesus was the first, believers will come next, and the consummation will end the ages and destroy death. At this point, all are alive and with God enjoying eternal bliss as God will be all in all!!! CHRIST WILL SAVE ALL THAT ADAM LOST: FOR CHRIST IS GREATER THAN ADAM!
Where sin increases, grace superexceeds (Romans 5:20).
God uses the fullness of time and the ages to accomplish His ultimate intention and purpose. We cannot fully understand the wisdom of God and why He chose to make evil, sin and death a necessary part of our creative process. However, we can trust the true God of scripture uses everything about us; every pain, every experience, every mistake, every circumstance, every person in our lives and every intimate part of our being is used to prepare us for an everlasting life that makes our heart throb with joy. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to ruin this eternal destiny because it is based on Christ’s work and not yours. God will fill every creature with His Glory!
Saved ignoble 
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