The Restoration of all Things

THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS

The Restoration of All Things

The “restoration of all things” doctrine is highlighted in Acts 3:21. There are several translations of the phrase including but not limited to: all things are restored; and restitution of all things.

Acts 3:20-21 KJV And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: (21) Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

“all things are restored” NET

“restoration of all things” Green’s Literal, ASV, CLT, KJ3

The word restoration implies “a return … to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition, or the restitution of something taken away or lost” (Dictionary.com)

There are many ways the Restoration of All Things is taught in the Scriptures.

(1) There is the law of Jubilee, which cancels all debt (sin) at the end of the time of judgment.

(2) There is God’s vow in Num. 14: 21 to fill the whole earth with His glory.

(3) Jesus says that if He were “lifted up” (crucified), He would draw [literally, “drag”] ALL MEN unto Himself.

(4) Paul quotes Isaiah in Phil. 2: 10, 11 that “every knee” will bow and “every tongue” will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

(5) Paul quotes Psalm 8 in many places to show that “the all” will be subjected to Christ in the end. The only reason people find Paul’s teaching offensive is because they really do not want all sinners to be saved. 

The deliverance or redemption of the natural creation is connected with that of the children of God. It is when the sons of God are revealed (Romans 8:19) that the creation itself will experience its redemption. The creation is personified as waiting “with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”

Some History     Universal Reconciliation was the majority belief of the church during the first five centuries of the Church and the majority of the early Church Fathers. Through infighting, jealousy, and outright heresy among unscrupulous churchmen who conducted Church Councils after the year 400 AD, the doctrine was soon disregarded then completely eliminated.

The basic concept of Universal Reconciliation was somewhat revived during the 1700’s by only using New Testament resources and bypassing the Laws of God in the Old Testament. Some revivers “cast aside” the Laws of God thinking it contradicted Universal Reconciliation i.e. the law could only condemn people, and thus it worked against the plan of God to save all mankind. God’s will or intention is to place the laws into our nature by the power of the Holy Spirit through God’s New Covenant vow.

Will All Be Restored?

It is the opinion of several people, including myself, this restoration will not only include the entire creation but all individuals ever born, will be born, still born, or aborted. 

2 Peter 3:9 NET The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Peter declares that God does not wish for anyone to perish (literally- to be destroyed) but for all to repent and be reconciled. 

Paul states that God wants all to know the truth and to be saved. It should be believed that if God wants something it will be done as He wants.

1 Timothy 2:4 NET since He (God) wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

The first verse in the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. God created everything and God owns everything. Whatever God wants to be done will be done. There is nothing He cannot accomplish, although mere humans cannot seem to understand that fact.

God created all humans, both good and bad. He formed man of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2: 7). God used building material that He created— and therefore owned. Does this not mean that God owns all people as well as all material things in the universe?

Just as the Laws of God make people responsible for the things they were allowed to own, God owns creation and is responsible for all of it, including the bad things that happen. It may be difficult for some to “wrap their head” around this but God is ultimately liable for all the evil that has occurred in the world. 

One cannot blame the devil/Satan/Lucifer, because the devil created nothing and owns nothing. As a matter of fact, the devil was also created by God and he is thus owned by God. He is not an independent force. Like all humans, the devil does not have independent free will but only a certain amount of authority that has been given him by God. One cannot ultimately blame bad men either, because the bad men did not create themselves. They also do not possess independent free will but, again, only a certain amount of authority that has been given him by G

Many do not agree with this principle and the most common argument is “scripture says that people will burn in hell forever”. These people apparently do not want certain ones to be saved, because they feel that they “deserve” to be punished forever.

The disagreement or opposition to the principle of “everyone will be ultimately redeemed” comes down to three primary objections.

(1) The belief that some people are such huge sinners that their debt to the law exceeds the value or worthiness of the blood of Christ. It says that Christ’s blood was insufficient or not shed to pay for the sin of the whole world.

(2) The second objection says that Christ paid for the sin of the whole world, but that most of it was undeliverable, due to the will of man. This was the scenario presented by Moses in Numbers 14. God’s answer was that the whole earth will be filled with His glory, and not just Israel as a nation. It should be noted that humans do not actually have “free will”, but rather they are given a certain amount of authority over some things.

(3) The third objection says that God does not love the world enough to actually purchase all of creation by His blood. This is the idea of limited atonement. It says that God elected only a few to be saved, and decided by His own sovereign will to cast away all others. But Jesus said in John 3: 16, “For God so loved the world.” Everything is the handiwork of God. God is the creator of all things. As the creator God owns all things.

It has been proposed that those who do not want to see all mankind saved are those who do not yet have the mind of Christ. Those who harbor grudges in their hearts against those who have abused them or wronged them in the past are those who do not know the love of Christ. But those who have come to know the God of the Bible and to know the love of Christ which passes all understanding are the ones that God is training to reign with Him both now and in the Age to come.

The sin of Adam was imputed to all, thus the penalty of death was given to all. Sin came first and then death. Newborns without recognizable sin have the death penalty. Death due to the sin of Adam is a sentence of punishment given to the children because of the transgression of the father. To correct this seemingly unfair penalty the Son of God was made manifest to correct this supposed injustice. Through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the perfect, unblemished, and spotless offering of God, perfect justice was restored for all people of all time regardless of their knowledge or lack of knowledge concerning God the Father and God the Son.

The Law of Personal Responsibility

In Exodus 21:33-34 the Law of God states that if a person digs a pit and someone’s ox or ass falls in the hole and is injured or killed, the pit owner will be responsible and will pay the owner for the price of the ox.

Exodus 21:33-34 KJV And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein; (34) The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.

God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. He also created the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as well as the serpent, (or whatever it actually was). The foreknowledge of God meant that He knew Eve would be duped into eating the fruit and that Adam would follow suit.

Genesis 2:17 NET but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

God is responsible for His creation. Adam did not create the tree nor the serpent, the couple were just too stupid to stay away from the tree or listen to the serpent. God also created the law of the ox and the pit, thus it would appear that God is responsible for the sin of Adam and would have to pay the penalty. That is why Jesus, as God, came to earth to pay the full penalty for sin because He was responsible for that sin.

Was this a second thought? No, it was foreknown from the creation. In a sense, the law of personal responsibility was prophetic. It prophesied that God would have to be born as a man in order to be capable of dying for the sin of the world.

Each in Their Own Order

Not all will receive immortality at the same time. Jesus established the fact of universal reconciliation, but the timing is determined by our obedience to God and our actions. The overcomers (elect/saints of the Most High) will receive glorified bodies in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6) and they will reign with Jesus during the thousand-year Millennium or the Kingdom of God. 

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV (22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (23) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

John 5:24 LITV-TSP Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes the One who has sent Me, has everlasting life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

The rest of the believers will be given life (immortality) at the general resurrection or the White Throne Judgment which occurs at the end of the thousand years. At this time ALL who yet remain in the tombs “shall hear His voice and shall come forth” (John 5: 28-29). This will include both unbelievers and the rest of the believers who missed the first resurrection. Those who refused Christ during their life time on earth, along with the great majority of mankind who never had opportunity to hear of Him in their life time, will confess Jesus as Lord at the Great White Throne judgment. 

Acts 24:15 LITV-TSP having hope toward God, which these themselves also admit, of a resurrection being about to be of the dead, both of just and unjust ones.

All resurrected people at the White Throne will be judged according to their works (Revelation 20: 13). Because all sin is reckoned as a debt, the great Judge will reckon each man’s “debt” according to his sin and according to his level of knowledge (Luke 12: 48) and then sentence him to be “sold” according to the law in Exodus 22: 3. The purchaser may be an overcomer, one with the character of Jesus Christ, who will be given authority and responsibility to teach them righteousness by personal example. This judgment could endure until the Creation Jubilee (i.e. it has been said by some that the Creation Jubilee will occur at the 50,000^th year).

The certainty of final judgment is also affirmed by the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:10, where he states that “all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ”.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 KJV (9) Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. (10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Murray Harris has pointed out that wherever Paul speaks of the recompense, according to works, of all mankind (such as in Romans 2:6), “there is found a description of two mutually exclusive categories of people (Romans 2:7–10), not a depiction of two types of action i.e. good or evil, which may be declared for all people.”

Romans 2:6-9 LITV-TSP He “will give to each according to his works:” (7) everlasting life truly to those who with patience in good work are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibility; (8) but to those even disobeying the truth, out of self interest, and obeying unrighteousness, will be anger and wrath, (i.e. judgment) (9) trouble and pain on every soul of man that works out evil…..

Eternal life is not an issue in this judgment (White Throne); it is eternal reward. This judgment is not designed to determine entrance into the Kingdom of God but blessing, status, and authority within the Kingdom. The evidence suggests that it happens in two instances: (1) at the second coming of Christ (2) at the close of the Millennial Age and will include all unrighteous believers and all unbelievers known as the great White Throne Judgment.

Paul clearly emphasizes the individuality (each one) of the final judgment. As important as it is to stress the corporate and communal nature of our life as the body of Christ, each person will be judged individually and no doubt partly concerning how faithful each person was to their unified responsibilities in the body of the Church.

Romans 14:12 LITV-TSP So then each one of us will give account concerning himself to God.

As for the manner of this judgment, we do not merely “show up” but are laid bare before him. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:5, the Lord “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” Murray Harris stated that “not merely an appearance or self-revelation, but, more significantly, a divine scrutiny and disclosure, is the necessary prelude to the receiving of appropriate recompense.”

John 5:28-29 LITV-TSP Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear His voice. (29) And they will come out, the ones having done good into a resurrection of life; and the ones having practiced evil into a resurrection of judgment.

Paul is slightly more specific in 1 Corinthians 3:14–15. There he writes, “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

The fire is the Word of God, including the “fiery law” (Deuteronomy 33: 2). It is the manifestation of the righteous character of God Himself, for He manifested Himself to Israel only as fire. He is a “consuming fire” (Deuteronomy 4: 24). When He comes in a baptism of fire, its purpose is to destroy “the flesh” and quicken our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). The fire is the glory of God as well, which will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. 

Deuteronomy 33:2 NET He said: The LORD came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them.

Deuteronomy 4:24 KJV For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

We must not fear that regret and remorse will spoil the bliss of heaven, considering the exposure and evaluation of our life and actions. If there be tears of grief for opportunities squandered, or tears of shame for sins committed, the Lord will wipe them away.

Revelation 21:4 KJV And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Some ideas and concepts were borrowed from The Restoration of All Things by Sam Storms (available as a PDF from Amazon) and Christ the Mediator by Stephen Jones (available as a Kindle book from Amazon).

For more information and related commentaries, check the following links:

The First & Second Adam The 10 Virgins & the Two Resurrections

The Last Ages & the Resurrections