All Things . . .

READ Ephesians 1–6

A neighbor related her belief in the sovereignty of God with such fervor that her deep conviction convicted me. How can I doubt Him when He is able to “order all things” and made His will secure? Today’s reading begins with those words:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 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, (Ephesians 1:7–11)

Ephesians is a favorite NT book, yet this morning I was so intrigued by those two words that I did a quick search and found enough to fill another book! “All things” appears 86 times in the ESV Bible, possibly more in the original languages. Many of those references are about the sovereign power of God.

For instance, in the OT, Genesis 24 begins with, “ . . . And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.” In 2 Samuel 23, He is said to “order all things” and 1 Chronicles 29 says “all things” come from Him, therefore whatever we offer to Him is really His in the first place.

Job declares, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2) and the Psalms say He puts “all things” under our feet, yet all things are His servants, not ours. Other passages speak of God who made “all things.”

The NT adds more of the same. Jesus said, “ . . . with God all things are possible” and of Jesus the crowds said, “He has done all things well.”

Significantly, Jesus said in Gethsemane: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) God gave “all things” into the hands of Jesus. He has the power to do “all things” yet yielded that power to the will of God. This is the attitude God wants me to have concerning His sovereignty. I am powerless without Him, yet His power is available to me — but never apart from His will.

Romans 8 is well-known for two thoughts about all things. One is: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (8:28) The next verse reveals that the good purpose God speaks of is not health, wealth and comfort, but about being more and more like Jesus — including His submission to the will of God rather than doing whatever He wanted to do (Note, none of His will was sinful!)

The second thought is this: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (8:32) And these two verses are connected . . . the “all things” God gives us relate to the purpose of the “all things” He uses. That is, He wants me to have “all things” that will produce in me the image of His Son. If anything does not do that, He does not want it, and neither should I. As Paul says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)

At least one more NT truth is expressed using this term:

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)

No matter what God asks of me, He will supply what I need to do it.

There are many more verses about “all things”— I could write a book! However, for today, I’m relying on God’s supply to give me what I need to do the things He puts on my heart to do, and rejoice in the fact that the He is my God — my source and resource for all things! Amen.