Between departure and arrival

The Bible shows us a God who works on and in the world, but is not yet finished with the world. It is the same God who works on and in us, and yet is probably not yet finished with us either. The Bible shows us a God who works even when we don’t realize it at the moment. This is how it has often been in history. Generations passed before Israel was liberated from Egypt. Generations passed before Israel returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. As it was with Israel, so it was with the rest of the world (cf. Acts 14:16-17). They were not always easy situations, but the word redemption took on a very concrete meaning. In history, God’s action, His nature and His work became apparent.

In world history, we move between departure and arrival. The question of “where to” is not new. It also moved many biblical writers. You wrote about it. It wasn’t always about the end goal. Intermediate goals were also often mentioned, according to the context at the time. And if we can juxtapose, perhaps even classify, all the different contexts and itineraries, a picture of God’s activity and of His redemption through time emerges. This is also how the (theological) term “history of salvation” has developed.

The shortest summary of the time

The shortest summary of the history of salvation we read in Paul. It is his overall understanding of world history in a few words. This summary is in the Epistle to the Romans, at the end of the doctrinal part, before moving on to the way of life in the following chapters. It is, so to speak, a core statement that connects theory and practice; an understanding of the Gospel that is essential to the walk of faith and therefore immediately precedes the practical part of the letter.

Paul writes:

“…for out of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, is the universe!”
Rom 11:36

This phrase encompasses the origin of all things, the course of all things, and the goal of all things. It covers the course of world history against the background of Paul’s preaching of the gospel in the preceding chapters. It describes the history of the world and the history of salvation. Neither in this sentence nor in the context is anything left out that should not have a part in it. Everything is from God, everything exists through Him and everything also comes back to Him. It is a short history of the time. This is how the world works from God’s point of view.

The phrase is part of a doxology at the end of chapter 11. The entire section is revealing:

“O depth of the riches, wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments, and how untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become His Counselor? Who gave Him something first, that it might be recompensed to Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him is the All! To Him be the glorification for the eons (ages)! Amen!”
Rom 11:33-36

The direct occasion for this doxology is the remark in the verse before, in which Paul writes: “For God includes all together in contumacy, that He may have mercy on all”(Rom 11:32). This broad statement is not unique to Romans, but there are several more (Rom 5:18 Rom 8:20-21). Here, God’s nature and work are revealed. Here the insights of the previous chapters flow, showing how recalcitrance is part of God’s action (and all are recalcitrant, cf. Rom 3:23), with the clear purpose “that He may have mercy on all. ” This is the God we are dealing with; a God who puts mercy at the end of His ways.

Unruliness as part of God’s action? As a condition of His mercy? Who would have thought it possible! No wonder Paul comes to praise God in the face of these things. “O depth of the riches, wisdom and knowledge of God!”

The view of the whole

The briefest summary of salvation history does not answer all the questions one might have about the passage. It should be remembered that this statement is considered the conclusion of 11 chapters. Much has already been written. It is a summary statement. Together, however, with this abridged history of the times, he writes a few more things. Immediately before it says:

“How inscrutable are His judgments and how untraceable His ways!”
Rom 11:33

These words can be understood in two ways. One can understand this statement as a summary of the previous chapters. Then it is the words of an astonished Paul who realizes the reach of the Gospel and a Paul who is full of awe. It would not have occurred to him, so to speak, that God would act in this way (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6-13). But it could also be a reference to the comprehensive statement that everything is of Him, through Him, and to Him. Paul has received the view of the whole, but cannot explain every detail (“inscrutable”, “unfathomable”). Not understanding everything, however, does not prevent him from recognizing God’s ways in their entirety. Paul trusts his God even for all the things that he himself does not yet understand. Thus Paul is a realist.

God reaches His goal

Crucially, Paul is expressing here a trust in God from which nothing in the world is excluded. Does God have a goal in mind? Paul affirms this quite convincingly in this passage. God reaches His goal, not because Paul wants it or because Kernbeisser writes this, but because it is the goal God has set for Himself. The apostle trusts in this. As we have seen, His purpose is one of mercy.

Imagine the consequences of this.

When God is no longer God

“…for out of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, is the universe!”
Rom 11:36

It’s amazing, but in some circles, everything about this statement is put into perspective. Neither does one believe that everything is from God (“surely evil is not?”), nor that everything is through God (“surely man has free will?”), and certainly not that everything leads to God (“are you an all-reconciler? Yikes!”). Everything is restricted. Everything is not everything. “Everything” is only “something”. Just imagine what remains of God when He does not have everything in His hands.

However, there is not only this one passage, but there are many others that clearly speak of God having everything in His hands. For example, here, where Jesus, the Son of His love, is spoken of:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn before any creation. For in Him the universe is created: that in the heavens and that on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions, principalities or authorities. The universe is through Him and created towards Him, and He is above all and the universe exists together in Him. He is the head of the body, the called-out church, of which He is the beginning as the firstborn from the dead, so that Let Him be first in everything, since the entire Completion is pleased to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile the universe to Himself (by making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether that on earth or that in the heavens.”
Col 1:15-20

If these statements are relativized, contrary to the clear wording, the omnipotence and the work and nature of God are tampered with. This usually happens only as a consequence of certain theologies, which see the majority of mankind in hell or at best in annihilation in the outcome of salvation history. This is, of course, a disaster that one does not want to pin on God, and theological constructs arise that want to free God from this taint.

Freeing God from the disaster of a hell or annihilation can only be done by shifting jurisdiction. This is a theological tour de force. God is no longer supposed to be in charge, but how do you justify that? Indeed, in the Bible, only God Himself remains ultimately responsible – as quoted from various passages in this article. So you have to construct something that runs counter to that. The construction shifts the responsibility away from God, and onto a new subject. For example, a responsibility is transferred from God to man (here the theological construct “free will” was invented) or the origin of evil is transferred from God to an anti-God (this led to the theological construct “fall of Satan”). Both constructs are invented contexts that are not directly taught anywhere in the Bible . Nevertheless, today they have the aura of “biblical Christianity,” which is why the constructs are often not (allowed to be) questioned.

The theological cleaners

It is not the purpose of this article to address the constructs just mentioned. It should only be noted that these constructs arise because the consequences of eschatology (doctrine of the last things) cast a stain on God. Constructs are invented to free God from this taint instead of questioning eschatology. The consequence of these conclusions is that God is no longer responsible for everything, that is, God is alienated from His divinity. This is now a real problem with far-reaching consequences.

It can be liberating when we realize that the biblical writers did not know such problems. Paul simply trusted God with everything. Let’s do the same! And let us question everything that distracts from God’s work in Christ. Theological cleaners get over these things because it doesn’t fit in the familiar picture. Let’s think about it.