Creation and Redemption in the Light of Jesus Christ

SPEAKER 01 : 0:14

We’re at the climax of Paul’s thoughts on the gospel and the far-reaching nature of the gospel. And we talked about this the other day. He comes to this marvelous climax in Romans 11, verse 36. Well, verse 33, really, and then verse 36. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. and then in verse 36 he says for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen Well, we talked about this the other day, and I have more to say of it. First of all, I’m just staggered by my own blindness, because for years I just did not give much attention to this verse. I just thought it was what we call a doxology, a praise to God, a poetic expression of gratitude, and I saw nothing more in it. But the more I have studied the book of Romans, and the more I’ve gone verse by verse and paused to consider its meaning in the context of the verses surrounding it, the more I am amazed at what this says. Look, let’s read it again. For of him, and that means from him, for from him, And through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. You see, Paul has just finished talking about the salvation of all Israel, and by extension, of course, he’s talking about the salvation of all the world. Because what God does for Israel in atoning for their sins, he does for the whole world. The sacrifice that would wipe out the sins of the whole house of Israel would be the same sacrifice that would wipe out the sins of the whole world. So in that context, he’s giving an exalted praise to God. And so look at this verse, and you can imagine this. For from him, that is his creation, and through him, that is his redemption, and to him, that is the restoration, are all things. So putting that in just slightly altered English, It would read, All things come from him, and all things are coming through him, the sacrifice and atonement, and all things are going to return to him. You know, we don’t even comprehend what his creation means. When I was a boy, I was told, and I was very interested in astronomy as a boy, that there was one galaxy in the world, in the universe, one galaxy. And it was assumed that there were about 100 million stars in that galaxy, which was already incomprehensible. Well, when I was in my middle age, many of you may think middle ages, I suppose, but when I was in my middle age, they told me, or it was heard of, that there were probably a hundred billion galaxies. But now… The reckoning is by astronomers that there are two trillion galaxies, and each galaxy contains a hundred billion stars. So suddenly, the statement that God makes, that he calls them all by names, is utterly astonishing. It is utterly stunning that the Creator can call all of those stars in all of those galaxies by name is just beyond our can, isn’t it? You see, When I was a boy, we were told you can see about 5,000 stars by the naked eye. And I suppose that’s true today, too. But we assumed that that was all there were. But that was just by the naked eye. When you got a pair of binoculars, which I did, and steadied them on a stick… I could see lots more stars than with the naked eye. But all of those stars, do you know how long it takes to count a million by counting one digit per second, day and night? Well, it takes 11 days. Do you know how long it takes to count a billion? One per second, day and night, non-stop. It takes 32 years. And do you know how long it takes to count a trillion? One per second, day and night, non-stop. It takes 32,000 years. It is utterly astonishing, and all of this is God’s creation. And that’s apart from, I mean, that’s the physical creation, apart from the complexity of that creation. It used to be said that certain, it used to be spoken decades ago of a simple cell. We now know that a simple cell is as complex as the Oxford Dictionary and it is operating in that complexity every single second. There are no simple cells. They are full of intelligent life. So here we have God’s creation, and that’s all apart from the soul and the spirit and all the wonder of his love that he has communicated through us, through the Holy Spirit, through creation. So this creation comes from him. But here’s the catch. Well, it’s not a catch. It also comes through him. Now, if you are to examine the idea of through him in the New Testament, it’s speaking about through Jesus Christ. We have salvation through Jesus Christ. We have the resurrection through Jesus Christ. We have the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. We have righteousness by faith through Jesus Christ. And so when it’s talking here about through, it’s talking about a creation that has to be redeemed. Well, wait a minute. It was, first of all, created unfallen, wasn’t it? Yes. But God, in his infinite foreknowledge and wisdom, knew that to create the universe, at least one aspect of that universe, this earth, must be allowed to fall. and be occupied with satanic and fallen angels. Why he chose it, we don’t know, except that it must have been a decision, certainly, that through the fall, God would reveal his wonderful grace and love and mercy and the enormous immensity of that love in its determination to win the universe, to win the world back. So we have God’s decision that to create the world would be to create, in effect, a fallen world. He did not create the evil, but he allowed the evil to choose itself, that is, Lucifer to choose evil and bring the world down. It was not an afterthought that the salvation plan came in. It was known and thought of and decided well before creation. But the truth that we need to grasp is that all creation, all your sorrows, all your worries, all your sins, all your addictions, all your tragedies, all your griefs, all your ill health, all your financial struggles, come through the atoning grace of Jesus Christ. All of it is being redeemed. You might say, well, how does that work, Colin? What does it mean? And I can’t say that I know all that well. But I know that when I bring a trouble before God and I lift my heart up to him and say, Father, I thank you that you are here in the midst of it. I thank you, Jesus, that you have already redeemed it. I find peace of heart. I must know if I want to have peace of heart. that all that happens to me and all that is going on in the world around me is going through the redeeming process of Christ’s sacrifice for the universe and for the world. So creation is from God, and he has decided it shall pass through redemption time. Now, wait a minute then, before it returns to God, for from him and through him and to him are all things. And so what this means is that all that is going on in the fall, which is evil and which is everything, is going to be returned to God, all of it, purified and restored, which is why Paul speaks of the reconciliation of all things in Colossians 1 verse 20. Now, let me tell you, this verse is utterly absolute proof that God is going to redeem the whole world and everything in it, because from him the creation is come all things, and through him by redemption all things are going to be to him, that is, returned to him. How amazing! How could I have missed it? How could you have missed it? How could we have missed it? Because we’re blind. And God in his mercy opens our eyes that we might see. So I ask you, how are you handling life? How are you looking at everything that happens to you? You may have abandoned church long ago because you feel it abandoned you. Or you may have abandoned church long ago because you abandoned God. and you feel perhaps that you’ve gone too far, and that the darkness surrounding you and in your mind is so great that you cannot get out of the doldrums, you cannot get out of the slump. But this is what you need to know. All creation, that is everything you’re talking about in regard to the doldrums, is from God. Not that he created the darkness or evil or sin, but he has chosen to allow it. He has chosen to allow it and not put the brakes on it, because everything that is in the doldrums of your life is going through the redemption process of Jesus Christ. And so you can say to him, Dear God, I feel in such darkness, but I do thank you so much that you are in the process of redeeming me, even though I cannot believe it with my intellect. And Father, I then thank you that because you are redeeming everything, I am on the trajectory of the kingdom of God. Because all things in my life and experience and surrounding me are going to return to you in a redeemed state. That is why your Son is restoring the kingdom and will give it back to the Father. That’s the truth of it. So go back to Romans 11, verse 36 again, and ponder it all over again. When you get there. And you can also hear it on the radio, KLTT AM 670 at 10 o’clock in the evening, repeated at 4 o’clock in the morning. And that’s in the Denver and surrounding states areas. And would you consider a donation? It would so help, because we’re really low on funds right now. Send your donation to FaithQuest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or make your donation online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much. See you next time. Cheerio and God bless.